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HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION 

IN KENTUCKY 



A DISSERTATION 

PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OF THE 
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY FOR THE DEGREE OF 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 



BY 



ALVIN FAYETTE LEWIS 



1899 



I Whole Nnniber 256 

® PITED STATES -BUREAU OF EDUCATION. 

CIRCULAR OF INFORMATION NO. 8, 1899. 



CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY. 

KUITED BY ITEUBKHT H. ADAMS. 



No. 2S. 



HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION 



IN 



KENTUCKY. 



BY 



ALVIN FAYETTE LEWIS, A. M., Pu. D., 

Professor of History in the University of Arkansas, 



r*^^»*< 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1899. 






Harvard Oollesre Library 
By Exchange 
Sept . 6 , 1901. 



<• • f 



LETTER OF TRANSMIHAL 



Department of the Interior, 

Bureau op Education, 
Washington^ D. (7., June J26, 1899, 

Sir : I have the honor to trausmit for publicatiou as a circular of 
information the twenty-fifth in the series of contributions to American 
educational history edited by Prof. Herbert B. Adams. The present 
number treats of the State of Kentucky, and is by Dr. A. F. Lewis, 
some time president of the Seminary West of the Suwanee River, in 
Tallahassee, Fla. In this monograph Dr. Lewis has undertaken to 
cover, with considerable detail, all phases of education in Kentucky, 
and has brought together a great mass of facts of much educational 
jmjwrtance and but little known. 

It will be recalled that Kentucky entered early on the work of educa- 
tion, for by the close of the war of the Revolution a charter had been 
given to Transylvania Seminary, from which grew the Transylvania 
University, long and favorably known throughout the West and 
Southwest. 

The public-school system, which was also organized at a compara- 
tively early date, is treated, and the literature of education, extensive 
although fragmentary in character, is reviewed in a series of bibliogra- 
phies appended to the various historical sketches. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. T. Harris, Commissioner, 

Hon. E. A. Hitchcock, 
Secretary of the Interior. 



CONTENTS. 



Chaptrr I. 

General sketch 11 

Chapter II. — Some Interesting Fkatitres of Early EDrcAxioN. 

A State university sytttem 21 

The "old-field" schdoU 30 

Early female education 33 

Chapter III.— Transylvania University. 

Transylvania Seminary 35 

Kentncky Academy 4() 

The University proper 50 

Period from 1799 to 1818 51 

Period from 1818 to 1827 58 

Period from 1827 to 1849 64 

Period from 1849 to 1865 76 

■ 

Chapter IV. — Institutions More or Less Directly Connected with 
Transylvania University and Older Colleges. 

Kentucky University 83 

Kentucky School of Medicine 96 

Tiie Agricultural and Mechanical College 100 

Centre College 110 

Kentucky Wesleyan College 125 

St. Mary's College , 133 

Greorgetown College 140 

Chapter V. — Other Male and Coeducational Institutions. 

Kentucky Military Institute 166 

South Kentucky College 169 

Bethel College 173 

Berea College 183 

Lvnnland Male and Female Institute 191 

Central University 193 

Clinton College 210 

Liberty College 214 

Ogden College 217 

Union College 221 

Chapter VI. — Female Colleges. 

Loretto Academy 226 

Nazareth Academy 228 

Science Hill 230 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Logan Female College 233 

MiUersburg Female College 236 

Bethel Female College 239 

Beaumont College (including DaugbtiTs' College) 243 

Sayre Female Institate 245 

Caldwell College 247 

Hamilton Female College 250 

.Jessamine Female Institute 252 

Stanford Female College 254 

Villa Ridge College 256 

Potter College 257 

Owensboro College 259 

Chapter VII.— Spp:('ial Professional Schools. 

The University of Louisville 261 

Danville Theological Seminary 272 

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 279 

Louisville Medical College 288 

Louisville College of Pharmacy 292 

The Southern Normal School 295 

The State Normal School 298 

Louisville National Medical College 301 

Southwestern Homeopathic Medical College 303 

Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary 306 

Chapter VIII. — Extinct Colleges of Some Importance. 

Bethel Academy 310 

A-ugusta College .*. . 312 

Warren College 316 

St. Joseph's College 318 

Cumberland College 323 

Shelby College 325 

Eminence College 325 

Chapter IX. — The Public School System. 

Foundation 328 

Growth 338 

Public school system of Louisville 343 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Transylvania University: page. 

Main building, erected 1818, burned 1829 Frontispiece 

Medical building, erected 1840, burned 1863 35 

Transylvania University, 1860 76 

Kentucky University: 

College of Liberal Arts 91 

College of the Bible 93 

Kentucky State College (Agricultiral and Mechanical College): 

Main building 100 

Experiment station building 100 

Centre College, main building 110 

Kentucky Wesleyan College 125 

St. Mary's College 133 

Georgetown College: 

Pawling Hall 140 

Recitation Hall 152 

South Kentucky College 169 

Bethel College, general view 17S 

Betea College, general view 183 

Central University: 

Main building 193 

Hospital College of Medicine, Louisville 204 

Liberty College 214 

Ogden College 218 

Danville Theological Seminary, Breckinridge Hall 276 

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: 

New York Hall 280 

Norton Hall 282 

Library building 286 

Louisville Medical College 290 

State Normal School 29H 

Public school, primitive conditions 334 

7 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



In the preparation of this monograph the writer has been kindly 
assisted by many college officers aud others, who have furnished infor- 
mation and cooperated in other ways, but whom it would be impossible 
here to thank by name. He desires, however, to express especially his 
obligations to J. W. Black, Ph. D., acting professor of history in 
Georgetown College, Kentucky, in 1891-92, and now professor of history 
in Colby University, Maine, for the preparation of the sketch of the 
former institution; to Hon. E. P. Thompson, ex-superintendent of 
public instruction, for courtesies extended in connection with the use of 
the Collins collection and other important historical material in the State 
capitolj to H. H. White, LL. D., the learned ex-president and professor 
emeritus of Kentucky University, for the loan of a transcript of the 
minutes of the trustees of Transylvania University and for valuable 
data in regard to that institution and Kentucky University, and also 
to E. T. Durrett, LL. D., the distinguished president of the Filson Club ' 
of Louisville, Ky., for the free use of his unsurpassed library of Ken- 
tucky history, for personal suggestions, and other assistance. 

The facts used in the introduction have been gathered from the 

remainder of the monograpli. Much information has been obtained 

from Reports of the Commissioner of Education, from catalogues, 

correspondence and personal interviews with the present executive 

officers of the different institutions — information usually not mentioned 

explicitly. Where no other authority is given, a sketch has been 

prepared exclusively from one or more of these sources. 

9 



Chapter I. 

INTRODUCTION— GENERAL SKETCH. 



Partly for covenience of treatment, and partly because the periods 
are in a general way epoch-making, the history of education in Ken- 
tucky may be divided into five parts, as follows: (1) From the settle- 
ment of the State to 1820; (2) from 1820 to 1830; (3) from 1830 to 
1850; (4) from 1850 to 1870; (5) from 1870 to the present time. It is 
to be constantly borne in mind, ho^7ever, that the dates selected are 
only approximate and not exact points of division, and that the move- 
ment, or movements, specially characterizing one period, as a rule, 
have their beginning in the previous one, and sometimes extend, at 
least in a modified form, through oue or more subsequent ones. An 
attempt will be made here only to give the main characteristics of each 
of these periods, their most interesting individual features being 
reserved for more detailed treatment in connection with the history of 
the systems and institutions most closely associated with each. 

THE PERIOD UP TO 1820. 

The first thing that strikes our attention in the educational history 
of Kentucky is the early establishment of schools at its various sta- 
tions, or settlements, notwithstanding the extremely unsettled condi- 
tion of its ^fiairs, and the great difficulties and dangers, especially 
from the Indians, which constantly beset its early inhabitants. The 
pioneers in the settlement of the State were largely from the Valley of 
Virginia, having entered Kentucky through Cumberland Gap, and 
were chiefly of Scotch-Irish descent. The leaders amoug them espe- 
cially were men of more than the average intelligence and culture,^ 
and we see them early taking steps to promote the diffusion of 
useful knowledge among themselves and their descendants. 

* Marshall says of the early settlers (History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 442): "And 
what may be assumed with great confidence as a truth is that there were to be 
found in this population as much talent and intelligence as fell to the lot of any 
equal number of people, promiscuously taken^ in either Europe or America.'' The 
"Kentucky Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge" existed as early as 1787, as is 
shown by a notice of one of its meetings in the Kentucky Gazette of December 1, 
1787. The issue of August 2, 1788, also contains a notice of a " Society for Improve- 
ment in Knowledge," A marked evidence of at least political acumen is to be found 
in the discussions of "The Political Club," which existed at Danville from 1786 to 
1790, and, independent entirely of all similar discussions, anticipated in its debates 
a number of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States that were 
Bubseqnently adopted. See "The Political Club," by Thomas Speed, Louisville, 1894. 

11 



12 HISTOHV OF HIGHER EDfCATlON IN KENTUCKY. 

So the begiiiuings of edacatiou in tbe State are almost coincident 
with its foundation. Within aboata year after the first permanent set- 
tlement had been established at Harrodsbarg in 1774, when it was yet 
uncertain to whom the territory now composing Kentucky, belonged, 
as is shown by the organization of the Transylrania Ck)mpany/ 
we hear of a school being taught at Harrodsburg, probably in the 
spring of 1776, by Mrs. Goomes,' the wife of one of the settlers, and that, 
too, when Indians were skulking around the station, ready at any 
moment to fall ujion the unwary inhabitants. Some of Daniel Boone's 
companions had just been killed by them, and their outrages had just 
driven many prospective settlers back to Virginia. These are rather 
unusual circumstances for a school to be taught under, especially by a 
woman ; but such were the surroundings of the first school taught in 
Kentucky. 

Other similar schools were soon established, as that of John May at 
McAfee's Station in 1777, of Joseph Doniphan atBoonesboro in 1779,aud 
of John McKinuey at Lexington in 178(), within one year after the estab- 
lishment of the town. The perils faced by these and other brave pio- 
neers of education iu Kentucky are illustrated by the fact that several of 
them were either killed by the Indians or suffered bodily harm from 
wild animals.^ 

We do not know just who attended these early schools or what was 
taught in them, but they were probably mainly intended for the younger 
children of the stations where they were located, and were of quite an 
elementary character. They were the first types of the early private 
and neighborhood schools, commonly called *' Old-field," or "Hedge- 
row," schools, of which a more extended notice will be given later. 

Schools of a higher grade, however, soon appeared. John Filson,* 
tlie surveyor, adventurer, and first historian of Kentucky, as well as 
teacher, established a seminary in Lexington in or before 1784. The 
pioneer Baptist preacher. Rev. Elijah Craig, established one at George- 
town early in 1788,^ and during the same year the celebrated Dr. 



I In regard to the character and organization of the Transylvania Company, see 
Chapter III, p. 44. 

^See Spalding's Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions of Kentucky, p. 34; also 
Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 486. 

3 John May was killed by the Indians in the early part of 1790 while going down 
the Ohio River in a boat (Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 570). John 
McKinney was mangled by a wild-cat while teaching at Lexington in May, 1783 
(Collins, Vol. II, p. 226). John Filson, one of the teachers mentioned below, was 
killed by the Indians in the latter part of 1788 near Cincinnati, Ohio, of which he 
was one of the founders, under the name of Losantiville (Collins, Vol. II, pp. 432-433). 

* See reference to Filson's death above, as also Collins, Vol. I, p. 640, and Vol. II, 
p. 183; also The Life and Writings of John Filson, by R. T. Durrett, LL. D., Louis- 
ville, 1884. 

B There is an advertisement of the early establishment of this school in the issue 
of the Kentucky Gazette (see Chapter III for description of this old newspaper) for 
January 5, 1788. 



INTRODUCTION GENERAL SKETCH. 13 

James Priestly took charge of Salem Academy ^ at Bardstown (then 
called Bairdstown), which had been preceded there, as early as 1786, 
by a school taught by a Mr. Shackleford. This school, under Dr. 
Priestly's management, was for some time one of the most noted in the 
State, and in it many of the great public men of the early history of 
Kentucky received the principal part of their education. 

The founding of private high schools continued steadily, in conjunc- 
tion with another movement to be presently noticed, until Winter- 
botham,^ in 1795, could truthfully say, in writing of Kentucky's 
educational facilities : " Schools are established in the several towns, 
and in general regularly and handsomely supported;" and Marshall^ 
states, referring in general to the period we are considering: 

There are many educated and more means to be applied in that way than most 
other countries could afford, while a general propensity for giving and receiving 
literary instruction was obviously a prevailing sentiment throughout the country. 

The other movement just referred to is the most striking feature of 
the State's early educational history, and is* so interesting as to demand 
of us, in another connection, a more extended treatment. It consisted 
in the inauguration of a system of local and State patronage of sec- 
ondary and higher education. Lexington, soon after its establishment, 
reserved land for Latin and English schools, and by this inducement, 
as early as 1787, caused Mr. Isaac Wilson, late of Philadelphia College, 
as he describes himself in an advertisement in the Kentucky Gazette,* 
to open Lexington Grammar School; but State patronage of higher 
education came even earlier, as Transylvania Seminary, one of the first ^ 
"publick schools," or seminaries, of learning in the Mississippi Valley, 
of which we shall hear more later, was endowed by an act of the Vir- 
ginia legislature in 1780, and further endowed and chartered in 1783, 
and other foundations and endowments by the mother State and by 
Kentucky herself followed rapidly, until soon a State educational system 
was developed quite unusual in its circumstances and quite in advance 
of the ideas of the day elsewhere, in this country at least. 

The main thing of interest in Kentucky's educational history, up to 
about 1820, is the development of this splendid system of higher edu- 



' For the incorporation of this academy see Chapter II, p. 22. The first adver- 
tisement of this school in the Kentucky Gazette occurs on November 29, 1788; others 
occur later. P'or something of Dr. Priestly and the school of Mr. Shackleford, see 
Collins, Vol. II, pp. 35 and 200. 

2 United States of America and the West Indies, p. 156. 

^History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 443. 

^In the issue of January 26, 1788, which says the school is again opened. The 
tuition in this school, as in most others of its class, was £4 per annum (the pound 
being equivaleut to $3.33), and advertisements state that good boarding could be 
obtained at from £8 to £9 per annum. The tuition was usually paid one-half in 
cash, the. other in i)roperty, such as j)roduce of various kinds, while board was paid 
altogether in property. 

» For the antiquity of this school see Chapter 111. 



14 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

cation, composed, as projected, of a State aniversity and at least one 
subsidiary academy in each county, and probably intended to be supple- 
mented later by a system of more elementary schools. The subsidiary 
academies were quite fully developed, and reached their culmination 
during this period, while Transylvania University was fairly inaugurated, 
and the foundations laid for the short but brilliant career upon which it 
was about to enter. The more elementary schools were, however, never 
connected with this system, and have only been established in any i)er- 
fection in quite recent years, and then on an independent basis. 

The main current of early public education in Kentucky began at 
the top and extended downward. We have first the university or col- 
lege and then the public school. This is not to be wondered at, as it 
was, as a rule, true in all the older States. A number of the prominent 
men among the early Kentucky settlers were themselves college men 
and among the founders of colleges in Virginia. Naturally their first 
attempt to promote education in the new State, according to the pre- 
vailing ideas of the time, especially in Virginia, from which most of 
them came, took shape in the form of an institution of higher learning. 
It was remarkable, however, that in their hands this institution should 
have been planned to become the head of a great State system of pub- 
lic education, embracing even elementary schools — a conception in 
advance of public opinion at the time, in this country at least. 

PERIOD FROM 1820 TO 1830. 

This period is marked by the downfall of the magnificently conceived 
university system of which we have just been speaking. Even before 
1820 the system of correlated academies had reached its culmination, 
and had, for various reasons, been acknowledged, in the way it was 
being conducted, as a failure by discerning public men. Soon after 
that date the plan had been really abandoned as a State enterprise. 
The State academies did not, however, disappear at once, but many of 
them continued as local high schools, and some of them after a time 
even developed into colleges. Augusta, Georgetown,^ and, in fact, many 
of the earlier colleges of the State were built upon old academies, 
whose funds they inherited. 

Public patronage, between 1820 and 1830, was confined almost exclu- 
sively to Transylvania University, which under Dr. HoUey's adminis- 
tration, beginning in 1818, entered upon a peculiarly brilliant and 
successful era of its history, soon, however, to have its prosi)ects 
blighted and its decline brought about by the unfortunate plan of its 

■ Augusta was founded on Bracken Academy and Georgetown on Rittenhouse 
Academy. In these cases the older academies were perhaps more prominent than in 
that of other colleges, but Transylvania University grew out of Transylvania 
Seminary and Centre College was at least partially based on Danville Academy, as 
was Southern College on Warren Seminary, while Louisville College was a develop- 
ment of Jefifersou Seminary, and other colleges were more or less directly connected 
with older academies. 



INTRODUCTION GENERAL SKETCH. 15 

organization and the state of public opinion, especially in regard to 
religious questions. 

It is interesting to note that this institution was not, as in the case 
of many of the early colleges of the older States, founded by some 
church organization, maiuly to i)repare young men for the ministry, 
but that it was founded by the State and was from the first considered 
a State institution, although never fully under direct State control, and 
its avowed purpose, as expressed in its first charter, was to prepare 
young men for the service of the State. The way in which it was man- 
aged, however, presents a curious blending of state and church con- 
trol, for it was also founded under church auspices, and, for the greater 
part of its history, was under quasi denominational management. This 
double management by church and state, to a considerable extent, at 
one time or another, extended throughout the whole of the early Ken- 
tucky university system, and, especially by the denominational jealous- 
ies it aroused, had a very disastrous effect. The system's plan of 
management, as will be noted later, was in other respects also not such 
as to secure the greatest responsibility and the highest efficiency. 

These things were largely instrumental in preventing the upbuilding 
of a grand system of public higher education and in causing the State 
to withdraw from her early policy of liberality toward education. 
Kentucky was certainly quite liberal toward Transylvania Seminary 
and the early academies, especially in the matter of the donation of 
public lands and the exemption of these from taxation, as well as in 
her direct appropriations, although the latter were never large. The 
laud grants were, however, not sufficient to make the system self- 
sustaining or to pledge the State to its further sustentation, while the 
control assumed and the responsibility required were not requisite to 
secure proper efficiency. When the original plan had thus been wrecked, 
we see the State so far reversing her original policy that for a long 
time she refused to make adequate provision for her public schools, 
and, even as late as 1865, declined to give the fund needed to make the 
Congressional land grant of 1862 for agricultural colleges available for 
the highest educational uses, but left it to a denominational institution 
to make for her the most out of the limited endowment furnished by 
the General Government. 

Even during the period we are now considering Transylvania Uni- 
versity began to lose her hold upon the public good will, and denomina- 
tional colleges began to spring up, as so many centers of opposition, 
and to compete with the university for public patronage. Centre and 
St. Joseph's in 1819, St. Mary's in 1821, Augusta in 1822, Cumberland 
in 1826, and Georgetown in 1829, arose in rapid succession. Their 
competition was not greatly felt for a time, but was destined to grow 
to strong proportions in the succeeding period. 

The failure of the academy system did, however, cause public atten- 
tion, even during this period, to be turned to the need of elementary 



IG HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

schools, aiid pablic opiuion was suf!icieiitly aroused on the question to 
cause the legislature of 1821 to ai)i)oiiit a commission to investigate the 
subject and to rex)ort upon it to that body. This commission, composed 
of Hon. William T. Barry and other prominent public men, made, in 
1822, an able report in favor of a system of public schools, embodying 
excellent ideas in regard to how it could be inaugurated. The legisla- 
ture was also induced to create a small literary fund to support such a 
system, but nothing further was then act^omplished. 

PERIOD 1830 TO 1850. 

Prior to the beginning of this period, Transylvania University had 
been abandoned by the State in so far as the bestowal of public patron- 
age was concerned, although nominal legislative control was still 
retained. The neglect of the State was, however, somewhat supplied 
by private and local munificence, and the University long remained 
eminently useful, especially through its professional departments, but 
it may be said to have now entered into a condition of gradual decline. 

Several attempts were made during this time to resurrect its prowess 
under partial denominational control. Baptists, Episcopalians, Pres- 
byterians, and lastly Methodists were successively called to the aid of 
its waning fortunes, but, as a rule, with indifferent success, although 
the powerful church influence which Dr. Basconi was able to bring to 
its assistance for a time seemed to revive the university's departed 
glories. When this, too, had to be withdrawn, in 1849, it sank even 
lower than before. 

The peculiar feature of the period between 1830 and 1850 was the 
development and further multiplication of denominational colleges, a 
movement already begun in the previous period partly in opposition 
to Transylvania University and partly to supply needs which it could 
not then meet. 

It now became the settled policy of each important denomination in 
the State to have its own representative institution. Several of 
these had already been founded, but had not been strong competitors 
of the university, owing to their lack of funds and equipment. These 
were now strengthened and others established, so that most of the prom- 
inent denominational colleges of the State may be said to date their 
existence or their importance as educational factors from this period. 
Centre, St. Joseph's, and Augusta, especially, soon began to be well 
known, and others, as Bacon and Shelby in 1836, were founded. This 
movement continued until, Collins tells us in his Sketches,^ in 1847 
Kentucky had more colleges than any other State in the Union. 

Special professional schools, especially of medicine, also began to be 
established. The first of these to amount to anything was the Louis- 
ville Medical Institute, now the medical department of the University 
of Louisville, founded in 1837, as a direct competitor of the medical 
department of Transylvania University. 



Sketches of Kentucky, p. 272. 



INTRODUCTION GENERAL SKETCH. 17 

The founding of denominational institutions and of special profes- 
sional schools has continued through all the subsequent educational 
history of the State and has led to an unfortunate multiplicity of new 
and separate institutions, whereas an enlargement of those already exist- 
ing would have been far more preferable. One result has been that 
although the name has been frequently used, there has never been a 
real university in the State, even in the extensive use of the term, with 
all the usual departments and a complete faculty and equipment in each. 
Another result has been that the colleges of the State have been quite 
insufficiently endowed. The State has never fully committed herself to 
the policy of sustaining a well-endowed university, while other institu- 
tions have become too numerous to receive large amounts from local and 
denominational beneficence which has been the source of almost all of 
the endowment of the various institutions. No single individual, either 
within or without the State, has given a large amount to any single 
institution, and almost all that has been contributed has been given 
wholly by the people of the State, principally through the various reli- 
gious denominations. Various communities have contributed with great 
liberality to institutions located in their midst without regard to denom- 
inational connections, and Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Christ- 
ians, and other denominations have done nobly for their respective 
institutions, but local demand or denominational jealousy has called 
into existence a multitude of colleges, each of whose share in the general 
bounty has been necessarily small among a people generally well-to-do 
but not wealthy. The funds received have usually only been sufficient 
to give them fairly good buildings and equipment, but have left them 
no endowment. So they have had to struggle on, mainly supported by 
tuition fees, many of the older institutions of the State having been, 
during the greater part of their history, rich only in the spirit of devo- 
tion to sound learning. 

The fact that Kentucky colleges have been so largely unendowed 
mainly accounts for the many ups and downs in their history. As long 
as local and denominational influence and their own good work have 
kept their halls filled with students they have had fair success, but 
when, for any reason, the number of their students has declined, they 
have declined in like manner, and the history of the State is strewn with 
the wrecks of educational enterprises. Cumberland, Shelby, Eminence, 
and others are so many examples of a checkered career, ending finally 
in dissolution. 

Lack of endowment and strong competition have also compelled 
most of the colleges to do a great deal of what is really preparatory 
and not college work, which has hampered their usefulness and neces 
sarily vitiated their standard to a considerable extent. This we shall 
see applies especially to the female colleges of the State, which arose 
mainly in the period succeeding the one we are now considering, and for 
whose multiplicity we shall see there have been special reasons. 
2127— No. 25 2 



18 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The period of wliich we are now speaking also witnesses the first 
inception of a State public-scliool system. The law of 1838 established 
this in a rather imperfect form it is true, bat gave to it what was a 
great gain — a regular organization. Its operations were greatly 
hindered for some time by the smallness of the *Miterary fund'' upon 
which it was based and by the fact that this fund was not properly 
husbanded; but the system made really substantial progress during 
this time in the crystallization of public opinion in its favor, and 
especially in the fact that the " literary fund," by the third constitu- 
tion of the State, which went into eifect in 1850, was inviolably devoted 
to public- school education. 

PERIOD FROM 1850 TO 1870. 

This era is noticeable for an unsuccessful attempt, made in 1856, to 
revive Transylvania University as a State institution in the form of a 
State normal school — a much-needed addition to the public-school 
system. After a short trial of two years, owing to the lack of proper 
public support, this effort had to be abandoned, and the history of the 
university as in any sense a State institution was ended. After this 
it sank into a school of merely secondary rank. 

Again, an attempt was made in 1865 to build on its'ruins a great 
university in the name of the State, but really under what was 
denominational, but not intended to be sectarian, control. This plan 
was splendidly devised and seemed for a time likely to succeed, but it, 
too, was doomed to be wrecked. So Kentucky University, instead of 
becoming what it promised to be, an institution overshadowing all 
others, was forced to take the position simply of one of the principal 
colleges of the State. 

Special professional schools have, during this and the subsequent 
period, continued to increase in numbers, especially at Louisville, until 
that city, with its six medical colleges and other professional institu- 
tions, has become one of the largest centers of professional education 
in the country. 

The further multiplication of denominational institutions also con- 
tinued apace. Female colleges especially, whose numbers up to this 
time had been comparatively unimportant, were founded in rapid suc- 
cession, and soon became so numerous that almost every prominent 
denomination in the State had two or more representative institutions. 
In addition to these many communities founded local institutions to 
supply their own needs, which, as a rule, unfortunately aspired to 
become colleges. This of course led to sharp competition and in many 
cases to unsound educational methods and practices. 

The number of female colleges particularly which have been estab- 
lished in Kentucky since about 1850 has become almost legion, their mul- 
tiplicity being due partly to the fact, as noted later, that girls were for a 
long time excluded from almost all the institutions of higher learning in 



INTRODUCTION — GENERAL SKETCH. 19 

tho State, and partly from the fact that in so far as it was deemed neces- 
sary for them to be educated at all it was thought that their education 
should be more of an ornamental character and otherwise of a different 
type from that pursued by boys. These circumstances, in conjunction 
with the inefficiency of the public-school system for a long time and 
the consequent demand of localities for institutions suited to their 
own peculiar needs, have caused a large number of female schools to 
spring up, which unfortunately have in most cases been ambitious to 
be colleges, at least in name, and to confer diplomas if not degrees. 
Almost every school for girls in the State either bears the name of 
college or claims to do college work ; in reality the work done by most 
of them is largely secondary and even to some extent primary. No 
attempt has been made in this monograph to give the history of all 
these schools. Only those have been treated a considerable part of 
whose work appears to be of collegiate rank. As it has been found 
very difficult to apply any absolute line of demarkation, it is probable 
that a number of institutions have been omitted quite as worthy of 
notice perhaps as some of those treated, but in general the same line 
of division has been followed as that used of late in the reports^ of the 
United States Commissioner of Education. 

In one respect particularly a great educational advance was made 
in Kentucky between 1850 and 1870. The public-school system may 
in that period be said to have first become firmly established in the 
hearts of the people of the State, largely through the efforts of State 
Superintendent Breckinridge in its behalf, and an educated public sen- 
timent, aroused by him and others, called forth the act of 1869, which 
made public education really effective by granting it, by State taxa- 
tion, a more ample revenue. The opening of the educational year 1870 
marks the practical establishment of an effective public-school system 
in Kentucky. 

PERIOD SUBSEQUENT TO 1870. 

This is especially noted for the continual growth of a sound public 
opinion upon almost all educational questions. 

An enlightened public sentiment has of late caused the State to 
return to her early liberal attitude toward public education, and no 
just complaint can now be made in regard to the way she supports the 
one institution she still controls — the Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 
lege — or her public-school system. All school property has lately been 
exempted from taxation,^ and the State college now receives a liberal 
contribution in the form of a reijular State tax, while the effectiveness 
of the public schools has been greatly increased by considerable addi- 

' These reports class female colleges under division A, embracing a few institu- 
tions of the highest rank; such as Wellesley and Vassar, and division B, which 
includes all others. All the female colleges of Kentucky come under division B. 

'According to the provisions of the constitution of 1891, as interpreted by a recent 
decision of the court of appeals. 



20 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

tions to the <^ literary fund" and also by increasing the State tax levied 
for the support of the system, Tliis attitude of the State is a charac- 
teristic feature of the present period, but is not the only one of interest. 

A system of graded schools has also been established, by the aid of 
additional local taxation, in all the towns and cities of any size in the 
State. This largely sup])lies a pressing need for secondary instruction, 
and also relieves the colleges of the necessity of maintaining at least 
such large preparatory departments as formerly. 

Most of the colleges, moreover, have largely added to their endow- 
ments within the past few years througli private and denominational 
gifts. Several of them now have fairly good endowments for the work 
they undertake. 

Many of the male colleges have of late opened their doors to women 
as well. This has continued so far that coeducation may now be said 
to be almost a generally accepted policy in the State. It has had at 
least one good effect in obviating the necessity of the further multipli- 
cation of female colleges. 

Quite a contrary and hopeful movement has even taken place lately 
in the conversion of several of these colleges into avowedly secondary 
schools, and the founding of such schools in various communities where 
formerly the establishment of a college would have been attempted. 
The opening of the Vanderbilt Training School at Elkton, and of the 
various preparatory schools of Central University and Kentucky Wes- 
leyan College, are so many illustrations of this praiseworthy spirit. A 
commendable disposition has also been shown to stop the further found- 
ing of separate professional schools, as those lately established have 
been opened in conjunction with the older colleges, and the older pro- 
fessional schools have shown a tendency to affiliate with established 
institutions for which they furnish professional departments, as was 
illustrated in November, 1897, when the Kentucky School of Medicine 
became the medical department of Kentucky University. 

Several of the colleges of Kentucky have always been noted for 
their attachment to sound scholarship. Fortunately these, as a rule, 
have been able to increase their endowments along with others. So 
while higher education in Kentucky is still considerably hampered by 
a too great multiplicity of colleges and their consequent lack of ample 
endowments, yet its condition is one of greater hopefulness for the 
future. The needs of the public school system of the State will be 
more fully noticed in another connection, but it, too, may be truthfully 
said to be making favorable progress. 



Chapter II. 

SOME INTERESTING FEATURES OF EARLY EDUCATION. 



A STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. 

This system, which has already been referred to as one of the strik- 
ing features of the early educational history of Kentucky, may be said 
to have had its beginning in the act of the Virginia assembly, of May 
1780, endowing Transylvania Seminary. For while the plan had not 
then been originated, and this school was soon to develop into Transyl- 
vania University, and become, in a sense, the head of the system after 
this transformation, yet it was at first intended to be of the same char- 
acter as that afterwards taken by the other seminaries or academies 
(these words are always synonymous in early Kentucky educational 
history), the first part of the general plan to be fully developed, and 
was the model for the others in its original conception and especially 
in the method of its endowment by the State. 

The original endowment act of Transylvania Seminary seems to have 
been copied largely in all of the first, at least, of the later academy acts. 
This act,^ for its spirit if for nothing else, is worthy of being quoted at 
length. It reads as follows : 

Whereas it is represented to the general assembly that there are certain lands 
within the county of Kentucky, formerly belonging to British subjects, not yet sold 
under the law of escheats and forfeitures, which might at a future day be a valuable 
fund for the maintenance and education of youth, and it being the interest of this 
Commonwealth always to promote and encourage every design which may tend to 
the improvement of the mind and the diffusion of useful knowledge, even among its 
remote citizens, whose situation a barbarous neighborhood and a savage intercourse 
might otherwise render unfriendly to science: Be it therefore enacted. That 8,000 
acres of land within the said county of Kentucky, late the property of Robert 
McKenzie, Henry Collins, and Alexander McKee, be, and the same are hereby, vested 
in William Fleming, William Christian, John Todd, Stephen Trigg, Benjamin Logan, 
John Floyd, John May, Levi Todd, John Cowan, George Meriwether, John Cobbs, 
George Thompson, and Edmund Taylor, trustees, as a free donation from this Com- 
monwealth for the purpose of a public school, or seminary of learning, to be erected 
within the said county as soon as the circumstances of the county and the state 
of its funds will admit, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever. 

Thus was planned the first school in Kentucky established under 
State patronage and one which, at the time of its establishment soon 
afterwards, was truly in a ^^ barbarous neighborbood " in so far as the 
proximity of Indian warriors was concerned. 



See references to this act iu Chapter III. 

21 



22 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The ueed of sach au iiistitiitioii and the plau of securiug; its endow- 
ment seem to have been first seen by the Bev. John Todd, a prominent 
Presbyterian minister of Louisa County, Ya., and his nephew, Col. 
John Todd,^ then a representative from the county of Kentucky in the 
Virginia assembly. The advice and influence of the former, coupled 
with the ability and efforts of the latter, seem, mainly at least, to have 
induced the legislature to pass the act of endowment, an act in advance 
of Virginia's usual educational policy at that day and the more unusual 
as occurring in the midst of one of the most gloomy periods of the 
Eevolution and one specially trying to her. The Todds are therefore 
to be given the very highest praise for the inception of the plan, and 
their names should for all time to come be placed high on Kentucky's 
roll of honor. 

Transylvania Seminary was further endowed and incorporated in 
May, 1783,- owing, as we shall see, largely to the influence and efforts 
of Judge Caleb Wallace, wlien its endowment was exempted from taxa- 
tion by the State, the latter being another feature of its organization 
appearing in the general academy plan. These are the principal ways 
in which this seminary may have influenced the founding of the acad- 
emies, and so its history will not be traced further in this connection. 

The first of the academies, subsequently appearing as a part of the 
regular system, of which we hear is Salem Academy, located at Bards- 
town and incorporated by Virginia in 1788.-"' It does not seem, at that 
time, to have received any land endowment, though it did later from 
Kentucky herself, and seems for a time to have been a private or local 
classical high school. In this capacity, we have seeu,^ it obtained quite 
a reputation under the noted Dr. James Priestly as master. It was 
later incorporated into the general academy system. Indeed, it seems 
that when this system had come into full operation schools of higher 
education, supported merely by private or local means, were generally 
forced by its competition either to become part of the system or to sus- 
pend operations. 

The first acts of the Kentucky legislature on the subject of acade- 
mies are the act of December 12, 1794,^ incorporating Kentucky 
Academy at Pisgah, near Lexington; one soon after, of uncertain 
date,^ incorporating Bethel Academy, in Jessamine County, and a third, 
on December 15, 1795,' establishing Franklin Academy at Washington, 



* For the connectioD of th« Todds, and also of Judge Wallace, with the founding 
of this seminary, see Foote's Sketches of Virginia, second series, pp. 47-48. Further 
references to Colonel Todd are found in Chapter III. 

* References to this act are given in Chapter III. 
^Littell's Laws of Kentucky, Vol. Ill, p. 579. 

^ In Chapter I, p. 13, where references are given in regard to Dr. Priestly's connec- 
tion with it. 

* For this act see Chapter III. 

6 A note in regard to this act is to be found in Chapter VII. 

7 Litteirs Laws of Kentucky, Vol. I, pp. 296-298. 



SOME INTERESTING FEATURES OF EARLY EDUCATION. 23 

in Mason County. ' These acts were similar in scope to the Transyl- 
vania Seminary act of 1783, but gave no endowment of public land as 
that had done. 

The first really important acts connected with the academy system 
proper are the two acts of February 18, 1798, the first ' of which rein- 
corporated Bethel Academy, giving it the plau of management subse- 
quently used for the later academies, the second ^ of which endowed 
Kentucky, Franklin, Salem, and Bethel academies, and Lexington and 
Jefferson seminaries (the last two established by the act at Lexington 
and Louisville, respectively), with 6,000 acres of land each, to be vested 
in cooptative boards of trustees, as provided for in the case of Bethel, 
and to be held free from taxes. 

The Bethel act gave to the trustees '^all powers and privileges that 
are enjoyed by trustees, governors, or visitors of any college or univer- 
sity within this State not herein limited or otherwise directed," The 
president of the academy was also required to be "a man of the 
most approved abilities in literature.'' As shown by various advertise- 
ments and notices in the Kentucky Gazette and elsewhere, "Latin, 
Greek, and the different branches of science"^ were required to be 
taught in at least most of these academies, thus furnishing to their 
students the elements of a fairly good classical education, not much 
emphasis, as a rule, being put upon the sciences. The powers con- 
ferred upon the academies by their acts of incorporation were sufficient 
for their conversion into colleges without any further change of charter, 
as actually occurred in some instances. 

The second act of February 10, 1798, itself, and especially the senti- 
ment of its latter part, should add imperishable renown both to its 
promoter and to the legislature that passed it. The last part of sections 
5 and G of the act read as follows : 

And whereas it is generally trae that people will bo happiest whose laws are best 
and best administered, and that laws will be wisely and honestly administered 
in proportion as those who form and administer them are wise and honest; whence 
it becomes expedient for promoting the public happiness that those persons whom 



^ Toulmin's Acts of Kentucky, pp. 469-470, and LittelFs Laws of Kentucky, Vol. II, 
p. 174. 

2 Toulmin's Acts of Kentucky, pp. 470-472; Littell's J^aws of Kentucky, Vol. II, 
pp. 107-109, and Bradford's Laws of Kentucky, Vol I, pp. 100-102. 

■'From the advertisement of Lexington Grammar School on January 26, 1788. 
This and such advertisements as that of Rev. Mr. Craig, on January 5, 1788, which 
speaks of "the teaching of the Latin and Greek languages, together with such 
branches of the sciences as are usually taught in public seminaries," indicate in a 
general way what was actually taught. The general act of incorporation of 
December 22, 1798, says (Toulmin's Acts of Kentucky, p. 474) : ^^ It shall be left 
wholly in the discretion of the said several trustees what subjects shall be taught in 
the said several academies, whether the English languages, writing, arithmetic, 
mathematics, and geometry only; or the dead and foreign languages and the 
other sciences which are generally taught in other academies or colleges in this 
Commonwealth.'^ 



24 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

nature hath endowed with genius and virtue shoald be rendered, by liberal educa- 
tion, worthy to receive and al)le to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and lib- 
erties of their fellow-citizens, and that to aid and accelerate this most desirable 
purpose must be one of the first duties of every wise government. (Sec. 6.) Be 
it therefore enacted, That all the lands within the bounds of this Commonwealth, 
on the south side of Cumberland River below Obey's River, which are now vacant 
and unappropriated, or on which there shall not be, at the passage of this act, any 
actual settler under the laws of this State for the relief of settlers south of (Jreen 
River, shall be, and the same are hereby, reserved by the general assembly to be 
appropriated, as they may hereafter from time to time think fit, to the use of semi- 
naries of learning throughout the different parts of this Commonwealth. 

We certainly have here an epoch-making act, one which is in general 
on the model of the great ordinance of 1787 (in regard to the Northwest 
Territory), by which it may have been influenced, but its spirit seems 
rather to have been drawn from that of the old Virginia land grants to 
Transylvania Seminary. It is certainly a noteworthy thing, for the 
time, to see a State thus setting apart a (considerable area of its lands 
for the purpose of establishing a system of public secondary and higher 
education. This is certainly an important enunciation of principle, but 
it was not simply to be a barren announcement of a theoretical attitude 
toward education in the future, but was soon to bear substantial fruit. 

Winchester Academy, in the town of the same name, was established 
and endowed on the same plan and in the saine way by an act of Decem- 
ber 19, 1798,^ and on December 22, 1798, were passed two acts, the first- 
in reference to Bourbon Aieademy and the second ^ in reference to nine- 
teen others, which, especially if taken in connection witli an act of the 
same date incorporating Transylvania University, are the culmina- 
tion and completion of all the previous academy acts, contemplating 
as they do a grand State university system. They are really a con- 
tinuation of the acts of the previous February, which serve as pream- 
bles to them, but are of wider import, and so more remarkable and 
epoch making. The act establishing Transylvania University, occur- 
ring as it does on the same day, it certainly seems should be taken in 
close conjunction with them, all being parts of one general plan. 

These acts endow as before, out of the reservation previously set 
aside, the twenty academies named with 6,000 acres of land each, and 
also confer on each board of trustees the right to raise by lottery — a 
very common practice in those days and one considered by the best 
people as legitimate^* — $1,000 to pay for locating the lands and other 
preliminary expenses. Section 3 of the second act establishes the gen- 



^ LittelFs Laws of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 217. 

2/Hd, Vol. II, p.237. 

3 Toulmin's Acts of Kentucky, pp. 473-475, and Littell's Laws of Kentucky, Vol. 
II, pp. 240-246. 

■♦For instance, some of the most prominent citizens of the State were, on February 
4, 1812, authorized to raise $4,000 by lottery to complete a church on the public 
square at Frankfort. (Collinses History of Kentucky, Vol. I, pp. 26-27.) Another 
example of the moral ideas of the time is given in a notice in the Kentucky Gazette 
of August 20, 1788, which offers to give whisky for the erection of a church. 



SOME INTERESTING FEATURES OF EARLY EDUCATION. 25 

eral principle of granting a similar landed endowment by the State to 
academies in each county, by conferring upon the several county 
courts, in the counties having no academies, the right to a donation of 
0,000 acres of land each, and does not even confine them to the Cum- 
berland Eiver reservation, but says they may locate their donation for 
academies that may be established on "any waste and unappropriated 
land." 

The part of the charter of Transylvania University to be taken in 
connection with this general academy act is section 3, wliicb, after 
stating that the seat of the university may be moved from Lexington 
by a vote of two-thirds of the trustees, adds, "and, on the concurrence 
of the same number, they may, from time to time, establish at the seat 
of the university, or elsewhere, one or more schools as nurseries of the 
said university.'' Circumstances seem to indicate that this had refer- 
ence to the academy plan established at the same time and that it was 
aimed to make Transylvania University the head of a splendid scheme 
of public higher education, consisting of a central State university 
with correlated preparatory academies in every county of the State — 
truly a noble conception, for the main credit of which Judge Caleb 
Wallace's biographer* thinks he is undoubtedly entitled. If the act of 
February 10, 1798, " contains in its closing sections certain sentiments 
and provisions that reflect enduring luster on the State of Kentucky,"^ 
it is certainly no great exaggeration to say that the combined acts of 
December 22, 1798, "established the most enlightened, practical, and 
complete system of education that could at that time be witnessed in 
America or perhaps anywhere else in the civilized world," ^ and that 
there are no brighter pages in the statute books of Kentucky than 
those that record these acts. 

As already indicated, no doubt the main influence in the passage of 
these acts was that of Judge Caleb Wallace, one of the early justices 
of the supreme court of Kentucky. While a resident of Virginia he 
had been among the founders of what are now Hampden-Sidney Col- 
lege and W^ashington and Lee University,^ and, on coming to Kentucky, 
had become a member of the board of trustees of Transylvania Semi- 
nary in 1783, when, as a member of the Virginia legislature from Ken- 
tucky, he secured its reendowment and first incorporation. He later 
became a trustee of Kentucky Academy, and, in 1798, was laboring to 
build up the latter institution by securing for it an ample landed endow- 
ment. He was also one of the principal promoters of its union with 
Transylvania Seminary into Transylvania University, and seems to be 



' Rev. W. H. Whitsitt, D. D., LL. D., ex-presideut of the Southern Baptist Theolog- 
ical Seminary, Louisville, Ky., in his Life and Times of Judge Caleb Wallace, Louis- 
ville, 1888. 

'^ Whitsitt's Life and Times of Judge Wallace, p. 130. 

3/6t^, p. 135. 

■• For Judge Wallace's connection with these institutions see Foote's Sketches of 
Virginia, first series, pp. 393-397, 442-444, and 458. 



26 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

the one who conceived the magnificent university system of which we 
have just been speaking. We also have reason to believe that he con- 
templated the later additiou to the system of public elementary schools 
which would, according to his ideas and those generally prevalent at 
the time, form the capstone of this beautiful educational structure. 
Tlie part he played in the early educational history of Kentucky enti- 
tles his name to be placed even higher than that of the Todds among 
the State's benefactors, as he had even wider conceptions than they of 
the State's educational needs and of the means of supplying them. It 
can in no wise be ascribed to any fault of his that his splendid ideas 
were never fully realized; yet such was unfortunately the case. This 
grand system, so auspiciously planned, was never to be put into oper- 
ation as a whole, and, as such, developed in all its capabilities, and 
was soon to be recognized as a failure. 

Other academies were rapidly established and that part of the system 
was in quite full operation for a time, the movement continuing until 
1820 or later, by which time as many as forty-seven county academies 
had been established and endowed with from 6,000 to 12,000 acres of 
land each, usually with the former amount. Evidences of the lack of 
public interest in the system and its ill success, however, soon began 
to appear in the frequent bills passed by the legislature allowing more 
time for the location of the academy lands and appointing new trustees 
where the old ones had resigned or acted improperly. A tendency to 
get more and more out from under State control soon displayed itself 
on the part of the trustees by their getting greater and greater rights 
in regard to the disposal of the land endowments, until finally, by an 
act of January 26, 1815,^ they were given the absolute right of disposing 
of all their lands, provided only the funds were invested in stock of 
the Bank of Kentucky, the aim of the legislature in this case, it appears, 
being rather to bolster up the stock of the bank than to improve the 
condition of the seminaries. 

Public utterances, showing the lack of success of the system, soon 
began to appear. Governor Slaughter, in his message of December 3, 

1816, says that the academy fund "had proved inadequate to meet the 
enlightened and liberal view of the legislature," and by December 2, 

1817, he recognizes the academies as failures. We find the committee 
on education of the State senate, in October, 1820, calling for additional 
help for the languishing seminaries, and Governor Adair, in his message 
of October 16, 1821, says the seminary funds "have been generally 
rendered inefficacious by negligence or indiscretion on the part of those 
to whose care the donations had been confided." The system had then 
for some time been practically abandoned as a State enterprise, the 
only further public patronage extended to it being an act of January 
31, 1816,2 making general the exemption from taxation of all seminaries 



I LitteU's Laws of Kentucky, Vol. V, pp. 163-164. '^ Ibid., Vol. V, p. 331. 



SOME INTERESTING FEATURES OF EARLY EDUCATION. 27 

of learning, and an act of February 14, 1820,^ giving all fines and for- 
feitures in the various counties to the respective semiuaries located 
within them. This aid was, however, not very considerable and was 
insufficient to arrest the decline which had in most cases already set 
in, few of the academies, as the commissioners of 1822 ^ inform us, being, 
in 1815, able to raise a fund sufficient to support good schools. 

The reasons for the failure of the plan are not difficult to find, and 
have already been indicated to some extent. They may be enumerated 
as follows : 

(1) The idea was in advance of the public opinion of the time. The 
people were preoccupied with other matters, partly necessary, such as 
driving back the Indians and providing for their own physical wants, 
but their leaders were largely engrossed in acquiring wealth in a pros- 
perous and growing State, and they themselves too often considered 
the cleariug, the tobacco patch, and the cornfield the best schools for 
their children, as McMurtrie^ says in reference to Jefferson Seminary: 
*'The clamors of Plutus drowning the modest accents of the muses." 
The legislature at this time seems to have considered the establishment 
of a State bank and the floating of its notes of vastly greater impor- 
tance than the fostering of the academies. This lack of public sympa- 
thy for the movement would no doubt have been overcome if the more 
elementary schools had been added to it and the people had become 
attached to it by its being brought into more direct and intimate con- 
tact with them, but unfortunately the system was never sufficiently 
developed for this to be the case. 

(2) The endowments were in many cases insufficient to accomplish their 
purpose, not because most of the lands set apart were poor and wild 
lands of little value, although some of thera were no doubt of this char- 
acter, but because these lands were really not sufficient in amount to 
support such a system well, and, moreover, much of them, in order to 
the speedy establishment of the schools, had been pushed into the mar- 
ket too hastily and disposed of at a great sacrifice, as was to be the 
case later, probably in a less degree, with the Congressional land grant 
of 1862 for agricultural colleges. 

(3) The principal reason for the failure of the academies is to be found 
in the faults of the plan whereby their management was provided for 
and carried out. The trustees were self-perpetuating bodies and, as 
such, little responsible to public authority. Besides there was no ade- 
quate provision for calling them to account for their actions. Butler* 
calls them so many "promiscuous and irresponsible trustees." This 
opeued the way for the primary cause of failure — speculation with and 
squandering of the funds, sometimes innocently, but often deliberately 

' Littell and Swigert's Statutes of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 596. 

^ Report of the commissioners appointed to collect Information and prepare and 
report a system of common schools, p. 17. 
'Sketches of Loaisville, p. 124. 
* History of Kentucky, p. 188. 



28 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

and criminally. The endowments were at first well guarded by law, 
not more than one-eighth of the land being allowed to be sold for inci- 
dental expenses and providing buildings and apparatus, but subse- 
quent acts gave the trustees too much discretion in disposing of the 
lands and opened the way <' for the subsequent destruction of the endow- 
ment by incompetent or scheming men." It was too often the case that 
speculators bought the land and the money was all put in one costly 
building, unoccupied and useless, '^a monument of the folly of its pro- 
jectors." ^ Sometimes not even such a poor result was obtained from 
the endowment. 

There was no general plan and no uniform means were adopted to 
secure the success of the whole system. Some few schools, through 
the wise management of their trustees, escaped the general wreck and 
retained their usefulness, some of them, as Bracken and Rittenhouse 
academies and Jefferson Seminary,^ even becoming colleges afterwards. 
But the following, taken from Marshall, ' written in 1824 in reference to 
Kentucky Seminary at Frankfort, is, alas too often, the record of the 
others : 

But being afflicted with the country disease — multiplicity and bad government — 
it has languished and revived alternately, in the building erected for it, until it 
has neither acting trustee, teacher, nor student, as it is believed. 

While the academy plan as a whole was thus unfortunately a fail- 
ure, yet it was not entirely so. Many of the schools long remained as 
important local educational factors, and one good result almost invari- 
bly came from the plan of endowment. Most of forty-seven counties 
of the State were able to buy a lot and build on it a fairly good school 
building, where a teacher could be supported by tuition and where 
many living near by were able to secure the elements of an education 
of which they would otherwise have been deprived. They were often 
able to pay at least a large part of their board and tuition in country 
produce, a thing they would not have been able to do elsewhere. 
Professor Chenault * sums up the educational result of the experiment 
by saying that " many of our early lawyers, doctors, ministers, and other 
professional men obtained all their education in these seminaries." 

It is a great pity, both for the cause of education in Kentucky and 
elsewhere, that the great capabilities of this early educational system 
were never fully realized. Collins ^ has considered it a safe assumption 
to estimate that the seminary lands under proper management would 
have realized for each county an average permanent and productive 
school fund of at least $60,000, in many cases very much more than this 
amount — truly a magnificent financial foundation for a State educa- 
tional system. Its comparative failure does not detract from the high 
meed of praise due the originator of this great educational project, 
whose abuses he could not well have foreseen and which certainly had 
in it the very greatest and grandest possibilities. 



^ Professor Chenault, in Smith's History of Kentucky, p. 703. 

2 See note to Chapter I, p. 14. * Smith's History of Kentucky, p. 697. 

3 History of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 336. « History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 502. 



SOME INTERESTING FEATURES OF EARLY EDUCATION. 29 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

A greater or less amount of iDformation has been obtained froi.i the following 
works in the preparation of this section : 

Sketches of Virginia, by Rev. W. H. Foote, D. D., Philadelphia; first series, 1850; 
second series, 1855. 

A Historical, Geographical, and Philosophical View of the American United States 
and the West Indies, by W. Winterbotham ; 4 volumes, London, 1795. 

A Description of Kentucky, by Harry Toulmin, 1792. 

File of the Kentucky Gazette, 1787-1860 (old newspaper preserved in the Lexing- 
ton city library). 

A History of Kentucky, by Humphrey Marshall; first edition, 1 volume, Frank- 
fort, 1812 ; second edition, 2 volumes, Frankfort, 1824. 

A History of Kentucky, by Mann Butler, A. M., M. D. ; first edition, Louisville, 1834; 
second edition, Louisville and Cincinnati, 1836. 

Sketches of Kentucky, by Lewis Collins, Cincinnati and Maysville, 1847. 

A History of Kentucky, by T. S. Authur and W. H. Carpenter, Philadelphia, 1852. 

A History of Kentucky, by R. H. Collins, LL. D. ; 2 volumes, Covington, 1874 ; the 
largest and best of the histories of Kentucky. 

A History of Kentucky, by N. S. Shaler (American Commonwealth series), Boston, 
1885. 

A History of Kentucky, by Hon. Z. F. Smith, Louisville, 1886 (especially valuable 
for the article on education in Kentucky by William Chenault, LL. D.), 

A History of Kentucky, by W. H. Perrin, J. H. Battle, and G. C. Kniff'eu, Louis- 
ville and Chicago, 1888; mainly compiled from other histories, but containing con- 
siderable new educational matter. 

The Laws of Kentucky, by John Bradford, Lexington: Vol. I, 1799; Vol. II, 1807. 

The Public and Permanent Acts of Kentucky now in force, together with Acts of 
Virginia in regard to Rents, Land Titles, and the Encouragement of Learning, by 
Harry Toulmin, Frankfort, 1802. 

The Statutes of Kentucky, Comprehending also Laws of Virginia and Acts of 
Parliament now in force, by William Littell, Frankfort, 1809-1819. 

A Digest of all the Laws of Kentucky, together with Virginia and English Laws 
still in force, by William Littell and Jacob Swigert, Frankfort, 1822. 

Collections of Acts of the Legislature, published by order of the two Houses from 
time to time. 

Messages of the governors of the State, published in the journals of the two 
houses of the legislature, from time to time. 

Reports of committees on education of the two houses, published in like manner. 

A History of Federal and State Aid to Higher Education, by Frank W. Blackmar, 
Ph. D., Washington, 1890. 

The History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, by Rev. Robert Davidson, 
D.D., New York, 1847. 

Early Catholic Missions in Kentucky, 1787-1827, by Right Rev. M. J. Spalding, 
Louisville, 1844. 

The Life and Writings of John Filson, by R. T. Durrett, LL. D., Louisville, 1884. 

The Life and Times of Judge Caleb Wallace, by Rev. W. H. Whitsitt, D. D., LL. D., 
Louisville, 1888. 

The Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky, published by J. M. Armstrong & Co., 
Cincinnati, 1878. 

A History of Fayette County, Ky., by Robert Peter, M. D., edited by W. H. Perrin, 
Chicago, 1882. 

Sketches of Louisville and Its Environs, by H. McMurtrie, M. D., Louisville, 1819. 

Report of the Commissioners Appointed by the General Assembly to Collect Infor- 
mation and Prepare and Report a System of Common Schools, Frankfort, 1822. 

Articles on Education in Kentucky, by T. M. Goodknight, A.M., in the Southern 
School; Lexington, from June 1, 1893, to July 31, 1894 (extend up to February, 1844). 



30 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The American Joarnal of Education (especially volumes 4 and 5)^ edited by 
W. Russell, 5 volumes, Boston, 1826-1830. 

The American Annals of Education (especially volume 1), edited by W. C. Wood- 
bridge, 6 volumes, Boston, 1831-1836. 

Barnard's American Journal of Education, 16 volumes, Hartford, 1855-1866. 

THE OLD-FIELD SCHOOLS. 

Existing at the same time with the academies were a species of schools 
which are probably frequently met with elsewhere in the early history 
of the States, especially south of New England, but which had, in Ken- 
tucky, a somewhat characteristic development and a local color. They 
were also for a long time a considerable factor in her educational system, 
lasting, as they did, up to comparatively recent times, and only being 
displaced by the present public-school system in its later and more 
complete form. These facts entitle these schools, although not strictly 
lying within the scope of this monograph, to something more than a 
passing notice. 

They were ordinarily denominated ^' Old-field"^ schools, and were the 
kind of schools mainly existing until the last generation in the more 
remote agricultural districts of the State, where access to the acade- 
mies, which were located in the towns, was difficult. They were long 
the only means of education available to a large part of the rural pop- 
ulation, they and the academies constituting the two principal streams 
of education in the early history of the State. As we have seen, the 
very earliest schools of the State, as those of Mrs. Goomes, at Harrods- 
burg, in 1776 ; of May, at McAfee's, in 1777 ; of Doniphan, at Boonesboro, 
in 1779, and of McKinney, at Lexington, 1780, the four schools ante- 
dating Transylvania Seminary, were all probably of this type. 

As soon as a community was fairly settled one of the first things 
undertaken was the building of a schoolhouse, also usually a church, 
partly by joint subscription, but mainly by joint labor, to meet their 
educational as well as spiritual needs. These schoolhouses, espe- 
cially in early days, were of the most primitive pattern. They were 
built of logs, usually unhewn, the cracks being at most only half 
chinked, with " stack ''^ chimneys, and clapboard doors and windows, 
the latter as a rule being without frames or panes, although greased 
paper was sometimes used in lieu of glass. There was often no floor at 
all except the earth, and if there was, it was made of rude puncheons — 
split logs, with the hewn side turned up. The only desks to be had 
were the same rude puncheons, fixed in various ways, with legs inserted 
in auger holes or otherwise, at the proper height for sitting and writ- 
ing, and without, as a rule, any backs of any kind to them. The only 

^ The name probably arose from the fact that the schoolhoases were nsiially built 
in some old clearing, often a spot formerly occupied by the Indians for agricultural 
purposes. The term ' ' Hedge row " is applied to them by Professor Shaler (History of 
Kentucky, page 139), but the writer has never seen the term used elsewhere in refer- 
ence to them, nor has he over heard it used in western Kentucky, where the name 
"Old-fiehP' is frequently used by elderly peoplo. 

^ A name applied to a rough chimney built of logs and daubed with mud. 



SOME INTERESTING FEATURES OF EA.RLY EDUCATION. 31 

really comfortable thing about the whole structure in winter was the 
glow of the great fireplace, where huge logs were generously heaped, 
and in summer the breezes which circulated almost unhindered through 
the poorly chinked cracks. 

In this rude educational house a teacher was installed and supported, 
as far as it could be called a support, by the pro rata subscriptions of 
the farmers of the neighborhood, a common rate of tuition being £1 7s. 
a year per pupil. The tuition fees were mostly paid in such articles as 
tobacco— then a legal tender in Kentucky, bear bacon, buffalo steak, 
jerked venison, furs, pot metal, bar iron, linsey, hackled flax, young 
cattle, pork, corn, or whisky, usually not over one-fourth of it being 
paid in money, a rare commodity on the then frontier. 

Some of the teachers of these early schools, as Doniphan, were men 
of high standing, often following, for a great part of their time, the 
calling of a surveyor, then an honorable and lucrative one; but most 
of them were not, the character of the teacher and the methods he used 
being often almost as primitive as the house he occupied. He was 
usually some elderly man, of that or an adjoining neighborhood, who 
was supposed to have some education, but whose main qualification for 
the position was often that he did not know how, or did not care, or 
have the energy to do anything else, having probably failed in every- 
thing else he had undertaken; or he was some stranger, a traveling 
Irishman, or Englishman, or a wandering Yankee, whose qualifications 
for the place were presumed from the fact that he had seen a good deal 
of the world. 

These men could not have made teaching a profession, as their wages 
were very low. When teaching, however, they were required to take 
up early and turn out late, giving short recesses and noon intermis- 
sions, the idea being that they must earn their money. They were 
otherwise practically under no supervision, except such as the pupils 
chose to put upon them, and taught according to their own peculiar 
theories, temperaments, and habits. They were often as rough and 
passionate as they well could be, and liberal in their use of the rod, 
even knocking down impertinent pupils; while, on the other hand, 
some of them allowed the scholars to do as they pleased. All, as a 
general thing, had written rules, which were frequently read and usu- 
ally vigorously enforced, the pupils often dreading the frown and birch 
of the master more than the screams of the wild animals they some- 
times heard on their way to and from the lonely schoolhouse. 

The instruction given in the first of these schools consisted of reading, 
writing, and ciphering to the rule of three. The teacher had to be 
an expert penmaker, but his instruction in writing rarely extended 
beyond " capitals " and ^' large joining-hand." ^ Geography and arith- 
metic were taught orally — the former especially — often in doggerel 
vei*se, which was frequently sung in recitation and in studying, the 
pupils who were not reciting adding to the monotonous uproar of 



Porriii, Battle and Kniffen's History of Kentucky, p. 220. 



32 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

the class by studying aloud, as they were usually allowed to do. The 
only text books used at first were Dilworth's Speller and the Bible; 
later Webster's Spelling Book and Murray's English Eeader and 
Grammar were introduced. Afterwards more mathematics and some 
classical instruction were added to the course in many schools, thus 
materially enlarging the education offered. 

As already remarked, practically the only supervision to which the 
teacher was subjected was exercised by the pupils. This was regu- 
lated by custom, with which the patrons of the school never in any 
way interfered as long as it was at all within reason. It only con- 
cerned such things as treats upon certain recognized occasions, the 
granting of holidays, and similar matters, and was enforced by the 
larger boys of the school, who rode the teacher upon a rail, ducked 
him in some convenient spring or pond, or otherwise made things 
so unpleasant for him that he was forced to yield. A very common 
practice was '' to turn him out" until he granted the desired concession. 
This is well illustrated by the following characteristic incident taken 
from an article by Col. E. T. Durrett, in the Louisville Courier- Journal, 
of April 2, 1881 : 

On the 28tli of April, 1809, the first show, as the boys called it, occurred in Louis- 
ville. It was the exhibition of an elephant, and there was a general uprising in all 
the schools for a holiday. The Jefferson Seminary and the schools at the head of 
which were teachers conversant with the habits of the place gave the boys a holi- 
day without trouble, but there was a New England teacher, recently come to the 
charge of one of the log schoolhouses, who could not understand why the boys 
were to be permitted to lay aside their books a whole day to see an elephant. He 
would not grant the holiday asked and the boys went to work in the usual way to 
make him yield. On the morning of the 28th the Yankee teacher, as they called 
him, came to his schoolhouse and found the door well barred with benches, fence 
rails, and logs of wood, and the boys all inside laughing at his futile attempts to 
get in. They promptly told him the terms upon which the fort would be surren- 
dered, which were simply to give them that day as a holiday, so they could go to 
see the elephant. The teacher was indignant, and not being able to get through 
the door, climbed upon the roof and attempted to descend the chimney. For this 
contingency the boys had prepared a pile of dry leaves, and when the teacher's legs 
appeared at the top of the chimney the leaves were lighted in the fireplace. Down 
came the teacher, for having once started he could not go back and the flames 
scorched him and the smoke smothered him, so that he was the powerless autocrat 
of the school and knight of the ferule. He gave the holiday and went home to lay 
up for repairs, as the boys expressed it, and the boys went to the show as if nobody 
had been either burnt or smoked. 

Such were the methods of discipline and of teaching in the '^ old- 
field " schools, which, as has been said, were to be found in many parts 
of Kentucky until the last period of her educational history. In fact, 
some of somewhat similar type, in so far as schoolhouses at least are 
concerned, are still to be found in the out-of-the-way parts of the 
State; but their methods are far in advance of the primitive ones we 
have just described. These, for several generations, furnished to a 
large part of the agricultural population of the State the rudiments of 
an education which they would otherwise have b«en unable to secure. 



SOME INTERESTING FEATURES OF EARLY EDUCATION. 33 

They were of great service in their day and time, being for a long 
period practically the only schools accessible to many, especially to 
girls, whose education must otherwise have been almost entirely 
neglected. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Smith's History of Kentucky; Perrin, Battle and Kniffen's History of Kentucky. 

Proceedings of the Crittenden County Teachers* Institute, Marion, Kentucky, 1877. 

A History of Russellville and Logan County, by A. C. Finley, Russellville, 1878 
and 1879. 

Articles on Kentucky education, in the Louisville Courier-Journal for January 2, 
9, 16, 23, and 30, 1881, by R. T. Durrett, LL. D. 

Sketches of Montgomery County, by Richard Reid, Mount Sterling, 1882. 

EARLY FEMALE EDUCATION. 

It is an interesting fact that, although the first teacher in Kentucky 
was a woman, there were for a long time few schools at all for girls in 
the State, and these usually of the poorest and most primitive kind. 
Girls were excluded entirely from the early academies, and the only 
schools to which they had access, with few exceptions, were of the "old- 
field" type just described. The educational advantages ofiered in 
these were very limited as a rule, and the surroundings, at least, not 
calculated to be very refining. Professor Ohenault, quoting from Felix 
Grundy, tells us that the teachers of these early schools, which girls 
generally had to attend if they received any education at all, "were 
often destitute both of a knowledge of polite literature and good 
manners." ^ 

For a considerable period the only schools in the State claiming to 
give girls an ordinary grammar-school education were those of Eev. 
John Lyle, at Paris, and of Mrs. Keats, at Washington, Mason County. 
Our information in regard to these schools is very meager and can be 
given in a few words : 

REV. MR. LYLE'S SCHOOL. 

The Rev. John Lyle was one of the Presbyterian ministers prominent 
in the early history of Kentucky. We find him attempting to supply 
the great lack of educational facilities for girls, by opening, in 1806, at 
Paris, the first * female seminary in the West, if not in the United 
States. Mr. Lyle appeared to advantage as a teacher, and soon had 
a flourishing school of some 200 or more^ pupils. He continued his 
school until 1809 or 1810,* when he is said^ to have closed it because 

^ Smith's History of Kentucky, p. 699. 

^Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 26. 

^CoUins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 26, says there were from 150 to 300 pupils, 
while page 483 of the same work gives the numbei^ as from 150 to 200. Foote's 
Sketches of Virginia, first series, page 554, says the school sometimes had more than 
200 pupils. 

* CoUins (Vol, I, p. 483) says he declined to teach in 1809, while Sprague (Annals of 
the American Pulpit. Vol. IV, p. 179) says he withdrew from the seminary about 1810, 

^ By Foote and Sprague, as above. 
2127— No. 25 3 



34 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

others connected with the enterprise refused to allow the Bible to be 
read publicly in the school. Mr. Lyle then went into the active work 
of the ministry, in which he labored with success for many years after- 
wards.' His severing his connection with the school seems to have 
broken it up, as we do not hear of it again. 

MRS. KKATS'S SCHOOL. 

The other female school in the State at this period, which is also said^ 
to be one of the most celebrated in the West at the time, was that 
taught by Mrs. Louisa Fitzherbert Keats, and was located at Wash- 
ington, for some time the most important town in Mason County. Here, 
we are told, the daughters and wives of many of the distinguished men 
of the State were educated. The school was opened in 1807 and closed 
in 1812, We do not know for what reason. 

OTHKR EARLY FEMALE SCHOOLS. 

Just at the time of the closing of Mrs. Keat's school, Loretto Acad- 
emy was opened in what is now Marion County, and was followed, in 
1814, by Nazareth Academy, in Nelson County. Not long afterwards, 
in 1825, Mrs. Tevis and her husband established Science Hill at Shelby- 
ville. Four years earlier Lafayette Seminary had been founded at Lex- 
ington. Tliis last school, while having a considerable attendance and 
reputation for a time,^ does not seem to have had an extended history. 
Loretto, Nazareth, and Science Hill were, however, long the principal 
seats of female education, not only in Kentucky, but in the Southwest 
generally, and are still flourishing in their educational usefulness. 
They will, on this account, although a considerable part of their work 
is now to be classed as secondary and so lying outside the scope of this 
monograph, demand a more extended consideration at our hands in 
connection with the history of the female colleges of the State. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Foote's Sketches of Virginia, first series. 

CoUins's Sketches of Kentucky. 

Collins's History of Kentucky. 

Sketches of Paris and Bourbon County, by G. R. Keller and .J. M. McCann, Paris, 
1876. 

The Annals of the American Pulpit, by Rev. W. B. S])rat5ue, D. D., LL. D., 9 vol- 
umes, New York, 1859-1869. 



^From Collins and Sprague, as above, we learn he was born in Virginia, in 1769; 
was educated at Liberty Hall (now Washington and Lee University"), and was 
licensed to preach the Gospel in 1795. He came to Kentucky as a Presbyterian 
missionary in 1797 or 1798. His death occurred in 1825. 

^Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 557. 

^An annual announcement of the seminary for 1825 says it was visited by Lafay- 
ette on May 16, 1825. It then had nine instructors and one hundred and thirty-live 
pupils, and in the previous four years had had altogether three hundred and sixty- 
six pupils. It is said to furnish every facility * ' for making thorough and accomplished 
scholars." 



CHAPTER III. 

TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY, 



Transylvania University was formed by the union of Transylvania 
Seminary and Kentucky Academy, the history of each of which we will 
tracer separately until they are merged into the more general and larger 
institution, the university proper. ^ 

TRANSYLVANIA SEMINARY. 

We have seen in connection with the investigation of the early State 
university system that this school had its origin in the act of the Vir- 
ginia Assembly of May, 1780, for the conception and passage of which 
Rev. John Todd, of Virginia, and his nephew, Col. John Todd, of Ken- 
tucky, are entitled to lasting credit anil honor. This act,' which has 
been quoted at length in connection with the inauguration of the early 
academies, put the endowment of 8,000 acres of land in the hands of 
thirteen trustees, including Colonel Todd himself and several other 
prominent men of Kentucky, then the western frontier county of Vir- 
ginia, and declared that the seminary should be "erected within the 
said county as soon as the circumstances of the county and the state 
of its funds will admit." 

No corporate i^owers were conferred on the trustees mentioned, and 
not even a name was given to the proi)Osed school. No definite idea 
was probably entertained of its being opened at an early date, for Vir- 
ginia was then in the midst of what was to her one of the most disturb- 
ing times of the devolution, and Indian hostilities in Kentucky, while 
experiencing a temporary lull, were soon to break forth with such vio- 
lence as to bear down in their course the Ibunder, Colonel Todd- him- 
self and other trustees and valuable friends of the enterprise. The 
matter was, however, not entirely lost sight of, as we tind that on July 
1, 1780, an inquest of escheat was held near Lexington, Daniel Boone, 
so famous in the early annals of Kentucky, being one of the jurors, and 



' Toulmin's Acts of Kentucky, p. 462; LittelFs Laws of Kentucky, Vol. Ill, p. 571; 
Hening's Statutes at I.argc of Virginia, Vol. X, p. 288. 

2 Col. John Tiuld and Col. Stephen Trigg were killed in the disastrous battle of the 
Blue Licks, fought on August 19, 1782. Col. John Floyd was killed from ambush near 
Floyd's Station, on April 12, 1783. John May, another trustee, was also killed in a 
boat on the Ohio Kiver in the early part of 1790. 

35 



36 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

4,000 acres of the land given to the seminary was condemned and appro- 
priated to its uses. This land, together with the remainder of the 
original donation, which was condemned later, is described as '^as good 
as any in the country." 

Nothing more seems to have been done until May 5, 1783, when 
another act' was passed by the Virginia Assembly, largely, at least, 
through the influence and efforts of Hon. Caleb Wallace,^ then a repre- 
sentative in that body from the county of Lincoln, in the District"* of 
Kentucky, and later one of the justices of its supreme court when 
Kentucky became a State. Judge Wallace was perhaps more thor- 
oughly identified with the cause of education, at least higher education, 
in Kentucky than any other one man before or since his time. We 
have already noticed somewhat his connection with the founding of 
Transylvania Seminary, and shall see him later taking an equally 
prominent part in establishing its rival, Kentucky Academy, and then 
in uniting the two into Transylvania University. 

The preamble of the act of 1783, after quoting the act of 1780 donat- 
ing public land to the school, gives the reason for its own enactment 
as follows: 

And whereas it hath been represented to this general assembly that voluntary 
contributions might be obtained from individuals in aid of the public donation, 
were the number of said trustees now alive and willing to act, increased, and such 
powers and privileges granted to them, by an act of incorporation, as are requisite 
for carrying into effect the intentions of this legislature in the said act more fully 
recited : Be it therefore enacted; etc. 

The act goes on to name as trustees twenty-five men, the most promi- 
nent in the district, including Judge Wallace and seven of the trus- 
tees under the former act. Their names are worthy of being men 
tioned on account of their prominence in other matters as well as those 
of education, embracing as they do future governors, generals, judges 
of circuit and supreme courts, legislators and prominent lawyers, physi- 
cians, and ministers. They are as follows: William Fleming, William 
Christian, Benjamin Logan, John May, Levi Todd, John Cowan, 
Edmund Taylor, Thomas Marshall, Samuel McDowell, John Bowman, 
George Eogers Clarke, John Campbell, Isaac Shelby, David Eice, John 
Edwards, Caleb Wallace, Walker Daniel, Isaac Cox, Eobert Johnson, 
John Craig, John Mosby, James Speed, Christopher Greenup, John 

^Toulmin's Acts of Kentucky, pp. 463-467; Littell's Laws of Kentucky, Vol. Ill, 
pp. 571-576; Hening's Statutes at Large, VoL XI, p. 283. 

'-^See Whitsitt's Life and Times of Judge Caleb Wallace, especially pp. 122-135; 
also Bishop's History of the Church in Kentucky for forty years (containing the 
Memoirs of Rev. David Rice), pp. 96-97. 

3 Kentucky was at first a part of Fincastle County, Va. It was first made a separ- 
ate county by an act going into operation on December 31, 1776, and by an act going 
into efi'ect November 1, 1780, was called the District of Kentucky^ and was divided 
into the counties of Jefferson, Fayette, and Lincoln. See Littell's Laws of Kentucky, 
Vol. I, p. 626. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 37 

Crittenden, and Willis Green. The name Transylvania ' is then for the 
first time given to the proposed seminary, and it is granted 12,000 
acres ^ of other escheated lands in addition to the 8,000 acres already 
bestowed. The 20,000 acres are also exempted from taxation and the 
teachers and students from militia duty. The trustees are made by 
the act a self-perpetuating body on the principle of cooptation and 
are given in general — 

"All the powers and privileges tbat are enjoyed by the visitors or governors of any 
college or university within the State." They are also given the right to confer, by 
diploma signed by the president and five of the trustees, the degree of bachelor or 
master of arts ''upon all such students, if such there be, as the said trustees, with the 
concurrence of a majority of the professors, shall adjudge to have merited the honor 
of the seminary by their virtue and erudition," and at the same time confer "any 
honorary degree which, with the same advice, shall be adjudged to other gentlemen 
on account of merit." 

You will observe that we have here, under the name of a seminary, 
all the provisions of a college charter; in fact, this very charter, with 
its powers and privileges not materially changed, as far as can be ascer- 
tained, was the one under which a university was afterwards operated. 

We have already seen that the seminary, by reason of its plan of 
endowment and in its purposes, was looked upon as a State institu- 
tion, but it is also to be noted that most of its chief promoters were 
Presbyterians, a denomination then and for some time afterwards largely 
predominant, as an intellectual factor at least, in Kentucky affairs, and 
quite a large majority of its first active board of trustees, just men- 
tioned above, were members of that church and prominent in its coun- 
cils. The Presbyterians are undoubtedly entitled to the credit of 
inaugurating higher education in Kentucky. ^ Transylvania Seminary, 
the first institution in the State, distinctively one of higher education, 
owed its origin to their initiative, and was opened under their auspices. 
In purpose and name it was a State institution, but in organization it 
was really Presbyterian by reason of its cooptative board of trustees 

' This name a classical synonym for * back woods', or frontier, was borrowed from the 
use of it by Col. Richard Henderson, of North Carolina, and his followers who, in 1775, 
by the purchase from the Cherokees of the portion of the State between the Kentucky 
and Cumberland rivers, attempted to set up an independent government in Ken- 
tucky^ under the name of Transylvania, in defiance of the claims of Virginia, to 
which they soon had to submit. The use of the name for the school was in one way 
rather appropriate, as its founder, Colonel Todd, had been a representative in the 
temporary legislature, organized by Colonel Henderson at Boonsborough in May, 
1775. Colonel Todd had come to Kentucky from Virginia just prior to that date. 
Later in the spring of 1780 he was sent as a delegate from the County of Kentucky 
to the Virginia Assembly. See Morehead's Boonsborough Address, pp. 34-35 and 
79-81. 

2 Davidson tells us, (Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 289), that when Ken- 
tucky became an independent State in 1792, she so modified her laws of escheat, in 
order to encourage settlers, that the Seminary was deprived of this 12,000 acres and 
was only left the original 8,000 acres. 

^ See Davidson's Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, pp. 314 et seq. 



38 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

being largely of that denomination. The bad results of this unfortunate 
union of church and state soon began to appear. 

The trustees met, according to the requirements of the charter, on 
November 10, 1783, "at John Crow's Station, near Danville," which 
town had lately been made the capital of the district,^ and was also at 
that time its intellectual center, and organized with Rev. David Rice, 
ordinarily called ** Father" Rice, ^ the oldest and in some respects the 
most prominent Presbyterian minister of the western country, as 
chairman. 

Mr. Rice was born in Virginia, in 1733, had graduated from Prince- 
ton College, New Jersey, in 1761, and had later studied theology under 
Rev. John Todd. He had already been among the founders of what 
is now Hampden- Sidney College, in his native State, and having come 
to Kentucky in the spring of 1783, at once took a natural interest in 
the new educational enterprise just starting there. He remained con- 
nected with the seminary board until July 18, 1787, during which time 
he took quite an active part in its affairs. We shall subsequently find 
him equally active in raising up its rival Kentucky academy. His 
successor as chairman of the seminary board was Judge Harry Innes,^ 
of the district court, who presided over its meetings for several years. 

As has been said above, this original grant, as quoted also in the 
charter of 1783, required the school to be opened as soon as the condi- 
tion of the country and the state of its funds would admit. We have 
seen that the extremely unsettled state of affairs in the pioneer district 
was at first an insurmountable obstacle. It continued to be a hin- 
drance for some time to come, but soon the second of the conditions was 
the greater difl&culty of the two. No funds from the endowment lands 
were yet available, and no other means were at hand to inaugurate 
the enterprise. Good lands were abundant and cheap in the district, 
just then fairly settled, and the seminary lands could consequently 
neither be sold for much, nor rented, nor leased in such a way as to 
bring in much immediate income. The policy of the trustees from the 
beginning was to lease* these lands for comparatively long periods at 
a low rate, trusting to the growth of the country to increase their 
value and consequent returns. All the board seems to have done at 
their first meeting was to elect a chairman and appoint a committee to 
solicit subscriptions of money or property for the enterprise. They 



• By having been made the seat of the supreme court of the district in 1783. 

2 So called from his fatherly care over the infant Presbyterian churches in the 
State. At this time he was only about 50 years of ago. For sketches of his life see 
Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 460, and Sprague's Annals of the American 
Pulpit, Vol. Ill, p. 248. 

^Also spelled Innis, but this seems at least the preferable spelling. 

"♦The arrangements for the lirst important lease, Bradford tells us (Notes, p. 438), 
were made on October 14, 1788, after which date the school began to derive some 
income from this source, but the returns under the lease system never seem to have 
been very large. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 39 

recognized the imperative need of sach a school in a young and 
rapidly growing community, and so issued their call for aid in its early 
establishment. 

There seems, however, not to have been much response to this call, 
and what few small subscriptions were received seem to have been 
mainly contributed by the trustees themselves. The time was not 
propitious for such an undertaking. The financial trouble and distress 
due to the close of the Eevolution were augmented by troubles with 
the Indians, the contest then on being mainly that of tomahawk, scalp- 
ing knife, and rifle, and not of intellectual growth or prowess; more- 
over, the attention of the people was necessarily largely absorbed in 
subduing the wilderness and making homes and a livelihood for them- 
selves and their families. Land had to be cleared, roads opened, and 
other means of communication and civilization prepared. 

At a meeting of the board, held at Danville, March 4, 1784, one of 
the few encouragements received at this period — and quite an important 
acquisition, as such things were a great luxury in a frontier settlement, 
where they were rare and hard to obtain, owing to the imperfect facili- 
ties for transportation — came in the form of the gift of a small library 
and some philosophical apparatus from Eev. John Todd, of Virginia, 
who, although at such a great distance in that day, seems still to have 
kept a watchful eye over tbe interests of the infant institution, the 
original foundation of which he had encouraged, and who showed his 
spirit in such matters by making the donation " as an encouragement 
to science." The diflQcultv of communication at the time is well illus- 
trated by the fact that, although the trustees seem to have made early 
arrangements to have these articles transported as promptly as possi- 
ble, they were not received in Kentucky until the spring of 1789. Not- 
withstanding discouragements and the still unsettled state of the 
country, the trustees persevered, and at a meeting held on November 
4, 1784, resolved to open a grammar school " at or near the residence 
of Eev. David Eice,^ the tuition being put at 4 pistoles'^ per year, pay- 
able quarterly, and a committee being appointed to provide a suitable 
person to teach under the direction of the chairman. This committee 
reported on May 26, 1785,^ that the school had been conducted at the 
house of Eev. David Eice since the 1st of the previous February by 
Eev. James Mitchell, and that Mr. Mitchell had been then employed to 



, ^ Records of the Board of Trustees of TraosylvaDia Seminary. 

^A pistole was a Spanish coin whose value was about $3.60. Kentucky was at 
this time more directly connected financially with New Orleans than with the United 
States. 

3 This and in fact aU the other dates of the university's history up to 1818, unless 
otherwise specified, are taken from the records of the board of trustees. That the 
committee reported on this day has caused Peter (Transylvania University, p. 28) 
to give it as the natal day of the institution; and that tbe school was to bo opened 
** at or near the residence of Rev. David Rice," has caused Davidson and others to 
make Mr. Rice its first teacher. 



40 ^ HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

teach for another year. So February 1, 1785, is the natal day of Tran- 
sylvania Seminary, and Rev. James Mitchell was its first teacher. He 
received the modest salary of £30 ($100) ^ a year. The school was 
taught in the house of Mr. Rice because no other suitable place, it 
seems, could be found for it. 

Such were the humble beginnings of the first* literary institution 
west of the Alleghany Mountains, an institution which after a com- 
paratively obscure history of a few years was to blaze forth with sud- 
den effulgence and to remain for two generations the highest star of 
the Western literary firmament. We summarize from Morehead^: 

A seminary of learning in a ''barbarous neighborhood^' — a wilderness still reso- 
nant with the war whoops of the savage — chartered in the midst of great political con- 
vulsion — organized at a frontier station — on the extreme vetge of civilized society ! 
Such were the auspices under which the first literary institution of Kentucky and 
the West was established. 

We have no information as to how many pupils at first attended the 
school, but there were probably not many. Those were stirring times 
politically at Danville, where a number of the conventions* looking 
toward the separation of Kentucky from Virginia were held during the 
time of the location of the seminary there. Courage and fidelity were 
also then required of both teacher and pupils in staying at their posts, 
when the war whoop of the Indians was liable to be heard at any time 
and rifles had to be carried to and from school for protection. Political 
and other similar matters seem, at least in that community, to have 
then had by far the largest share of public attention, and the seminary 
was left to struggle on with difficulty. Mr. Mitchell, of whom we know 
little, seems to have remained something over a year and then to 
have returned to North Carolina, from which State he had probably 
come. About the only definite information^ we are able to obtain con- 

' The pound in early days in Kentucky was $3.33^^, a value which is to be always 
attached to it throughout this monograph. 

'^The facts clearly establish at least the strong probability, if not the certainty, of 
the seminary antedating Martin Academy, which subsequently developed into Wash- 
ington College, Tenn., and has been claimed by Foote (Sketches of North Carolina, 
p. 311) to be the oldest school in the Mississippi Valley. Foote says Martin Academy 
was incorporated in 1788; Merriam's Higher Education in Tennessee, p. 227, cor- 
rectly gives this date as 1783. As a matter of fact, Transylvania Seminary rests 
directly on the act passed by the Virginia assembly in May, 1783 (Acts of 1783, p. 40), 
entitled ''An act to amend an act entitled an act to vest certain escheated lands 
in the county of Kentucky in trustees for a public school,^' and indirectly on the 
earlier act here mentioned, which was passed in May, 1780 (Hening, X, 287-288). 
This earlier act vests 8,000 acres of Tory lands in thirteen trustees, who are men- 
tioned, for the beneiit of schools. In the Transylvania act of 1783 seven of these 
thirteen trustees are reappointed. The North Carolina act chartering Martin 
Academy was passed at the April session, 1783 (Martin's Private Acts of North Caro- 
lina, p. 119). 

^Boonesborough address, p. 81. 

^ Six of the nine conventions held for this purpose occurred between December, 
1784, and July, 1788. 

^Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, Vol. Ill, p. 248. 



TRANSYLVANU UNIVERSITY. 41 

cerning him is that he married the daughter of the Eev. David Bice. 
After his departure the existence of the seminary was probably for 
two or three years only nominal, as no other teacher seems, daring that 
time, to have been employed. 

The trustees, if they had ever looked upon Danville as the x>erma- 
nent seat of the school, had soon, probably by reason of the lack of 
efficient local support in its behalf, changed their ideas in this respect 
and had, as early as May 26, 1785, begun to discuss its location else- 
where. A committee of the board on June 1, 1786, reported in favor 
of its being located on the seminary lands 2^ miles south of Lexington. 
The legislature of Virginia, again appealed to in behalf of the strug- 
gling enterprise, passed an act on December 13, 1787,' granting to the 
seminary one-sixth of the surveyor's fees in the district of Kentucky, 
which by a general law, together with a similar share of these fees 
throughout the State, had formerly been bestowed upon William and 
Mary College — an act which might have materially helped the school 
out of its financial troubles if its provisions had not been so defective 
as to make it practically inoperative until an additional act of Decem- 
ber 20, 1790,^ made it effective by attaching the proper penalties to its 
violation. 

Meanwhile all efforts at endowment at Danville by private subscrip- 
tion had failed, and the trustees, having continued to discuss the matter 
of location, finally, on April 17, 1788, resolved to hold their next stated 
meeting in Lexington, probably partly with the view, as has been 
noted, of soon locating the seminary on the endowment lands near 
there, and partly because they thought the school would receive a more 
favorable public consideration in that town. The celebrated John 
Filson,^ then teaching in Lexington, took a considerable interest in the 
enterprise about this time, and through his articles in the Kentucky 
Gazette '^ and otherwise was perhaps one influence in causing this 
action of the trustees. We accordingly find the board meeting in 
Lexington October 13, 1788, and without finally deciding the question 
of location, which was discussed, resolving to open the school in that 

^Toulmin's Acts of Kentucky, p. 136; LitteU's Laws of Kentucky, Vol. Ill, p. 576. 

^Toulmin's Acts of Kentucky, pp. 136, 137; Littell's Laws of Kentucky, Vol. Ill, 
pp. 577, 578. Davidson tells urf (Presbyterian Churcli in Kentucky, p. 289) that this 
law was repealed by Kentucky in 1802. The writer has not been able to fiud any 
such repealing act in any of the early collections he has seen, but has found an act 
of June 23, 1792 (Acts of 1792-1797, p. 171), which suspended the act of 1790 for one 
legislative session. It is quite certain that the seminary did not get the benefit of 
these surveyors^ fees for very long nor was its income from them ever very large. 

'^See references to sketches of Filson^s life in Chapter I, p. 12. 

"^The Kentucky Gazette was established in Lexington, Ky., by John Bradford and 
his brother. Fielding Bradford,^ on August 11, 1787, and was the second oldest news- 
paper published in the Mississippi Valley, being only antedated a few weeks by the 
Pittsburg Gazette. A number of bound volumes of the early numbers of the Ken- 
tucky Gazette are now in the city library of Lexington, and furnish much valuable 
information on the public affairs of the time, in which its editor, John Bradford, 
took an able and prominent part. 



42 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

town, a convenient property to be rented until suitable buildings were 
erected on the seminary lands or elsewhere. Two days later they 
api)ointed Elias Jones as ''professor" in the seminary, at a salary of 
£100, payable quarterly from March 1, 1789, and made arrangements, 
if the number of pupils Justified it, to have a grammar master at £60, 
and an usher, also, if needed. A subscription paper was at the same 
time drawn up to secure building funds. 

Tlie response by the Lexington public does not seem, however, to 
have been at the first much, if any, better than that of the people of 
Danville; and probably because the revenue from the leased lands — its 
only source of income at the time — was too small to pay his salary, 
Mr. Jones seems never to have taught at all in the school, as we find 
the trustees, on April 15, 1789, resolving to have only a grammar 
master, assisted by an usher if there were more than fifteen pupils. 
The arrival at this time of the library and apparatus given by Eev. 
Mr. Todd seems to have been some encouragement, and it was decided 
to open the school immediately at some convenient place. This con- 
venient place does not seem to have been easy to find at first, and an 
advertisement ^ for a teaclier, inserted in the Kentucky Gazette, did 
not even receive a ready response. Mr. Isaac Wilson, who had been 
for some time master of Lexington grammar school, however soon 
applied in answer to the advertisement, and after being examined by a 
committee of the board on May 22, 1789, was employed to teach for six 
months from June 1, 1789, "at the public schoolhouse adjacent to the 
Presbyterian meetinghouse, near Lexington." ^ This building was 
probably the seat of the school of which Mr. Wilson had been for some 
time master, and the two schools were thus probably united for the 
time. Mr. Wilson's salary was to be at the rate of £100 per annum, 
and the tuition rate in the seminary was fixed at £3 per annum. 

The new master opened the school at the appointed date, June 1, 
1789, which is the opening day of the school in Lexington. He went 
to work with a will, it seems, making a considerable success, at least 
locally, with the school, and on April 10, 1790, what may be called the 
first public college commencement probably occurring in the Missis- 
sippi Valley was held in Lexington. The following description of this 
commencement is taken from the Kentucky Gazette of April 26, 1790: 

Friday, the 10th instant, was appointed for examination of the students of the 
Transylvania Seminary by the trustees. In the presence of a very respectable audi- 
ence several elegant speeches were delivered by the boys, and in the evening a 
tragedy acted, and the whole concluded with a farce. The several masterly strokes 
of eloquence throughout the performance obtained the general applause, and were 
acknowledged by an universal clap from all present. The good order and decorum 
observed throughout the whole, together with the rapid progress of the school in 
literature, reflects very great honor on the president. 



1 In the issue of April 25, 1789. 

2 From an advertisement in the Kentucky Gazette of June 6, 1789, which speaks 
of the school as already in operation. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 43 

The act of December 20, 1790, besides grautiag to it the surveyors' 
fees, gave to the seminary- the use of the house it occupied free of rent 
after January 1, 1791, '' so long as the public shall have no use for the 
same." The needed subscriptions which had been solicited not being 
forthcoming, loans and even a lottery scheme * were resorted to in vain 
to supply a permanent house for the school. Mr. Wilson had been 
reelected from time to time, but the number of scholars on April 13, 
1791, was reported to have fallen from thirteen to five, probably largely 
on account of the Indian wars then raging, and as these wars had 
greatly reduced the income from the surveyors' fees, the tuition was 
raised from £3 to £4. At the same time Mr. Wilson severed his con- 
nection with the school. 

On September 1, 1791, Rev. elames Moore, a Presbyterian clergyman, 
lately come to the State from Virginia, succeeded Mr. Wilson as master. 
The latter probably reestablished Lexington grammar school, or 
academy, in the house lately occupied by the seminary, for we hear 
later of overtures from the seminary trustees looking toward its union 
with Lexington academy, and the seminary seems never to have occupied 
its former quarters again. Its master, Rev. James Moore, undoubtedly 
conducted the school for some time in his own house, as is evidenced 
by certain allowances made to him on various occasions by the trustees 
in the way of rent. Mr. Moore's salary the first term^ was £25 and 
the tuition fees, and the second term £30 and the tuition fees, he being 
allowed in each case to charge an extra fee ^* for the Roman and Greek 
classics." The income from the surveyors' fees and leased lands soon 
improved somewhat, and the seminary gradually became more prosper- 
ous under Mr. Moore, whose salary was made £50 at the beginning of 
his second year, but the existence of the school was still somewhat 
precarious and its location still undecided until April 8, 1793, when the 
offer of the Transylvania Land Company was accepted and the insti- 
tution permanently located in Lexington. 

^ Although the writer has been able to find no such act of Virginia, the records of 
the trustees show that a scheme of a lottery for raising £500 for the purpose of 
erecting a building for the seminary was adopted by the board on April 12, 1791, 
pursuant to an act of the general assembly. There is an advertisement of this lot- 
tery in the Kentucky Gazette of April 23, 1791, signed by a committee of seven of 
the trustees, and containing the following expression of what would now be consid- 
ered a singular blending of moral ideas: ''Since the cultivation of the moral virtues 
of the heart, as well as the advancement of the knowledge of the rising generation, 
is an object equally interesting to every good citizen, it is earnestly hoped that this 
scheme will attract the attention and patronage of the public." A notice in the 
issue of April 21, 1792, says that the drawings of the first class of the lottery will 
take place on June 20, 1792. The amount realized from the plan does not seem to 
have been large. 

'^The college year for many years in the early history of Kentucky was divided 
into two terms, one beginning in May, the other in November, April and October 
being vacation months. The stated meetings of the seminary trustees always 
occurred in these last two months. 



44 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

This Transylvania Land Company was composed of John Bradford 
and other prominent and pnblic-spirited citizens of the town, who, hav- 
ing organized themselves in a corporate capacity shortly before that 
time, on March 27, 1792, purchased a lot ' (now Gratz Park), upon which 
a plain two-story brick house had been previously erected, which, on 
October 10, 1792, they oflPered to present to the seminary on condition 
of its permanent location in Lexington. This ofter was accepted by 
the trustees on April 8, 1793, when arrangements were made "to make 
the house habitable"* for the school. Lexington was then rapidly 
becoming the most important commercial point in the upper Mississippi 
Valley, ^ a position it was to hold for some time to come, and was there- 
fore a very favorable location for a college or university. The perma- 
nent location there of the seminary which was soon to develop into a 
university made the town for two generations "the literary capital of 
the West," and helped it to hold the political supremacy of the State 
for a time. The organization of the Transylvania Land Company was 
the beginning of a policy of generously fostering the educational enter- 
prises in its midst, in which, as a rule, from that time forward, the town 
has never faltered. The members of the new company especially took 
a great interest in the future welfare of the seminary, to whose board 
of trustees a number of them were soon elected, John Bradford becom- 
ing president of that body in 179 5 and remaining so for many years. 

Mr. Moore was continued at the head of the school, which now at last 
had' a settled home, and the greater prosperity of which, at least finan- 
cially, is shown by the fact that on October 10, 1793, the master's 
salary was fixed at £100 per annum, and he was authorized to employ 
an usher at £60, to teach the "Latin and Greek classics," and an Eng- 
lish teacher at a salary of £15, and the tuition in that department 
which was fixed at £2 10s., the tuition in the classical department being 
£4. Arrangements were also made to admit, free of tuition, as many as 
ten orphan boys. The general condition of the institution is shown 
by the following advertisement taken from the Kentucky Gazette of 
December 6, 1793, the original spelling being retained: 

The Transylvania Seminary is now well supplied with teachers of natural and 
moral philosophy, of the mathematics, and of the learned languages. An English 
teacher is also introduced into the Colledge who teaches Heading, Writing, Arith- 
metic and the English Grammar. 

' Known as lot No. 6 

3 From the nature of the articles purchased for this purpose, which were locks, 
hinges, glass, etc., the house was evidently an old one, already on the lot when 
acquired by the company and not a new one erected after the purchase of the lot 
by them, as is stated by several writers on the subject. Neither do the records show 
that the seminary was required to pay for this building, as is also frequently stated. 
The cost of the house is given as £400. 

-' Espy, in his Tour in Kentucky and Indiana in 1805, p. 8, says that its main street 
then had much the appearance of Market street in Philadelphia. He adds that his 
brother, who was then at Transylvania University, was making considerable pro- 
ficiency **in the dead languages and in general science." 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 45 

The advertisement concludes with the following statement: 

This Semiuary is the best seat of education on the Western Waters ; and it is to 
be hoped the time is not far distant when even prejudice itself will not think it 
necessary to transport our youths to the Atlantic States, to compleat their education. 

John Price was the English teacher at this time, but we are not 
informed as to who the other teacher was besides Mr. Moore. The 
school had, however, hardly gotten settled in its new home and made a 
fair start toward prosperity when it experienced the first of the many 
troubles which it encountered on account of disagreement among the 
members of its self-perpetuating trustees^ind the peculiar relation in 
which it stood to religious denominations, especially the Presbyterians. 

This denomination, through whose foresight and energy the school 
had been mainly founded, was put much more on the defensive and was 
more sensitive than usual in regard to doctrinal matters on account of 
the prevalence at that time in Kentucky, especially among her public 
men,' of the French deistical philosophy of the day. This fact is to be 
constantly borne in mind in considering the attitude of the Presby- 
terians toward the seminary. They had mainly founded the school, 
but they never seemed, either then or afterwards, to have attempted to 
obtain exclusive denominational control over it, which, by reason of 
their preponderance as an intellectual factor for a long time in the 
early history of the State, they could probably have been able to 
accomplish on more than one occasion by the aid of legislative action, 
as was done in regard to other schools by other denominations.^ Their 
prominence in connection with the management and administration of 
the school for some time seems to have been, on their part, more the 
natural result of their interest in such matters than of any direct inten- 
tion to control it. It is probably true, as Davidson tells us, that they 
voluntarily retired from its board of trustees, and allowed prominent 
public men to be elected in their places in order to increase the popu- 
larity of the institution. It was doubtless in this way that they lost 
their numerical superiority in the board. They were satisfied with the 
school and were willing to patronize it as long as it conformed to their 
ideals of what such a school should be, but when its religious tone or 
teaching, by reason of other control, became what they considered 
dangerous, they simply withdrew their patronage and established one 
that better suited their ideas and aiqis, one of which was to prepare 
suitable ministers for the church; and yet they were willing to even 
take the initiative in coming back again when these difficulties were out 
of the way. They were also equally prompt to retire again and establish 
another rival when a similar emergency arose. 

' Several authorities agree that it was owing to the prevalence of these ideas prob- 
ably that ministers of the gospel were excluded from public offices under the first 
and second constitutions of the State, a state of things they considered very delete- 
rious to the interests of education, especially public-school education. 

3 For instance, in the case of Bethel Academy and the Methodist Church. 



46 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Mr. Moore had for some reason,^ which does not a])pear, become 
unsatisfactory as master of the seminary, and on February 5, 1794, Eev. 
Harry Toulmiu, a prominent Baptist minister recently come to the 
State from Virginia, was proposed as his successor. Mr. Toulmin was 
a personal friend of Thomas Jefferson, by whom he was strongly recom- 
mended for the position. He was also a man of ability, and subse- 
quently became secretary of state under Governor Garrard, but he was 
suspected of Unitarian sentiments and his friendship with Mr. Jefferson 
was not in his favor, especially in the eyes of the Presbyterians, as on 
that account he was supposed to be tinctured with French philosophy, 
or infidelity, as they considered it. His candidacy brought on a contest 
in the board, perhaps intensified by jealousy between the Baptists and 
Presbyterians, and although Mr. Toulmin was finally elected on April 
7, 1794, the Presbyterian members were greatly dissatisfied with the 
situation, and most of them resigned, either at once or soon after. Mr. 
Toulmin's salary per year was to be £100, one-half the tuition fees, and 
a residence. He was to take oflBce on October 9 following his election, 
but Mr. Moore resigned two days after that event and Mr. Toulmin was 
inducted into office on June 30, 1794. The Presbyterians determined 
at once to establish an institution more distinctively under their own 
control, to which they could transfer their patronage. Their efforts 
resulted in the founding of Kentucky Academy, the history of which 
will mainly engage our attention until the two schools are subsequently 
united. 

KENTUCKY ACADEMY. 

This school was established on account of the dissatisfaction of 
the Presbyterians with the management of Transylvania Seminary, 
especially with the election of Mr. Toulmin as its master. "Father" 
Rice, Judge Wallace, and others, prominent in founding Transylvania 
Seminary, were also leaders in establishing the new school. 

The initial step in this enterprise, and one that shows its purposes, 
was the issue by the presbytery of Transylvania on April 22, 1794, of 
an address to the people of Kentucky, Cumberland, and the Miami Set- 
tlement,^ proposing to set on foot a grammar school and public semi- 
nary, meaning by the latter term a department of collegiate grade, 
which was to be '* under their own patronage" and '' might furnish the 
churches with able and faithful ministers."^ It was to be under the 
control of the presbytery in a general way, but was not to be otherwise 



^ This was uot probably, as some have stated, because of his leaving the Presby- 
terian Church at this time on account of his trial sermon not having been sustained 
by the Presbytery, for the Presbyterians later put him at the head of their own dis- 
tinctive school, Kentucky Academy. 

^Cumberland was the country around Nashville, Tenn., then one of the principal 
centers of population in that State. Miami referred to the settlement on the Miami 
River, occupying a similar position in Ohio. 

3 Davidson's Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 291. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 47 

sectariaD. The charter of the school, granted by the State legislature 
on December 12, 1794,^ shows its spirit, which is more catholic than 
sectarian, in the following provisions : 

(Sec. 7.) The president of the said academy shall be a minister of the gospel, of 
the most approved abilities in literature and acquaintance with mankind that may be 
obtained, and zealously engaged to promote the interest of real and practical 
religion. 

(Sec. 15.) No endeavors shall be used by the president or other teachers to influ- 
ence the mind of any student, to change his religious tenets, or to embrace those of 
a difterent denomination any further than is consistent with the general belief of 
the gospel system and the practice of vital piety. 

So, while not narrow in s])irit, Kentucky Academy is the first school 
in the State to be called denominational, soon to be one of the char- 
acteristic features of Kentucky's educational institutions, although it 
was not strictly so, as it had no denominational name or legal church 
connection and was really, in organization, one of the State academies, 
the first one chartered by Kentucky as an independent State. Its 
charter conformed to the general academy plan with a cooptative 
board of eighteen trustees, its management as a somewhat distinctively 
Presbyterian institution being secured by having its trustees largely, 
if not entirely, Presbyterians, Rev. David Rice, Judge Wallace, Rev. 
James Blythe, and others, prominent in local Presbyterian circles, 
being among their number. We shall see Bethel, another of the State 
academies founded about the same time, also soon coming under a 
similar denominational control for a time. 

The presbytery, soon after issuing its address, appointed a committee 
of forty-seven as canvassers for funds to inaugurate the proposed institu- 
tion. These proceeded with vigor, and soon raised, mainly in Kentucky, 
upwards of £1,000 ($3,333), quite a respectable sum considering the 
time and the circumstances under which it was raised. In 1795, Revs. 
David Rice and James Blythe went East as commissioners from the 
presbytery to the general assembly of the church at Philadelphia, and 
while there appealed to a larger Presbyterian constituency and to 
general benevolence. They succeeded in obtaining in the Atlantic 
States subscriptions amounting to about $10,000 ^ to aid in endowing 
the new educational enterprise. Among other prominent contributors 
for this object were George Washington, John Adams, and Aaron 
Burr, the first two contributing $100 each and Burr $50.^ Washing- 
ton, in connection with making his contribution, is said to have 
inquired very carefully in regard to the state of learning and literature 
in the West, as Kentucky was then called. 

1 Littell's Laws of Kentucky, Vol. I, pp. 228-230. 

^Davidson's Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 164. 

^TTiis is as given by Davidson (Presbyterian Cburch in Kentucky, p. 124) and 
other authorities. Peter's Pennsylvania University, p. 62, gives one of the original 
subscription papers, which shows this sum to have been $40. It also shows that, 
among other prominent public men^ Robert Morris gave $100. 



48 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The first basiuess meeting of the academy trustees was held on March 
11, 1795,' when its location was decided upon and arrangements made 
to erect the necessary buildings. The new school was located at Pisgah, 
seven miles southwest of Lexington, near the home of Judge Wallace, 
and had as its initial endowment, as we have seen, about $14,000. Later, 
on September 15, 1797, it received a small but valuable library and 
some philosophical apparatus,^ amounting in all to about £80 in value, 
through Rev. Dr. Gordon, of London, contributed by himself and other 
English friends, and under the academy act of February 10, 1798,^ it 
was granted 6,000 acres of land by the State. 

Its grammar-school department seems to have been opened on October 
26, 1795,^ and had as its first teacher Rev. Andrew Steele. On April 
13, 1796, Mr. Steele was succeeded by Rev. James Moore, formerly 
master or principal of Transylvania Seminary. Mr. Moore was 
reelected to his former position in Transylvania Seminary on Septem- 
ber 23, 1796, and notices in the Kentucky Gazette show that Mr. Steele 
again took charge of the academy, John Thomson becoming his assist- 
ant on October 6, 1797, when the seminary or collegiate department 
was first arranged to be opened. We know very little of the history of 
the school, but it seems in the main to have been fairly successful dur- 
ing the period of its existence. The last meeting of its trustees occurred 
in October, 1798, when the question of its union with Transylvania 
Seminary was finally decided, and the arrangements looking toward 
that end completed. 

Meanwhile Transylvania Seminary seems to have had somewhat of a 
similar history under Mr. Toulmin. The funds of the school seem for 
some reason to have become low again, and so we find that on the day 
he took the oath of office the previous order of the trustees allowing 
free scholarships was revoked. Only two teachers were employed 
during the administration, the assistant teacher for at least most of 
the time being Jesse Bledsoe, later one of the distinguished law pro- 
fessors of Transylvania University. It is probably true that several 
of the State academies, especially Salem Academy, at Bardstown, 
being in various ways situated under somewhat more favorable circum- 
stances, were more highly prosperous about this time than either Tran- 
sylvania Seminary or Kentucky Academy. The people of most portions 
of the State, especially that around Lexington, then the commercial 
and for a time the political center of the State, were too deeply engrossed 
in the Indian wars of the Northwest, the reform of the criminal stat- 

' Bishop's Church in Kentucky, p. 97. 

"^Eanck and others mention certain antiquated pieces of apparatus, now in Ken- 
tucky University, as heing jjrohahly parts of this old donation. They probahly 
either belonged to it or to the apparatus given by Colonel Todd, or perhaps to both. 

3 See references to Toulmin and other authorities in Chapter II. 

"♦This is according to Bradford (Notes, p. 438) and is probably correct. Davidson 
says the opening occurred early in 1795, soon after the presbytery had issued its 
address. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 49 

utes, the resolutions of 1798, the free navigation of the Mississippi 
River, the acquisition of Louisiana, and similar matters to pay very 
much attention to education. Later the war of 1812 became a matter 
of all-absorbing interest, in which struggle we have accounts of teach- 
ers and scholars, especially in the "old-field" schools, enlisting almost 
en masse. 

Frequent calls for meetings through the columns of the Kentucky 
Gazette, and the passage of a law by the legislature in 1795 ' making 
seven members a quorum for all ordinary business, because it seems 
more would not attend their meetings, show that even the trustees 
were not very careful in regard to their duties. The course of study 
in Transylvania Seminary was laid out by a committee of the board 
early in Mr. Toulmin's administration, probably at his suggestion, and 
arrangements were made to enlarge the library. It is rather interest- 
ing to note the curriculum laid down, as showing the scope of the 
work then done and the ideas of classification then in use. The fol- 
lowing division of subjects is given : Professional — the Greek, Latin, 
and French languages, and bookkeeping j nonprofessional — geometry, 
geography, politics, composition, elocution, moral philosophy, astron- 
omy, history, logic, and natural philosophy. Additional library facili- 
ties were at this time secured by the foundation, on October 8, 1794, 
of what is now the city library of Lexington, then first established 
by a stock company on the share plan and for some time located in the 
seminary building. 

Mr. Toulmin was unanimously reelected at the end of his first year's 
service, bnt voluntarily retired on April 4, 1796. In a letter in the 
Kentucky Gazette, on April 9, 1796, he gives as the principal reason 
for his withdrawal the smallness of the salary attached to the ofl&ce, 
but also intimates that the state of public opinion in regard to the 
school was not very satisfactory, owing probably to the contest which 
arose at the time of his first election. Some acts^ of the legislature 
passed during his administration, which were calculated to interfere 
with the powers and rights of the trustees, but which seem never to 
. have been pressed to any definite result, are probably evidences of 
this dissatisfaction. The financial condition of the school had improved 
somewhat, as it was arranged on June 10, 1795, to erect a dormitory 
for it at a cost of £1,073J, which amount was derived from the rent of 
the seminary lands. Soon after his retirement from the seminary Mr. 
Toulmin became secretary of state under Governor Garrard and was 
subsequently a federal judge in Alabama. 

On September 23, 1796, Rev. James Moore was again called to the 
head of the seminary, with the same salary as that of his predecessor. 

' Passed December 21. See Toulmin's Acts of Kentucky, p. 467, and Littell's 
Laws of Kentucky, Vol. Ill, pp. 576-577. 

* One passed November 21, 1795, suspended the trustees from office until the end 
of that legislative session, and another, passed December 21, 1795, put them under 
the control of the court in the Judicial district in which they met. 

2127— i^o. 25 4 



50 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION TN KENTUCKY. 

The active rivalry between it and Kentucky Academy seems to have 
ceased as soon as Mr. Tonlmin, whose election had caused the sepa- 
ration, had resigned. The members of the two boards most deeply 
interested in the cause of education, particularly »Iudge Wallace, seem 
soon to have thought of the union of the two schools, desiring to build 
up an institution that might be a credit and honor to the State by com 
bining the two endowments. Moderation and good sense prevailing, 
this commendable object was at length accomplished after considerable 
discussion and deliberation. A proposition for tlie union came from the 
academy trustees as early as June 3, 1796, and on September 23 of 
that year was reported on by a committee of the seminary trustees as 
"for the public good" and "consistent with the laws." ' On October 10 
following, committees of the two boards agreed upon a plan of union 
practically the same as that subsequently adopted, but for some reason, 
although it was at first accepted by the seminary board the next day, this 
was debated and discussed at intervals for over two years, whether on 
account of the academy trustees insisting, as one of the conditions of 
union,, that the students should be required to attend prayers daily and 
church service on Sunday does not appear, although this was in the 
terms proposed by the academy trustees and may have been one of the 
questions at issue. 

Meanwhile, Transylvania Seminary, although apparently growing 
more prosperous, as is shown by the appointment, on October 10, 1797, 
at the same time that Mr. Moore was unanimously reelected, of a French 
teacher at a salary of $50 and the tuition in his department, even made 
propositions for union to another school in Lexington — Lexington 
Academy; but tinally, on !N^ovember 2, 1798, the union with Kentucky 
Academy was definitely agreed upon. This union was, upon joint peti- 
tion of the two boards drawn up November 3, 1798, and consummated 
by an act of the State legislature on December 22, 1798.^ This action was 
not indorsed by " Father " Eice and some other promoters and friends 
of Kentucky Academy, who still mistrusted the management of Tran- 
sylvania Seminary, but was largely brought about by the influence of 
Judge Wallace, a friend of both schools and ot the cause of education . 
in general. It was, as we have seen, only part of a splendid educational 
plan, of which the academy act of the same date was another part, for 
the conception of which Judge Wallace is entitled to imperishable honor. 

THE UNIVERSITY PROPER. 

January 1, 1799, the day on which the act of December 22, 1798, 
went into effect, may be truly called the natal day of Transylvania 
University, as the combined institution was called in the act of union. 
The history of the new university Jfrom this time forward may be, in 

^ Records of the Board of Trustees of Transylvania Seminary. 
2 Toulmiu's Acts of Kentucky, pp. 467-469 ; LittelFs Laws of Kentucky, Vol. II, 
pp. 234-236. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 51 

general, according to Collins, divided into four periods, as follows: 
(1) Tbat from 1799 to 1818, (2) from 1818 to 1827, (3) from 1827 to 1849, 
and (4) from 1849 to 1865. 

PERIOD FROM 1799 TO 1818. 

The joint petition of the two boards to the legislature asking for the 
act of union is of interest as showing the ideas and purposes had in 
view in their action. The main clause of its preamble reads as follows: 

That the respective boards of the said trustees, contemplating the many singular 
advantages to be derived to this remote country from promoting therein a univer- 
sity well endowed and properly conducted, more especially as by this measure 
only many of our youths can be prevented from going into other countries to com- 
plete their education, where they must greatlj^^ exhaust their fortuues, and from 
whence they may probably return with corrupted principles and morals to be the 
pests and not the ornaments of the community, and further contemplating that 
the uniting of several of the institutions of learning which have been originated 
in this country is essential to the speedy attainment of that object; therefore, the 
said boards of trustees have unanimously resolved and mutually agreed on the fol- 
lowing terms of union^ which they also consider very desirable in many points of 
view.i 

Then follows the plan of union, which will not be quoted at length. 
It was simply, in efiect, an enlargement of the Transylvania Seminary 
act of 1783, as the laws regulating the seminary were to be those regu- 
lating the university, unless altered by the legislature upon joint i)eti- 
tion of a majority of its new board of trustees, and the seat of the 
university was to be Lexington, unless changed by a two-thirds vote 
of that board. The more distinctive outlines of a university are to be 
seen in the new charter in the extensirm somewhat of the already ample 
powers conferred by the seminary charter, in the arrangement of a 
broad plan of possible union with other schools, in the system of pre- 
paratory schools provided for, as noticed in connection with the history 
of the early university system, and in the ejstablishment of free scholar- 
ships for deserving poor students. 

The new institution, by the union of the funds of the academy and 
seminary, also began to have quite a respectable endowment for the 
time. Kentucky Academy, according to a report of a committee of its 
trustees made October 1 1, 1796,^ possessed nearly $8,000 in cash, reliable 
subscriptions, books, and apparatus, besides the 6,000 acres of land 
later given to it by the State; while Transylvania Seminary had; besides 
its educational plant in Lexington, 14,000 acres of land, having, as 
Davidson^ tells us, secured an additional 6,000 acres under the general 
academy act of 1798, thus making the combined land endowment, 
according to various estimates, to be worth from $40,000 to $179,000. 
He also informs us that the combined chemical and philosophical 



* Kecords of the Board of Trustees of Transylvania Seminary. 

« £2,298 Us. lOfd., Records of Trustees of Transylvania Seminary. 

3 Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 296. 



52 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

apparatus of the new institution was good, and that its library n umbered 
1,300 volumes. 

The legislature had selected, as trustees, the list of twenty-one names 
submitted to them in the petition, instead of acrceptin^ the other alterna- 
tive proposed, to unite the two old boards and not allow any vacancies 
to be filled until twenty-one members were left. The new board was 
made up of eight members selected from each of the old ones, and five 
others, including Judge Wallace, John Bradford, George !N^icholas, 
James Garrard, and other prominent public men, and was constituted 
in such a manner as to give the Presbyterians a representation of one- 
half or more of the whole. The new body was on the same cooptative 
basis as the old one, and unfortunately some of the old factional spirit 
seems to have remained among its members. 

Eev. James Moore, now an Episcopalian, was continued at the head 
of the new university as its president, and had associated with him in 
its faculty Eev. James Blythe, M. I)., D.D., and liev. Eobert Stuart, 
both Presbyterians, the respective chairs of the three being mental 
philosophy, logic, and belles lettres, mathematics and natural philoso- 
phy, and languages. The president's salary was $500 and certain per- 
quisites, including a residence, while that of the professors was $400 
each. At their first meeting under the new regime, on January 8, 1799, 
the trustees "gave the institution the appearance of a real university 
by appointing Hon. George Nicholas, professor of law and politics, and 
Drs. Samuel Brown and Frederick Eidgely, professors respectively of 
chemistry and surgery.^ 

Mr. Nicholas had been prominent in Virginia, especially in the con- 
vention that adopted the Fecleral constitution, and is culled by Butler^ 
practically the author of the first constitution of Kentucky, to which 
State he had come shortly before the meeting of its first constitutional 
convention, and "the most eminent lawyer of his time, whether his 
learning or his powers of mind be regarded." He began a course of 
instruction in law in the university to a class of about nineteen students, 
among whom, it appears, were William T. Barry and others, subse- 
quently celebrated in Kentucky history, but died before the end of the 
year, the remaining lectures and the examination of his class being 
taken charge of on August 7 of that year by a committee of the 
trustees, themselves prominent lawyers. 

Dr. Brown is famous as being the first^ regular medical professor in 



^ The transcript of the mlautes of the trustees examined by the writer calls these 
chairs simply chairs of medicine. They are given in the list as usually stated in 
most authorities. Peter's Transylvania University, page 77, gives them as chemistry, 
anatomy, and surgery, and materia medica, midwifery, and practice of physic. It 
is quite certain that Dr. Ridgely gave lectures on surgery. 

2 History of Kentucky, p. 206. 

3 He was appointed before Dr. Ridgely. Dr. Brown vaccinated as many as 500 
people in Lexington and vicinity before any other physician in America would try 
the experiment. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 63 

the West and for his achievements in the introduction of vaccination 
into America. He was connected with the medical faculty of the uni- 
versity until 1806 and again from 1819 to 1828. 

Dr. Eidgely is noted as being the first to deliver medical lectures in 
the West and as being the preceptor of the celebrated Dr. B. W. Dud- 
ley, afterwards so long and successfully connected with the university 
faculty. Dr. Eidgely lectured about this time to a class of six medical 
students, but seems to have 'done so in an individual capacity, as 
both his appointment and that of Dr. Brown as professors in the uni- 
versity seem to have been, at this early period, merely nominal. 

On October 18, 1799, Hon. James Brown, a member of a family then 
and since very prominent in the history of the State, became Mr. 
Nicholas's successor as professor of law. This chair for the remainder 
of this period was occupied for short intervals by Henry Clay, who was 
elected October 10, 1805; James Munroe, elected October 16, 1807; 
John Pope, elected March 1, 1814, and John Breckinridge, elected April 
18, 1817, all of whom probably lectured more or less. 

On November 4, 1799, Rev. James Welch succeeded Rev. Robert 
Stuart as professor of languages. He held the position until July 17, 
1801, when some difficulty with the students caused him to resign, and 
on July 23 following Alexander McKeehan was elected to the chair. 
Gousiderable trouble seems, for some reason, to have been connected 
with this chair, for we find that, on October 7, 1802, Rev. Andrew 
Steele, formerly connected with Kentucky Academy, succeeded Mr. 
McKeehan, and that on November 3, 1803, he was succeeded by James 
Hamilton, and he in turn, on October 1, 1804, by Ebenezer Sharpe, who 
was either more fortunate or more efficient than his predecessors, for 
he held the x)osition until the end of this period. 

We know that the number of students in attendance upon the uni- 
versity was not large about the end of this period, and there were, prob- 
ably, comparatively few^ during Mr, Moore's presidency. A college 
course of fairly good compass for the time was, however, maintained, and 
op April 7, 1802, the first degree granted by the institution, that of A. B., 
was conferred on Robert R. Barr. On October 6, of the same year, the 
same degree was conferred on Josiah Stoddard Johnston and Augustine 
0. Respass. Mr. Johnston subsequently became United States Senator 
from Louisiana. 

For some reason, not apparent, a misunderstanding seems soon to 
have arisen between Mr. Moore and the trustees, and on October 4, 
1804, Dr. Blythe was asked to act as president, while still retaining 
his professorship, and on November 4 following, Mr. Moore having 
resigned the presidency, his chair was filled by the appointment of 



^ Davidson tells us that, at the close of the century, there were 45 students in the 
academio department, 19 law students, and 6 medical students. For further state- 
ments in regard to the early attendance, see Peter's Transylvania University, pp. 
90-81. 



54 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Eev. Robert H. Bishop, A. M., who held the position until 1824.^ Mr. 
Moore did not, however, lose his interest iu the institution or sever his 
connection with it entirely, as we find he became a trustee in 1805, and 
remained one for some time afterwards. He subsequently devoted 
himself mainly to the work of his church, becoming, in 1809, the flrat 
regular rector of Christ's Episcopal Church, in Lexington. He was 
distinguished for his learning, piety, and courtesy, and had done con- 
siderable under the circumstances toward laying the foundation of 
Transylvania's future prosperity.^ 

Eev. Dr. Blythe remained as acting president of the university until 
near the end of this period, during which time the institution grew in 
a sound and healthy, though moderate way. The course of instruction 
in its academic department was soon brought up to an equality with 
that of the Eastern colleges, except iu the classics, which were then 
regarded as of somewhat secondary importance in the West, and on 
October 31, 1812, an extra teacher was added to the faculty of this 
department in the person of John B. Fouchier, who was made instructor 
in French. 

Dr. Blythe also endeavored to develop the professional departments, 
especially that of medicine. Dr. Elisha Warfield had already, in 1802, 
been added to the medical faculty, as yet only prospective, as professor 
of surgery and midwifery, and in 1805 Rev. James Fishback, M. D., was 
appointed to the chair of theory and practice of medicine, thus making, 
with Dr. Brown, who held the chair ot chemistry, what may be called 
the first regular faculty of the department. No teaching was, however, 
done at this time, and all the professors resigned their chairs in 1806. 
On April 8, 1809, a more complete faculty was organized, among whom 
the celebrated Dr. Dudley appears for the first time. The professors 
and their chairs were as follows : Dr. B. W. Dudley, anatomy aud physi- 
ology; Dr. Joseph Buchanan, institutes of medicine; Dr. James Over- 
ton, materia medica, and Dr. Elisha Warfield, surgery and midwifery. 
Dr. Dudley remained in this faculty one or two years, but neither he nor 
any of his colleagues seem to have delivered any lectures at this time. 

Another reorganization of the faculty took place on November 11, 
1815, when Drs. Thomas Cooper, B. W. Dudley, Coleman Eogers, Sam- 
uel Brown, William H. Kichardson, and Charles W. b-hort were elected 
to chairs.-' All of these, however, declined except Drs. Dudley and 
liicliardson, the former of whom lectured regularly in his department 
of surgery, and the latter occassioually in 1816-17, a committee of the 
trustees reporting to this effect on February 22, 1817, when it is also 
stated that Dr. Richardson had fifteen or sixteen students in his depart- 



• He resigned at that time to become president of Miami University, Ohio. 

'^ A short sketch of Mr. Moore is to be louud iu CoUins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, 
p. 442. 

^ The first names of Drs. Cooper and Rojjjers are here taken from Peter's Transyl- 
vania University, pp. 95-96, where the chairs of all these prospective profetittors are 
also given. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 55 

ment of midwifery and would lecture regularly in the future. On 
December 10, 1816, Dr. Daniel Drake was elected professor of materia 
medica, and on February 28, 1817, Dr. James Overton became professor 
of theory and practice of medicine and Dr. Blythe was transferred to the 
chair of chemistry. These, with Drs. Dudley and llichardson, became 
the first active medical faculty of Transylvania University. They 
lectured regularly during the session of 1817-18 to a class of about 
twenty students, and in 1818 the first medical commencement in the 
Mississippi Valley was held at Lexington, the degree of M. D. being 
conferred on one candidate, John L. McOullough. 

The funds of the institution also improved during this period. The 
greater part of the original endowment grant of 8,000 acres of land, 
which had been previously leased for long terms at a low rate, had been 
sold, about 1812, for $30,000, which was invested in stociv of the Bank of 
Kentucky, and with its increments and the income accruing from other 
sources, Davidson ^ tells us, made the money endowment of the institu- 
tion, in 1812, $67,^32. 

We now begin to find many resolutions passed by the tnisees look- 
ing toward the erection of a new building, the means for wJiich were to 
be at least partly obtained by selling a portion of the old campus, which 
was to be divided by having streets^ run through it. Steps were also 
taken with a view of securing *'a gentleman of ability and talents" for 
president. Counter propositions were also made to simply repair the 
old building and let affairs proceed in much the old way. Rev. Dr. 
E. Nott, liev. John B. Komeyne,^ and finally Rev. Horace HoUey, D.D., 
were successively invited by the trustees to accept the presidency of 
the university, and then this action was rescinded in favor of retaining 
Dr. Blythe. There were evidently factions^ in the board, and strong 
difierences of opinion as to the proper policy to be pursued, rumors of 
which soon began to reach the public ear, for, as early asrDecember 29, 
1815, we hear of a legislative committee being appointed to inquire 
into the state of the institution, in answer to which action the board 
issued an address to the public, and on February 3, 1816, appointed a 
committee to defend the university before the State senate against 
calumniating reports, and two days later John Pope was employed as 
counsel for that purpose. 

In 1816 the university grounds were ornamented with shrubbery and 
otherwise greatly improved, and also considerably enlarged through 



• Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 297 ; Davidson says the sale of lands ocenrred 
about 1806, but the records of the trustees show that the principal sale occurred in 
1812. 

^ Mill and Market streets were run througli it at this period, and a small strip on 
the west, out off by Mill street^ sold to Thomas January for $1,000. The running 
through of a street from east to west and the sale of one-half the campus thus divided 
was also discussed. 

*Dr. Nott was then president of Union College, New York, and Kev. John B. 
Bomeyne was a prominent Presbyterian clergyman of New York. 

'^See Davidson's Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 298, for these faotion». 



56 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

the liberality of several friends of the iiistitation, inclading the cele- 
brated statesman Henry Clay, the Higgins lot, now the western part 
of the Kentucky University campus, having been acquired in the latter 
part of this year, partly by donation and partly by purchase. In 1817 
the erection of a large and handsome new brick building was begun. 
It was completed in 1818, was located near the center of the old cam- 
pus, was three stories in height, and contained thirty rooms. It 
included, besides the rooms set apart for a(;ademic purposes, a dormi- 
tory and refectory, witli accommodations for a hundred students. Rev. 
Luther Kice, a prominent Baptist clergyman, had been called to the 
presidency in March, 1816, and in April, 1817, Philip Lindsley, later and 
long the distinguished president of the University of Nashville, was 
elected to the position. These both declined, and on October 25, 1817, 
Dr. Holley was again balloted for, ineffectually at that time, but on 
November 25 following he was unanimously elected, at a salary of 
$2,250 ^ per annum, an amount which shows the improved financial con- 
dition of the university. After a visit to Lexington, during the follow- 
ing summer, Dr. Holley formally accepted the position. 

Dr. Blythe had, on March 23, 1810, after one or two previous resig- 
nations which he had been induced to withdraw, finally resigned his 
professorship, and with it the acting i^residency of the university. He 
had remained at its head for twelve years, during which time it had 
made considerable progress. He was too exclusive to be popular, but 
was a diligent and efficient teacher and a man of ability. Collins ^ tells 
us that he had "native strength of character, prompt decision, and a 
practical turn which enabled him to acquit himself well In every situa- 
tion." On February 28, 1817, he was elected professor of chemistry in 
the medical department of the university, which was then first regu- 
larly opened, a position which he retained until 1831, Just prior to his 
resignation in 181G the trustees had furnished him with $1,000 for the 
purchase of apparatus for the chemical department. 

On February 3, 1818, occurred what may be called the closing inci- 
dent of this period of the university's history. On that date, at whose 
solicitation it does not appear, an act^ was passed by the legislature 
removing the old board of trustees and appointing a new one of thir- 
teen members, eight of them being at the time members of the old 
board, and another, Henry Clay, having been formerly so. The new 
body was composed of prominent public men of excellent merit, but of 

' This ie the correct amount of his salary at firsts and not $3,000, as asaally stated. 
He did receive the lattef amount at a later period in his administration. The salary 
of the professors was $1,000 in 1818, and was later made as much as $1,800 in some 
cases. 

* History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 463. Another sketch of his life is to he found in 
Sprague's Annals qf the American Pulpit, Vol. Ill, p. 592. 

^'Acts of 1818, pp. 554-556: Amoug the thirteen trustees were Henry Clay, Rohert 
Trimble, Edmund Bullock, John T. Mason, jr., Robert Wickliffe, John Pope, John 
Brown, and Charles Humphreys. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 57 

no special religious pretensions or connections. The religious appre- 
hensions of the Presbyterians, especially of the old board, already per- 
haps considerably aroused by the alleged Socinianism ^ of Dr. Holley, 
the new president, whose last election had been unanimous, because 
they had refused to take any part in it, were further intensified by this 
action which they considered dangerous in its religious tendencies and 
which they also regarded as illegal,^ in that it had not been petitioned 
for by a majority of the trustees, as required by the charter. We shall 
find these circumstances rather adverse to the interests of the univer- 
sity in raising up against it a strong religious prejudice in the public 
mind generally and iu causing the Presbyterians particularly to be very 
unfavorably disposed toward the new administration and very much 
inclined to withdraw their patronage, as we shall soon see them doing. 
At the same time this act of reorganization had its beneficial effect, 
as expressed by a committee of the two houses of the legislature ia 
1827, in taking Transylvania University '* into their more immediate 
protiection,''^ and attempting to make of it more distinctively a State 
institution and to build it up into a great university under State aus- 
pices. The old board, in view of their going out of office, issued, on 
February 28, 1818, an address on the interests and prospects of the 
university, the former of which they considered of great x>ublic impor- 
tance, the latter very fiatteriug. This was their last official act. 

The attendance during this early part of the institution's history 
was not large, as the records of the trustees report, on October 18, 
1817, that there had been 77 students the past session.* The slow 
growth in the number of students may be partly accounted for by the 
preoccupation of the people in other matters and by the constant ele- 
vation of the standard of scholarship which made entrance more diffi- 
cult. Hon. Robert Wickliffe, the president of the new board of 
trustees of 1818, says in a notice in Niles's Register^ that the college is 



^ This had been noised abroad somewhat at the time of his first electiou, on Novem- 
ber 11, 1815, and was probably the cause of that action being rescinded later, when 
a committee was appointed to inquire iuto his character. 

^The language of the charter and the position taken by previous legislatures cer- 
tainly gave them good grounds for taking this position. The act of 1783 had merely 
declared **that the said trustees shall at all times be accountable for their transac- 
tions touching any matter or anything relating to said seminary in such manner as 
the legislature shall direct/' The natural inference from this was that they might 
be removed from office or otherwise punished for malfeasance, but not that their 
organization could be altered except according to the provisions of the charter 
itself. This was the construction put upon that charter by the acts of November 21, 
1795y and I>eoember 21, 1795, which did not reorganize the old board, but merely 
suspended them from office in the one case and in the other made them accountable 
for the discharge of their duties to the district court. The position taken by the 
Presbyterians was at least as tenable as the opposite one, given in Peter's Transyl- 
vania University, pp. 22-24. 

' Davidaon's Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 315. 

-'Nilee'e Regiater, vol. 23, p. 387, tells us there were 60 students in the academical 
dei»artment in the summer of 1818. 



58 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

to give an education '* as good as is given in other colleges in the 
United States." There had been altogether, including honorary 
degrees, only 22 degrees granted during this period, which may be 
called a period of substantial though gradual growth and of excellent 
preparation for future work. 

PERIOD FROM 1818 TO 1827. 

Dr. HoUey's' administration, extending from November, 1818, to 
March, 1827, is by far the most brilliant era of the university's history. 
The new president aimed to make of Transylvania a genuine univer- 
sity, complete in every college and liberally endowed. He was in 
many ways admirably fitted for the undertaking. Having graduated 
at Yale in the class of 1803, when about 22 years of age, he had, after 
studying law for a while in New York and then abandoning it for the 
ministry, pursued the study of theology under Dr. Dwight in New 
Haven, where he had become a Unitarian, not under his preceptor, but 
from his personal conviction. Since 1809 he had been the pastor of 
the Hollis Street Unitarian Church of Boston, Mass., where he was 
greatly beloved and admired. He was a man of engaging manners 
and of great personal magnetism. Besides, his learning was very 
wide and his eloquence so stirring as to cause a staid New England 
audience to burst into noisy api)lause on the occasion of his delivering 
a sermon before the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of 
Boston. In Lexington he entertained freely patrons of learning and 
distinguished strangers, and captivating, as he did, all who came near 
him, was calculated to interest them in the welfare of tbe universit}^. 
This he did in a very successful way in the case of the State legis- 
lature and of such public- spirited citizens as Col. James Morrison, 
Henry Clay, and others. 

The circium stances were also favorable for a new era of progress, as 
the State had just emerged, with great credit to herself, from the war 
of 1812, which eft'ectually did away with all Indian hostilities in or 
near it in the future, and the people had now time and opportunity to 
turn their attention to educational matters, hitherto necessarily much 
neglected. The State was also now disposed to renew its attention 
and patronage to the university as the only effective center of higher 
education in its midst, the academies by this time having i)roven recog- 
nized failures in many cases. This help was greater than ever before, 
and was now especially timely. 

Dr. Holley was formally inaugurated on December 19, 1818, and at 
once set to work to build up the institution, and proving, in many ways, 
the man for the place, the university entered upon a career of almost 
marvelous i)ros[)erity, in which the plans of Judge Wallace seemed 

' For more extended sketches of Dr. Holley, see Collins's History of Kentucky, 
Vol. II, pp. 217-218, and especially Dr. Charles Caldwell's Discourse on the Genius and 
Character of Rev. Horace Holley. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 59 

about to be realized. The faculty was soon reorganized and enlarged, 
and men of reputation called to the various chairs, largely through the 
president's personal influence. Its personnel in October, 1821, was as 
follows: Academical department: Rev. Horace HoUey, A. M., LL. D., 
president, philology, belles lettres, and mental philosophy; Rev. R. H. 
Bishop, A. M., natural philosophy and history; J. F. Jenkins, A. B., 
mathematics; JohnRoche, A.M., languages; ConstantineS.Rafinesque, 
natural history, botany, and modern languages; J. W. Tibbats and 
B. O. Peers, tutors. Medical college: Charles Caldwell, M. I)., insti- 
tutes of medicine and materia medica; B. W. Dudley, M. D., anatomy 
and surgery; Samuel Brown, M. D., theory and practice of physic; 
W. H. Richardson, M. D., obstetrics and diseases of women and chil- 
dren; James Blythe, M. D., D. D., chemistry. Law school: William 
T. Barry, professor. 

Dr. Daniel Drake was soon added to the medical faculty and Judge 
Jesse Bledsoe to the law faculty. 

Prof. C. S. Rafinesque,^ who held the chair of natural science in the 
academic department and of medical botany in the medical department, 
was connected with the university from 1819 to 1825, and was probably, 
at the time, the most eminent scientist in America. In 18J4 he estab- 
lished, in connection with the university, a botanical garden, which, 
however, was not a financial success, and was not long kept up. He 
is the author of a number of scientific works, and although somewhat 
visionary, did much valuable teaching. 

The professional departments especially were developed by Dr. 
HoUey, and the medical college, which had been again suspended in 
1818, but was revived in 1810, soon began to hold a i)rominent rank not 
only in the West, but in the country at large. Its library, secured by 
a special visit of Dr. Caldwell to the continent in 1820, was so rare and 
valuable, many of the books being those of eminent French physicians 
ruined by the Revolution, as to make it one of the best of its kind in 
America. The number of students in this department grew from 20 
students and 1 graduate in 1817-18 to 281 students and 53 graduates 
in 1825-26, there being 93 students in 1820-21, 138 in 1821-22, 170 in 
1822-23, 200 in 1823-24, and 234 in 1824-25.2 j^g faculty was also unex- 
celled in the country for their talents and acquirements. We have 
already noticed Dr. Brown's celebrity in speaking of his nominal con- 
nection with the university from 1799 to 1806. 

Dr. Caldwell ^ had been ibrmerly a member of the faculty of the 
University of Pennsylvania, and was very noted both as a physician 

* For a more extended sketch, see Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. II, pp. 201- 
202; also, Life and Writings of Rafinesque, by R. E. Call, M. A., M. Sc, M. D., 
Louisville, 1895. 

^There were 241 students in 1826-17, after Dr. Holley's first resignation had been 
offered. 

3 For fuller sketch, see Collinses History of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 219; CoUius's 
Sketches of Kentucky, pp. 558-559. 



60 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

and a teacher. He was connected with the Transylvania medical 
faculty from 1819 to 1837. 

Dr. Drake,^ long one of the most eminent medical professors in the 
West, in the medical colleges of Cincinnati and Louisville as well as 
Lexington, was connected with the Transylvania University faculty 
from 1823 to 182G, as well as in 1817-18. 

Dr. B. W. Dudley,* long the most eminent surgeon in the Mississippi 
Valley, if not in the whole country, famed especially for his operations 
in lithotomy and upon the eye and cranium, as well as other delicate 
treatments, was a great teacher as well. An alumnus of Transylvania 
University and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in medi- 
cine, he had later pursued the study of his chosen profession for four 
years in London and Paris. He entered the Transylvania medical 
faculty regularly in 1817 and remained, in it for forty years, contribut- 
ing in no small measure to its great success by his personal efforts 
and reputation. 

Drs. Eichardson and Blythe were also noted as successful teachers 
in their respective departments. 

Dr. Drake tells us, in speaking of this faculty and of the law faculty 
at this time, "that they were men of brilliant talents and wide reputa- 
tion, and collectively constituted a greater array of strength and bril- 
liancy than was scarcely ever collected in any institution at one time.''^ 
Much valuable research and investigation was carried on at the uni- 
versity at this time by its medical faculty, tbe results of which were 
made known through the Transylvania Medical Journal, which they 
then published. This faculty was further strengthened, either during 
this period or soon after, by the addition of such eminent professors as 
Drs. John Esten Gooke, L. P. Yandell, H. H. Eaton, and Charles W. 
Short, most of whom remained connected with it for many years 
afterwards. For some time to come, with its distinguished corps of 
professors, its excellent chemical and anatomical apparatus, and its 
unsurpassed library, it fairly claimed to be the equal of any medical 
school in the country in equipment, and was only excelled in numbers 
by the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. 

President Holley not only thus enlarged and strengthened the profes- 
sional departments, but, as a means toward this end and toward the 
general building up of the university, was able to induce the legis- 
lature and Lexington to contribute* to the wants of the institution 

> For fuller sketch, see Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 580; also memoirs 
of Dr. Drake, Ly Mansiield. CoUius incorrectly says he remained at Transylvania 
the second time until 1827. 

2 See also Collinses History of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 218. Dr. Dudley remained 
connected with the Transylvania medical faculty until 1858. He died in Lexington, 
January 20, 1870, aged nearly 85 years. 

"^ Mansfield's Memoirs, p. 128. 

••For these various appropriations, see Report of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of Kentucky for 1875-70, pp. 15-16, Appendix; Autobiography of Dr. 
Charles Caldwell, p. 360; also Acts of 1818-19, pp. 692-693, of 1819-20, p. 952, and 
of 1822-23, pp. 149-151 and 160-162. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 61 

more liberally tliau ever before. In 1819 the legislature granted to 
the university the bonus of the Farmers and Mechanics' Bank for two 
years, amounting to $3,000; in 1820, $5,000 from the State treasury 
to buy books and apparatus for the medical college; in 1821, one-half 
the net profits of the Lexington branch of the Bank of the Common- 
wealth for two years, yielding $20,000, which was, however, only 
equivalent to $10,000 in specie; in 1822, a lottery privilege of $25,000 
for a new medical building, and also 2 per cent of the auction sales in 
Fayette County for a law library; in 1824, $20,000 from the State 
treasury. Lexington, in 1820, also gave $6,000 for the equipment of 
the medical college, and in 1822 citizens of the town contributed about 
$5,000 ^ more. These would be considered rather small donations now- 
adays to a State educational enterprise, but were quite liberal for the 
time and circumstances. They were, however, always given against 
strong opposition in the legislature, and were accompanied by other 
legislation in some respects adverse to the university.^ We shall soon 
find that when the old opposition became strengthened by popular 
dissatisfaction in regard to the administration of the university, all 
State appropriations were entirely withdrawn. 

Unfortunately all the early donations, instead of being added to the 
endowment of the institution, had to be used to pay its debts and 
supply it with books and apparatus. The result was that in 1825 few 
colleges in the country had better libraries and internal equipment 
generally than Transylvania University, but there were little means 
for the institution's future expansion. The attention of benevolently- 
minded individuals was, however, being attracted to the university by 
its work under Dr. HoUey, as is shown by the becjuest of Col. James 
Morrison,^ who had been for some time the chairman of its board of 
trustees and who died on April 23, 1823. This legacy included tbe gift 
of $20,000 to endow a professorship,^ and a residuary estate of about 
$50,000 to be used to erect a new college building, which was to bear 
the name of the donor. 

Circumstances, as we have seen, were favorable, and as Dr. Holley's 
objectionable opinions and actions were not generally known for some 
time, he was able by his great executive ability to build up the institu- 
tion very rapidly and to make its name known not only in the State, 
but throughout the country and even in Europe. The governors of 
the State soon began in their messages to speak of the honor and 

^ The exact amonnt was $4,832. 

^CaldweU tells us (Autobiography, p. 360) that the failure of the legislature to 
renew the charter of the Bank of Kentucky, in which its original endowment funds 
were invested, lost the university about $20,000. 

3 Colonel Morrison was a Pennsylvanian who had come to Kentucky in 1792, where 
he had acquired large wealth for the time, lie was very public spirited and took 
an interest in other public enterprises besides Transylvania University. For a more 
complete sketch of his life see Collinses History of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 196, and 
Davidson's Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 306 et seq. 

* Or library by the wiU, but the trustees chose the professorship. 



62 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

luster it reflected upon Kentucky, and its graduates soon began to be 
important factors in the life of the South and West, from which sections 
most of them came. The relative importance of the university among 
American colleges during the early part of this period may be shown 
somewhat by the fact that in March, 1821,' it had 282 students, while 
Yale had 319, Harvard 286, Union 264, Dartmouth 222, and Princeton 
150. Of the Transylvania students, 185 were at that time in the 
academic department.^ 

But Dr. Holley's religious opinions, supposed by many to verge on infi- 
delity, began to be noised abroad, as did also his love of worldly amu^e- 
ment, equally objectionable to many, and, by reason of the prejudice 
and sectarian animosity of the day, it soon began to arouse criticism 
and opposition. The Presbyterians had early become alarmed, and soon 
after his election had again determined to have an institution undoubt- 
edly under their own control, a movement resulting in the founding of 
Centre College in 1819. The Catholics founded St. Joseph's in the same 
year and St. Mary's in 1821, and the Methodists Augusta in 1822. The 
same denominational idea was prominent in the establishment of Cum- 
berland College by the Cumberland Presbyterians in 1827, and later of 
Georgetown College by the Baptists in 1829 and of Bacon College by 
the Christians in 1836. 

Opposition on the part of the general public, through the press and 
otherwise, also soon began to manifest itself, and as early as 1824 Pro- 
fessors Barry, Bledsoe, and others, connected with the faculty of the 
university, deemed it well to issue a pamphlet defending Dr. HoUey 
against unjust calumnies. The former opposition of the legislature 
also increased in response to the state of public opinion, as was perhaps 
first shown by the reorganization of the board of trustees in 1821,^ 
when four new members were added to its number. Committees of 
investigation into the condition of the university, which was accused 
of extravagance, began to be frequently appointed soon after this, and 



^ Statistics from Niles's Keglster, vol. 29, p. 63. Vol. 31, p. 158, of this work gives the 
total number of graduates of other colleges for the year 1826 as follows: Harvard, 
53; Yale, 100; Princeton, 24; Amherst, 32; Dartmouth 37, and Union 71. The fol- 
lowing degrees conferred by Transylvania (taken mainly from the American Journal 
of Education for 1826, pp. 311-313) will serve for a comparison later in this period; 
in 1823, 32 A. B.'s (B. L.'s and M. D.'s not given) ; in 1824, 24 A. B.% 16 B. L.'s, and 
47 M. D.'s; in 1825, 32 A. B.'s, 16 B. L.'s, and 57 M. D.'s. 

2The number of students in this department of the university for other years of 
this period, as obtained from catalogues and other sources, was as follows: 1821-22, 
200; 1822-23, 172; 1823-24, 159; 1825-26, 131; 1826-27, 96. Of these, the number in 
the preparatory classes in each year respectively were 62, 51, 27, 40, and 39. The law 
students for the period, as far as ascertained, were for 1820-21, 9; for 1821-22, 49; 
for 1822-23, 44; for 1823-24, 48. The medical students have been given on page 59. 
The academic students for 1823-24 represented fourteen States and the District of 
Columbia. 

^In the act of December 18, 1821, appropriating the profits of the branch Bank of 
the Commonwealth, in connection with which it was declared that the university 
was not to depend for the future on State aid. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 63 

hindrance rather than help was to be expected in the future from the 
State. 

Discouraged and irritated by the state of public opinion, and har- 
assed by charges which he felt to be unmerited, Dr. HoUey, despair- 
ing, as he did, of the further enlargement of the university, especially 
through State aid, felt constrained to resign, offering his resignation 
at first to take effect in January, 1820. He withdrew this resignation 
at the solicitation of friends, but on January 18, 1827, finally resigned, 
to take effect in the following March, greatly to the regret of the major- 
ity of the citizens of Lexington, of the trustees, and of the students, 
a number of the latter leaving the institution upon his retirement. He 
left Lexington on March 27, 1827, to engage in other educational enter- 
prises in Louisiana, and died of yellow fever on July 31 following, while 
on his way by sea to Kew York. 

He certainly had done much for the university, as shown by its 
remarkable growth during his administration. He is, however, not 
entitled to all the rredit for the most brilliant period of the institution's 
history, for, as we have seen, he was greatly aided by favorable circum- 
stances, which, under any fairly good management, would have caused 
a considerable expansion in the university's sphere. A great deal of 
the foundation of its prosperity had been laid under the conservative 
but careful adminstration of Dr. Blythe. The academic? department 
had been brought up to the proportions of a college, the law depart- 
ment inaugurated, and the medical department fairly started. Much 
of the success of this last department is to be attributed to the energy 
and ability of Dr. Dudley, who had already become fully identified 
with the department in 1815, and was a member of its first regular 
faculty in 1817. Dr. Drake tells us that the prosperity of the medi- 
cal school was mainly due *'to the public spirit and exertions of Dr. 
Dudley."^ Before the advent of the Holley era the institution had 
already acquired considerable local reputation, and was beginning to 
attract the favorable attention of the State authorities, how much 
through the personal influence and efforts of Dr. Blythe we know 
not. Governor Slaughter, in his message of December 2, 1817, rec- 
ommended that Transylvania University, which he says ''will soon 
hold an eminent rank among the institutions of learning in the 
United States," be extended such aid as will place it ''on the most 
respectable footing." 

Dr. Holley is, however, entitled to much praise and credit for the 
institution's success on account of his power of increasing the interest 
in it of public men like Henry Clay and benevolently-minded men like 
Colonel Morrison, by reason of his influence with the State authorities, 
as is evidenced by the favorable tone ot the governors' messages during 
the greater part of his administration and the legislative appropriations 
secured during that period, and also for his energy and great executive 



^ Mansfield's Memoirs, p. 128. 



64 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

ability, as well as his advanced ideas on edacatioii. The reeoiumendar 
tions contained in his last re[)ort to the trustees are (juite modern in 
tone, and are in some respects certaialy cjuite in advance of the ideas 
then prevalent. He recommended ' the creation of a regular professor- 
ship of modern languages, the increase of the law professorships to 
four, one of which sbouM treat exclusively of Koman law; the estab- 
lishment of a gymnasium, the collection of a cabinet of minerals, the 
foundation of a gallery of fine arts, and a regular arrangement for the 
establishment of libraries in the different departments, especially that 
of history and ])olitics. The works to be added to the library were to 
be largely for the use of advanced students and of the professors, and 
special attenti< n was to be given in the course to economic science. 

Some idea of the growth of the university during this period may 
be obtained from the increase in size of its general library and the 
additions to its roll of alumni. The former, as shown by Dr. Holley's 
last report,^ had increased from about 1,300 volumes to about 0,500 
volumes, and the number of degrees conferred was now 600, instead of 
22, as previously. Forty of these were honorary, but the remainder had 
been obtained by completing a course the standard of which had been 
constantly elevated. There had been up to this time 327 graduates in . 
the medical department and 41 in the law department. 

Dr. Holley was undoubtedly much esteemed by most of those who 
came in the closest personal contact with him. With all the admirable 
qualifications for the position he filled, which we have seen him to pos- 
sess, and with the high rank and recognition he had been able to secure 
for the university, it seems a great pity that he should not have been 
able to so conduct himself, and that, too, honorably, as to avoid precipi- 
tating a conflict with prejudices and animosities which, however unrea- 
sonable they may have appeared to him, he might have known his 
opposing could not change, but would only further provoke. He was 
undoubtedly much misjudged and maligned; but it is also true that 
his own indiscreet words and conduct were responsible to a consid- 
erable extent for these actions. Although his motives should not be 
questioned, yet hardly so much can be said for his judgment. 

PERIOD FROM 1827 to 1849. 

We now enter the third period of the university's history, which will 
witness the adoption by the trustees of a new plan of supporting and 
building up the institution. Under the act of 1818, and again by that of 
1821, which in effect only changed their number, the trustees were to 
be appointed by the legislature every two years; but by the neglect of 
this provision it seems that they had been allowed to become, as for- 
merly, practically a self- perpetuating body, who were free to manage the 

^ Caldwell's Memoirs, p. 211. 
^Ihid,, p. 193 et seq. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 65 

institution according to their own ideas, which during this period were 
not materially, at least, interfered with by the legislature. As we have 
seen, by reason of the adverse condition of public opinion, the univer- 
sity had been virtually abandoned by the State, and was to receive no 
more State help for nearly thirty years. Without this assistance, upon 
which it had so long depended, as its own resources were insufficient, 
it would naturally have had to struggle on in rather a poor way in the 
future. The trustees therefore sought to bring to it the needed help 
through partial denominational control, or at least the use of denom- 
inational influence and patronage. The institution was placed first / 
under Baptist, then Episcopal, again Presbyterian, and lastly Methodist 
auspices, prominent ministers of these denominations being successively 
called to its presidency, in the hope that thereby the support of their 
church organization might be secured for it. 

The control exercised by these denominations was in each case 
only partial, and their patronage in itself always insufficient. So, in 
order for it to be at all efficacious, there had to be some outside assist- 
ance, and as the State would not furnish this, it came from local sources — 
from the friends of the university in Lexington and from the town 
itself. We find soon after the resignation of Dr. Holley a number of 
its local friends rallying around the institution and subscribing for its 
maintenance a conditional emergency fund of $3,000 a year, for four 
years, of which amount about $11,000 seems to have been finally paid 
in. With this help and the proceeds of the lottery of 1825, and per- . 
haps something from an earlier one of 1804,^ instituted for the same 
purpose, the returns from both of which are quite uncertain in amount, 
a new and spacious medical hall was projected, the corner stone of 
which was laid with imposing ceremonies on April 26, 1827. This 
building, which was handsome and well equipped, was completed soon 
afterwards. It was located where the present city library of Lexing- 
ton now stands. Prior to its completion the medical lectures were 
doubtless given in the main college building. 

The resignation of Dr. Holley was of course, under the circumstances, 
a considerable shock to the university. There was an immediate loss 
of a number of students, and the attendance the next session was 
naturally considerably decreased, especially in the academic depart- 
ment. Even in the medical department, which was now quite well 
established and less directly affected by the change of administration, 
the number of students fell off from 241 to 190 the next year. 

The academic faculty,^ after Dr. HoUey's departure, was composed 



' The Kentucky Gazette for July 10, 1804, contains an advertisement of the "Lex- 
ington Medical Lottery,'' projected to establish a medical college in Transylvania 
Univertity. 

'^ John Everett, A. B., the brother of the celebrated Edward Everett, and Mann 
Bntler, A.M., the historian of Kentucky, were professors, respectively, of ancient 
Uingaaget and mathematics iu the university for a part of Dr. Holley's adminis- 
tration. 

2127— If o. 26 5 



66 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

as follows: John Roche, professor of Greek and Latin; Rev. George 
T. Chapman, professor of history and antiquity; Rev. B. O. Peers, 
professor of moral philosophy ; and Thomas J. Matthews, professor of 
mathematics. No new president was at once elected, but it was 
arranged that the academic department should be managed by its 
faculty and that Drs. Caldwell, Dudley, and Short, of the medical 
faculty, should preside in succession on all public occasions. 

During the future history of the university the professional depart- 
ments somewhat overshadow its other parts. They were conducted upon 
a somewhat independent basis, and being largely self supporting by 
reason of their reputation and their celebrated faculties, especially with 
the aid of the local financial help, which was mainly bestowed upon 
them, they were in the main prosperous and were not greatly aflfected 
by the ups and downs of the literary department. After Dr. Ilolley 
had left they maintained themselves fairly well for the immediate future, 
and there was no reason why the university as a whole should not have 
continued to succeed, if it had not been abandoned by the State, and 
indeed, for the time, to a considerable extent, by every one, some public- 
spirited citizens of Lexington excepted. This now becomes a charac- 
teristic feature of its history, especially of its academic department. 
As it was not sufficiently endowed to be self-supporting, outside assist- 
ance or strong local aid was imperative; and when, for any reason, 
either or both of these were lacking, it lapsed into a condition of inac- 
tivity or torpor until it was in some way temporarily revived by a new 
impetus. This applies especially to the whole period after Dr. HoUey's 
resignation, when regular legislative patronage was withdrawn, but 
the decline did not show itself for some time after that event. 

The first denominational experiment of this period was inaugurated, 
in June 1828, by the election of Rev. Alva Woods, D. D., of Rhode 
Island, to the vacant presidency of the university. The reputation of 
the institution was still considerable in the East, as is shown by the 
fact that Dr. Woods resigned the presidency of Brown University to 
accept its presidential chair. He was a Baptist clergyman of some 
celebrity, being particularly highly respected for his learning and the 
liberality of his views. He seems to have been a practical matter-of- 
fact man, who made very good use of the facilities he had at his com- 
mand and managed to keep the university in a fair state of prosperity 
during his administration, which lasted about two years. 

His practical energy was well shown in connection with the loss of 
the main building of the university by fire, when temporary quarters 



' A catalogue of the medical department of the University for 1828 shows that there 
were, that year, 40 graduates in that department who came from the States of Ken- 
tucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, Michi- 
gan, and Ohio. Niles tells us (Register, vol. 37, p. 216) that near the opening of the 
session of 1828-29 there were 150 students in the medical department and 130 in the 
college and preparatory classes. A catalogue gives, for 1829-30, 24 law students, 141 
academic students^ of whom 49 were in the preparatory classes, and 241 medieal 
students who represented 13 States. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 67 

were at once secured, and not a single day's exercises were suspended 
nor a single student left the institution. This great misfortune hap- 
pened on the night of May 9, 1829, and besides the excellent university 
building completed in 1818, destroyed the law and societies' libraries 
and most of the philosophical apparatus. It entailed a loss of about 
$30,000, exclusive of the insurance, thus practically wiping out all of 
the original endowment coming from Transylvania Seminary. It of 
course greatly crippled the university's future usefulness, and the 
discouragement due to it was probably the cause of Dr. Woods's resig- 
nation, in 1830, to accept the presidency of the rising University of 
Alabama, where he considered he had a more promising field of labor. 

There was then an interregnum in the presidency for about three 
years, during which two events of some importance occurred. Dr. 
Blythe, so long connected with the university faculty, resigned his 
chair of chemistry in 183 L to accept the presidency of Hanover College, 
Indiana.' His successor at Transylvania was the celebrated Dr. Eobert 
Peter, so intimately associated with the university's later history, and 
subsequently with that of Kentucky University and the Agricultural 
and Mechanical College. Professor Peter came in with the new admin- 
istration in March, 1833. 

The other event referred to above is the erection of the college build- 
ing provided for from the residuary estate of Col. James Morrison. It 
was begun during this interregnum and was located on the eastern 
part of the Higgins lot, acquired by the university in 1816. After- 
wards, in 1835, the place of Dr. Blythe's former residence, known as 
the Blythe lot, now the eastern portion of the Kentucky University 
campus, was purchased by the trustees, from funds also arising from 
the Morrison bequest, thus completing a beautiful campus, near the 
center of which the Morrison College building was located. 

The Baptists had now begun to transfer their patronage to their own 
distinctive institution, founded at Georgetown in 1829, and so another 
source of assistance for the university was sought after by its trustees, 
and Eev. B. O. Peers,* a prominent Episcopal clergyman, was called to 
its presidency in 1833.^ He was a man of high character and advanced 
views and was one of the many alumni of Transylvania University 
now rapidly coming forward into public prominence. He had gradu- 
ated in the class of 1821 and was then a tutor in his alma mater for a 
time. He later studied theology at Princeton and was for a while 

' He continued as president of Hanover until 1836, when he resigned on account 
of bad health. His death occurred in 1842. 

2 For other facts in regard to Rev. B. O. Peers' life, see Collins's History of Kentucky, 
Vol. I, pp. 442-443. Mr. Peers, besides writing numerous articles for newspapers and 
magazines, is the author of a small work entitled ''Christian Education.^' 

3 Peter's Transylvania University, pp. 160-161, gives the dates of President Peers' 
inauguration and resignation as, respectively, 1832 and February 1, 1834, but the 
appended sketch of Mr. Peers gives these dates as 1833 and 1835, which are given 
also by a number of other authorities consulted by the writer. 



68 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

engaged iu church work in Alexandria, Va. From conscientious reflec- 
tions he then decided to enter the profession of teaching and became, 
in 1827, professor of moral i)hilo8ophy in Transylvania. 

He was one who devoted himself with great enthusiasm and earnest- 
ness to whatever he undertook, and having thought deeply and observed 
widely upon educational problems, was soon quite in advance of his 
State and even, in some respects, of his country in his ideas and 
theories. We shall find that he is the virtual founder of the public 
school system of Kentucky, at least in being the first one who most 
prominently and successfully agitated the question of its adoption. 

On »Tune 1, 1829, ■ he founded in Lexington a Mechanics' Institute on 
the model of that introduced into Scotland by Dr. John Anderson 
some thirty years before, but at the time of its establishment quite a 
new enterprise for this country. In connection with this institute an 
Apprentices' School was soon opened, in which systematic courses of 
public lectures were delivered, mainly by professors of Transylvania 
University. We have in these lectures what appear to be very fair 
types of modern university extension courses. They are reported 
to have been quite a success for a time, similar ones being, through 
their example, instituted at Louisville and other important points in 
the State, but for some reason are soon lost sight of. 

In October, 1830, '^ after severing his connection with the university 
faculty, he had established in Lexington the Eclectic Institute, iu which 
an attempt was made to put into practical operation, as in the Eensse- 
laer Institute at Troy, ISew York, the principles of Pestalozzi and 
Fellenberg. This school was quite successful for a time, but was too 
advanced for its surroundings and so did not last long. Mr. Peers had 
associated with himself in its faculty, in 1832, two model educators, 
Henry A. Griswold and Dr. Robert Peter. He was still in charge of 
the school when elected to the presidency of Transylvania University. 
As noted above. Dr. Peter went with him into the university faculty. 

Another of President Peers's advanced ideas, quite advanced for the 
, time ^ and quite practical if public opinion had been prepared for it, was 
to convert Transylvania University into a State normal school, which 
should have its revenues supplemented by ample State appropriations, 
and should be put at the head of a State public-school system. This 
view is clearly expressed in the address delivered at the time of his 

' This date is variously given by different authorities, but the one accepted here 
is supported in quite an authentic way by Barnard's American Journal of Educa- 
tion, vol. 16, p. 353, and is probably correct. 

"There is as much variation in regard to this date as in the case of that of the 
establishment of the Mechanics' Institute, but this seems best authenticated. See 
Barnard's American Journal of Education, vol. 17, p. 148. 

=^Tho normal-school idea had at the time been discussed comparatively little even 
in New England, and the first regular normal school was not opened until July, 
1839. (See Gordy's Rise and Growth of the Normal School Idea in the United States, 
especially pp. 19 and 47.) 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 69 

inaugaratioD as president of the university. Mr. Peers' s ideas seem to 
have been too advanced for his time and perhaps too for bis executive 
ability, although an extraordinary amount of the latter would probably 
have been needed to pull the university out of the ^' Slough of Despond " ^ 
into which she had then fallen. 

The denominational feature of the institution's management appeared 
more distinctively during this administration in tbe establishment, in 
connection with its other departments, of a theological seminary, under 
the control of the Episcopal Church. The new department was con- 
ducted for a comparatively short while after its establishment in 1834, 
and never had any really organic connection with the university, being 
really an independent institution ^ temporarily associated with it. 

It was during President Peers's term of ofBce that the building erected 
from the residuary estate of Colonel Morrison, and named in his honor 
Morrison College, was completed. It was quite a commodious and 
imposing structure, costing about $40,000, and is still in use, compara- 
tively unaltered, as one of the principal buildings of Kentucky Uni- 
versity. It was dedicated with elaborate ceremonies on November 14, 
1833, and at the same time President Peers was formally inaugurated, 
and, after having taken the oath of office prescribed for all Transyl- 
vania officers by the original charter,*^ delivered an impressive address 
on the prospects of the university and the proper aims of such an 
institution. 

In the early part of 1835, when he had begun to see the futility of at 
least most of his cherished plans in regard to the institution, he resigned 
its presidency and entered, in the work of his church at Louisville, 
what he considered wider fields of usefulness. In 1838 he was trans- 
ferred to other church work in New York City, where he died, in 1842, 
in the midst of a career promising much for the future. He was noted 
for his ardent piety, sound learning, and zealous devotion to the cause 
of general education. 

His associates in the academic faculty of Ti'ansylvania University at 
the opening of his administatinn in 1833,^ in addition to Dr. Peter, who . 
has been already mentioned, were John Lutz,^ D. P., professor of matbe- 

' A catalogue shows us that, in January, 1834, there were only 63 students in the 
academic department, of whom 31 were in the preparatory classes; at this time, how- 
ever, the law department had 52 students and the medical department 260, the latter 
from 15 different States. 

'^ This seminary was incorporated hy an act of the State legislature approved on 
February 24, 1834, which stipulates that it iH to be conducted entirely without State 
aid. llie American Almanac for 1834 shows that the seminary in that year had three 
professors and eight students, and that its library then contained 2,000 volumes. 

3 By section 4 of the act of May 5, 1783. 

^Barnard's American Journal of Education, vol. 27, p. 335. 

*Prof. Lntz was acting president of the university for a short time during inter- 
regnums, both before and after President Peers's administration. He held the Mor- 
rison professorship, which carried with it the acting presidency under such circum- 
stances. 



70 mSTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

matics, E. Bosel, professor of lauguages, and Charles E. Bains, princi- 
pal of the preparatory department. In 1835 Prof. S. Hebard had 
taken Professor Lutz's place in the faculty. The medical faculty in 
1833 included Doctors Dudley, Oaldwell, Oooke, Richardson, Short, and 
Yandell, and the 260 medical students of that year were from 15 differ- 
ent States, mainly in the Southwest. 

A few months ^ after Mr. Peers's resignation as president of the uni- 
versity, he was succeeded, in that iwsition, by Rev. Thomas W. Coit, 
D. D., who had been a member of the t heological faculty then asso- 
ciated with tho institution and was a high churchman of some celebrity. 
President Goit retained his office about three years, which was some- 
what longer than the usual presidential term during this period of the 
university's history. 

In January, 1836, an attempt was made to carry out President 
Peers's idea and convert, by the aid of legislative action, the univer- 
sity into a State normal school, the State contributing $5,000 a year 
to its support and receiving in return free tuition for 100 State 
students; but the plan was too advanced for the legislature to then 
adopt, and we shall see, when about twenty years later another legis- 
lature did establish such a school, the idea was still ahead of public 
opinion and the experiment was destined to be a failure. 

President Coit seems to have been an excellent man, but perhaps 
less energetic than President Peers, and so less able to stem the tide 
of general decline in the fortunes of the university, which had set in 
stronger than ever, and which even affected the professional depart- 
ments, hitherto comparatively vigorous. This depression resulted in 
1837 in an attempt, participated in by Drs. Caldwell, Cook, Yandell, 
and Short, the majority of the medical faculty, and perhaps others, 
which seems, for a time at least, to have been conducted secretly, to 
move the medical department bodily to Louisville, which had devel- 
oped into the largest and most important business center in the State 
and was considered by them in many ways a more eligible location 
than Lexington for the school. When this plan became generally 
known, a storm of local indignation was aroused and the professors 
who favored the change resigned their chairs, as they may perhaps 
have done in any event if their views had not been carried out. They 
were mainly instrumental soon after in establishing at Louisville, on 
an independent basis, a rival school called the Louisville Medical 
Institute, which subsequently developed into the medical department 
of the University of Louisville, but which does not seem, for a time at 
least, if at all, to have materially injured the medical department of 
Transylvania University. 

' The dates given here for the administration of President Coit, 1835 and 1838, are 
those given by most authorities; Peter's Transylvania University, pp. 161-162, gives 
them as October, 1834 (inaugurated July, 1835), and September, 1837. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 71 

Indeed, the movement was upon the whole really beneficial to Tran- 
sylvania, as local public opinion was awakened to her condition and 
needs, and help was brought to her in 1838-39 from the same source 
and partly in the same manner that it had come several times before. 
The city of Lexington granted $70,000 to tbe funds of the institution, 
while a company of 70 of her citizens, organized in a corporate capacity 
under the name of the Transylvania Institute, on February 20, 1839, 
subscribed $35,000 for the same purpose, transferable scholarships 
carrying with them free tuition being issued to the city and to the sub- 
scribers for each $500 contributed. Of the money given by the city, 
$40,000 was to go to the construction of a new medical college building 
and $5,000 to equip that with library and apparatus; another $5,000 
was for the library of the law department, and the remainder for the 
endowment of Morrison College. The money raised by the Transylvania 
Institute also went to Morrison College, part of it being used to erect 
a new dormitory. After these additions the property of the college 
was estimated to be worth about $100,000, and its endowment, includ- 
ing the Morrison fund, about $75,000.^ The medical faculty, which was 
reorganized on April 29, 1837,^ also came to the rescue by subscribing 
$3,000 to purchase a lot for the new medical building and afterwards 
paying off a debt of about $15,000 remaining on that structure after its 
completion. The corner stone of this building^ was laid July 4, 1839, 
and it was dedicated on November 1, 1840. 

The reorganized medical faculty was constituted as follows : B. W. 
Dudley, M. D., anatomy and surgery; James C. Cross, M. D., Institutes 
of medicine and medical jurisprudence; John Eberle, M. D., theory and 
practice of medicine; W. H. Richardson, M. D., obstetrics and diseases 
of women and children; Thomas D. Mitchell, M. D., materia medica and 
therapeutics; Robert Peter, M. D., chemistry and pharmacy. James M. 
Bush, M. D., was adjunct professor of anatomy and surgery. He sub- 
sequently became Dr. Dudley's successor in that chair, and is hardly 
less celebrated than his predecessor as a surgeon. Dr. Peter at this 
time became first connected with the medical department of the uni- 
versity. He was a member of its faculty throughout the remainder of 
its history, and was for many years its dean or chief executive ofl&cer. 

This department maintained its former relative standing compara- 
tively well throughout this period. In 1834-^5 it had 255 students, 
while the University of Pennsylvania had 392, and Jefferson Medical 
College 233. Yale at that time had G4 medical students, and Harvard 82. 
In 1839 there were 240 students in the medical department of Transyl- 



' See North American Review, vol. 49, pp. 262-263, which gives the endowment and 
property at this time and also the use made of the funds of 1838-39. 

^CoUins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 41. 

^This, the second medical building of the university, was located on North Broad- 
way street, opposite the southwest corner of the university campus, where the resi- 
dence of Dr. J. M. Bush subsequently stood. 



72 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

vania, which up to November, 1838, had had altogether 3,820 students 
and 1,058 graduates.^ 

The law department of the university was also enlarged in its scope 
about the time of the reorganization of its medical faculty, and hence- 
forth had three regular professors, while its library, increased by the 
donation of Lexington, Peter ^ tells us, was the finest of its kind in 
the West. He also says that it was not surpassed in the country in the 
ability of its professors and the number of its regular students. 

This department had had as a rule only one regular professor since 
the close of Dr. Holley's administration, but the professors of the school 
at different times had been such men as John Boyle, Charles Hum- 
phreys, and Daniel Mayes, while its attendance had ranked well with 
that of similar schools tliroughout the country. In 1834 Transyl- 
vania had 1 professor and 36 students in its law department, while 
Harvard had 2 professors and 32 students; the University of Vir- 
ginia, 1 professor and 33 students ; Yale, 2 professors and 43 students. 
In 1839, after its reorganization, Transylvania's law school had 71 stu- 
dents, while Harvard had 120, Yale 45, and the University of Vir- 
ginia 72. 

The reorganized Transylvania law faculty^ was composed of George 
Eobertson, Aaron K. Woolley, and Thomas A. Marshall, men rarely, if 
ever, excelled in their ability as jurists or as teachers. They remained 
in charge of the department throughout the remainder of this period, 
and under them its attendance and reputation were considerably 
increased. 

About the close of President Coit's administration another change in 
the plan of managing the university was made which marks more 
emphatically than ever the withdrawal of the State from any attempt 
a1 active participation in its management. By an act approved Feb- 
ruary 16, 1838, the old trustee system was abolished and the institution 
was put under the temporary management of five trustees appointed 
by the governor of the State. On February 20, 1839, the governing 
power of the university was vested in a board of eight trustees, two of 
whom were to be appointed by the Transylvania Institute, three by the 
city of Lexington, and three by the State legislature — a system of con- 
trol which was in the main to be retained throughout the remaining 

1 Peter's Thoughts on Medical Education in America, p. 12. 

2 History of Fayette County, p. 295. 

"^ Their chairs, in the order their names are mentioned, were respectively constitu- 
tional law, equity, and law of comity ; elementary principles of common law ; national 
and commercial law and law of pleading, evidence, and contract. 

Of this faculty Hon. George Robertson, LL.D., was on the supreme bench of Ken- 
tucky for about sixteen years, during about fifteen of which he was chief justice. He 
taught in Transylvania for more than twenty years. Hon. Thomas A. Marshall, LL.D., 
was also a member of the supreme court of the State for over nine years, for over six 
of which he was chief justice. He taught in Transylvania for about fourteen years 
subsequent to 1836. Hon. A. K. Woolley was for a time a circuit judge and taught in 
the university a number of years prior to 1849. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 73 

history of the institution, and which gave to its trustees, now largely 
local, power to manage it themselves or to transfer its management to 
other parties, as we shall soon see them doing. 

The other members of the academic faculty at the time of Presi- 
dent Coit's resignation Avere as follows : Rev. Louis Marshall, D. D., 
professor of ancient languages; Rev. Robert Davidson, D. D., profes- 
sor of mental and moral philosophy; Arthur J. Dumont, professor of 
mathematics; Robert Peter, M. D., professor of natural history and 
experimental philosophy; and Rev. Charles Crow, principal of the pre- 
paratory department. Dr. Marshall ^ became the acting president of 
the university and remained so until the beginning of the next regular 
administration. 

The trustees now appear to have endeavored to recall to the aid of 
the institution an old denominational influence. They attempted to 
conciliate the Presbyterians, then earnestly striving to make the equip- 
ment and endowment of Centre College superior to that of Transyl- 
vania, by tendering the presidency of the university, Davidson tells us, 
successively to Dr. J. C. Young, the efBcient president of Centre, and 
then to Drs. L. W. Green and R. J. Breckinridge, other ministers of 
high standing in the Presbyterian Church. These all declined, and the 
position was then offered to Rev. Robert Davidson, D. D.,^ also a promi- 
nent Presbyterian clergyman. Dr. Davidson, who accepted the presi- 
dency, was a man of considerable reputation, and had already for some 
time occupied a chair in the university faculty. He was inaugurated 
as president in November, 1840, probably at the same time that the 
large and fine new medical building was dedicated. 

The attempt to bring back Presbyterian support was, however, in 
the main, ineffectual, as Centre, the distinctively Presbyterian college, 
had by this time become too firmly established in the affections of the 
denomination for the effort to be of much avail. Dr. Davidson early 
recognized this, and, as he himself tells us, despairing of being able 
to stem the tide of general depression now setting in again, and hin-- 
dered in his work by numerous and vexatious embarrasisments, resolved 
to resign, which he did in March, 1842. 

His resignation may have been hastened by the consummation of 
negotiations, begun perhaps before his election, but not leading to any 
definite result until after he resigned. As early as 1840 the trustees, 
whether on their own initiative or not does not appear, had made over- 
tures to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
the United States looking toward the control of the university by that 
body, which, under the circumstances, they probably considered capa- 
ble of bringing stronger denominational support to the institution than 

' Dr. Marshall afterwards, iu 1855, became the president of Washington College, 
now Washington and Lee University, Virginia. 

2 Dr. Davidson is the author of the important work, The History of the Presbyte- 
rian Church in Kentucky, a work quoted a number of times in this monograph, 
especiaUy in this chapter. 



74 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

even the Presbyterians. At the meeting of this conference, held in 
!Baltimore in May, 1840, the matter was taken up and seven commis- 
sioners ^ were appointed from the church at large and the Kentucky 
conference to consider it and to carry out the transfer if it was deemed 
desirable. 

The directing spirit in this movement was Rev. H. B. Bascom, 
D. D.J LL, D., a leading minister of his denomination, and afterwards, 
when the division of the church occurred, a bishop of its Southern 
branch. Dr. Bascom had been, since 1832,^ a prominent professor in 
Augusta College, an institution long considered the adopted college of 
Kentucky Methodism, under whose auspices it had been mainly founded, 
but he seems to have been conscientious in thinking that that institu- 
tion was no longer available for the highest and best educational pur- 
poses of his denomination, and therefore devoted himself with his 
accustomed energy, which was very great, to securing the control of 
Transylvania University for his church. He experienced considerable 
opposition from the friends of Augusta, whose funds he vainly tried to 
secure for the new enterprise j but, after considerable negotiation, was 
able to effect the desired arrangement. Either because he feared an 
appeal to the legislature on account of the opposition of Augusta, or 
because he did not believe such action necessary, no legislative sanc- 
tion was obtained for the transfer, which was made by the trustees on 
September 21, 1841. 

The professional departments still remained on their former basis, 
the new arrangement applying only to Morrison College, or the aca- 
demic department, the direct management of which was to be vested 
in a board of nine curators, to be appointed by the general conference. 
The curators were to have control of the department in all important 
respects, such as the nomination of its faculty, the prescription of its 
course of study, and its internal police and regulation. The church 
was to be given an additional representation of three members on the 
board of trustees, which body reserved to itself only a kind of 
residuary control over the action of the curators. Kentucky confer- 
ence was to be interested in the institution through a visiting commit- 
tee of three members to be appointed annually by that body. 

The transfer was not regularly ratified by the general conference 
until its meeting in 1842, but shortly before that event, in the spring of 
that year. Dr. Bascom became, by the appointment of the conference 
commissioners, the acting president of the university, and at once, with 



^ For tbe names of these commissioners see Alexander's Earliest Western Schools 
of Methodism, p. 372. 

2 This date is given by most authorities as 1831, but appears as in the text in 
Henkle's Life of Bascom, p. 230, which should, all things considered, be the most 
authentic. It is given also in Sprague's Annals, Vol. VII, p. 536. Hankie's life of 
Dr. Bascom is most complete. Comprehensive sketches of his life are also to bo 
found in Sprague's Annals, Vol. VII, pp. 53.5-536, CoUins's History of Kentncky, VoL 
I, pp. 453-455, and Smith's History of Kentucky, p. 556. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 75 

characteristic vigor, devoted himself to building up the institution. 
He associated with himself an able faculty, whose personnel, in 1843, 
not long after the beginning of his administration, was as follows: 
Kev. H. B. Bascom, D. D., president and professor of mental and moral 
philosophy 5 Eev. E. T. P. Allen, A. M., professor of mathematics, 
natural philosophy, and civil engineering j Rev. B. H. McCown, A. M., 
professor of ancient languages and literature; Rev. W. H.Anderson, 
A. M., professor of the English language and literature; Rev. J. L. 
Kemp, A. M., adjunct professor of mathematics; Rev. Thos. H. Lynch, 
A. M., adjunct professor of languages; Rev. Wright Merrick, principal 
junior section preparatory department. 

Of this faculty Professor McCown had, like Dr. Bascom, been long a 
prominent professor at Augusta, and was especially celebrated as a 
teacher. The faculties of the professional departments of the university 
were at this time the same as those under the reorganization of 1837, 
except that Drs. Lothan G. Watson and Leonidas M. Lawson had taken 
the place of Drs. Eberle and Cross in the medical department. 

The new president set to work with energy, and was for a time 
eminently successful in increasing the patronage of the university, the 
number of students in its academic department, says Henkle,^ rising 
from 20 or 30 at his accession to 281 the second year and 290 the third 
year of his administration. The professional departments were also 
well attended.^ In 1844 Dr. Bascom became the regular president, by 
the appointment of the curators, who had then been selected for the 
institution by the general conference of his church. Under his able 
management it seemed that Transylvania would soon equal if not excel, 
in numbers at least, her palmiest days. The partial endowment of the 
chair of English had been accomplished by 1843. Further endowments 
were proposed and other ambitious and excellent plans, besides pro- 
curing new students, were entertained. Disunion in the church, how- 
ever, soon set in and was a great hindrance to the enterprise. 

After the division of 1844-45 had taken place the control of the 
university passed, in May, 1846, into the hands of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church South. Dr. Bascom was again elected president, and in 
order to secure popularity for the institution had men from all the 
different parts of the church elected to its various chairs, but, on 
account of the irritation and the divided responsibility still remaining 
in thedenomination, especially in Kentucky, neither the church nor the 
South generally increased their support, either in students or funds. 
So Dr. Bascom, discouraged by the situation and despairing of the 

* Life of Bascom, p. 278. 

2 Catalogues for the years 1842-1843, 1843-1844, 1846-1847, and 1847-1848, which 
have heen examiued, show that the average annual matriculation in the academic 
department for these years was 240, of whom something over half were in the pre- 
paratory classes. The average annual attendance in the medical department for 
these years was 215, and in the law department, 65. In 1843 13 A. B.'s, 30 B. L.'s, 
and 59 M. D.'s were conferred. 



76 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDrCATIOX IX KENTUCKY. 

forther enlargement of tbe institution, resigne^l in 1840, and soon after 
stefMi were taken by bis church to abandon the enterprise as a denomi- 
national one. 

Some idea of the standing of Transylvania University in comparison 
with other institutions in tlie country may be obtained from the follow- 
ing statistics of the s<rholastic year 1S42-43: In that year Harvard had 
30 instructors and 245 aca^leniic students, while Yale had 30 instructors 
and 410 academic students. Transylvania had 17 instructors and 281 
students. A considerable portion of tbe latter were, however, doing 
preparatory work. In tbe same year Transylvania had 75 law stu- 
dents, while Harvard, tbe only school that exceeded it, had 115. The 
total number of volumes in tbe libraries of Harvard and Yale in this 
year were, respectively, 53,(KH) and 32,200, while there were 12,242 
volumes in the library of tbe academic department of Transylvania. 
Collins tells us, in his Sketches,' that Transylvania in 1847 had libraries 
numbering 45,000 volumes, besides which it had a fine medical museum 
and an extensive assortment of chemical and philosophical apparatus. 
Its medical school up to January of that year, he tells us, had had more 
than 1,500 graduates. Published statements^ of the yearly exi>enses 
of attendance at Transylvania at this period show them to have been 
little less than those of the Eastern colleges; in fact, something more 
than those of Yale. 

PERIOD FROM 1849 TO 1865. 

In 1850 the general conference of tbe Methodist Episcopal Church 
South turneil over tbe management of tbe university to its two con- 
ferences in Kentucky, Kentucky and Louisville conferences^ and they, 
not decerning its possession of advantage to themselves, turned it over 
to tbe trustees, so that tbe institution fell back to tbe plan of control 
established for it in 1839. 

Once more practically abandoned by everyone and left to its own 
slender resources, another season of decline set in in its history, 
although its collegiate department seems for tbe next few years to have 
]>erforme(l a considerable amount of useful service under the direction 
of Prof. J. li. Dodd, tbe mathematician, as acting president, and the 
professional department continued to have considerable vitality up to 
tbe time of tbe civil war. 

In 1850 tbe i)lan of tbe medical department was changed in such a 
way as to have its sessions held iu tbe spring, instead of tbe fall and 
winter, as before, and its faculty took tbe principal part in establishing, 
to ac/t in (jonjunction with it, tbe Kentucky School of Medicine, in 
Louisville. This arrangement, however, after having been tried for 



' Sketches of Kentucky, j). 266. 

'-^In American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for 1843. Tuition at 
Transylvania wjis $40, while the total college charges were $52, and board, fael, 
etc., are estimated at $125 (board, $100). The same figures for Yale are $33, $54, and 
$110 (board, $70;. The charges for fuel, etc., are not given at Harvard, but tuition 
is $75; total college charges, $93, and board is estimated at from $70 to $90 per year* 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 77 

foor^ sessions, does not seem to have been a success, and so, in 1851, 
the Transylvania school was changed back to a winter session, although 
an extra spring session was for a time retained. The Kentucky School 
of Medicine was subsequently continued, in other hands, as another 
rival institution. 

In 1856 the university underwent its last reorganization as a separate 
institution. We have a return once more to more direct State control 
and the advent again of the principle of State patronage. The plan 
formerly advocated by President Peers was also revived, and the uni- 
versity was, by an act of March 10, 1850,^ converted into a State nor- 
mal school, especially designed to supply well-trained teachers for the 
public schools of the State — a much-needed and very commendable 
object. The school was intended to be an indispensable aid to the 
common-school system, and the cause of public-school education in 
Kentucky had never looked brighter than then. This reorganization 
of the university was doubtless brought about largely through the per- 
sistent agitation of the matter and the unremitting efforts in that direc- 
tion of Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, D.J)., LL. D., State superintendent 
of public instruction from 1847 to 1853, and an enthusiastic advocate of 
a State normal school. 

Under the new arrangement State regulation was secured by the 
appointment of a board of trustees composed of the former trustees 
and the principal State oflBcers. The State was to contribute $12,000 a 
year to the enterprise, $7,000 of which was to be used to aid deserving 
teachers unable to x^roperly educate themselves, and $5,000 was to go 
to the general support of the institution. The grounds and buildings 
of the university at that time were estimated^ to be worth about 
$100,000, and its whole property and funds about $200,000, its income 
from endowment being a little less than $4,000 annually. The institu- 
tion was not to be converted into a normal school exclusively, but the 
normal department was to be made its most prominent feature, while 
other regular college courses were to be maintained, to which the State 
teachers were to have free access and thus be enabled to greatly 
broaden their education. 

An excellent president was selected for the new school in the person 
of Rev. L. W. Green, D. D. President Green resigned the presidency 
of Hampden-Sidney College to accept the position. He was a former 
student of Transylvania University, an alumnus of Centre College in 
its first graduating class in 1824, and was subsequently a professor 
there before going to Virginia. 

1 The period of the trial of this experiment is usually stated as three years, but 
the university catalogue of 1850 and the announcement of the medical school for 
1854 show it to have been four years. There were 92 medical students in 1850 and 
53 in 1854 (spring session). In 1850 there were 125 students in %k^ ^cad^mio de- 
partment and 35 in the law department. 

« CoUins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 76. 

3 President Green's inaugural address. 



78 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The school was opened auspiciously, with 80 students, on September 
7, 1856,' and on November 18 following^ the president was ceremoni- 
ously inaugurated under all the old Transylvania forms. The attend- 
ance rapidly increased and under the judicious management of Presi- 
dent Green excellent progress toward the desired ends was being made, 
when the legislature, on February 13, 1858, having previously refused 
for some reason to renew the appropriation for its support, repealed 
the act establishing the institution. President Green had already 
despaired of its success, and had resigned in the latter part of 1857. 
He became the president of Centre College on January 1, 1858. 

So, at the end of the two years for which the original appropriation 
had been made, the normal-school feature of the university was entirely 
abandoned and the institution reverted to its status prior to the act of 
1856. The only reason the writ(»r has seen suggested for the with- 
drawal of legislative support from the normal school was that the 
appropriation made in its behalf encroached on the revenue of the 
public-school fund, from which it seems to have been drawn. 

After 1858 the university sunji hopelessly. Its academic department 
struggled on for a time under Abram Drake, and during the civil war 
became simply a local grammar school under Prof. J. K. Patterson, the 
present efficient president of the State College. It lost one of its dor- 
mitories in 1860 by fire. 

The medical department of the university existed, with varying suc- 
cess, up to the opening of the civil war. Its faculty in 1859 was com- 
posed of Drs. E. L. Dudley, S. L. Adams, W. S. Ohipley, B. P. Drake, 
S. M. Letcher, H. M. Skillman, J. M. Bush, and Eobert Peter. Its 
building was for a time used as an army hospital, and was on May 22, 
1863, destroyed by a fire, which also consumed practically all its equip- 
ment. The school had had, altogether, 6,406 students, of whom 1,854 
had graduated.^ It has never been resurrected since on its old basis, 
but a department of Kentucky University was for a time maintained 
under a similar name. 

The law department had a somewhat similar history during this 
period, closing its career at tbe opening of the war. Judge Eobertson 
remained connected with it most if not all of the time, and its other 
professors during this period were Madison O. Johnson, George B. Kin- 
kead, and Francis K. Hunt. The last three were later connected with 
law departments of Kentucky University. Judge Eobertson, during his 
long connection with the school, extending for more than twenty years, 
had lectured to more than 3,000 young men, 2,000 of whom had 
graduated.'* 

The libraries and apparatus of all kinds belonging to the university 
were scattered and much of them destroyed during the war, and its 

> Collinses History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 76. 

^Ibid, Vol. I, p. 77. 

^Ihid, Vol. II, p. 184. 

< Biographical Sketch of Gov. L. W. Powell, p. 23. 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY, 79 

prospects were indeed gloomy near the end of that struggle. The trus- 
tees had, in 1863, shortly after the acceptance of the gift to the State 
from the General Government, made by the Congressional land-grant 
act of 1862, endeavored to have the institution made the foundation of 
the agricultural and mechanical college provided for by that act, but 
the State did not then undertake the establishment of that institution, 
nor accept the very advantageous offer made by the trustees of the 
university. - 

The outlook for the latter institution had not improved in 1864, when 
Kentucky University, having lost its building at Harrodsburg by fire, 
was looking for a new location. The trustees of Transylvania, then 
seeing their opportunity to perpetuate the character and usefulness of 
Lexington as an educational center, proposed to transfer all its property 
and funds, amounting at that time to about $100,000 in real estate ancl 
$59,000 in endowment, to Kentucky University, on condition of that 
institution being located in Lexington and fulfilling all the trusts incum- 
bent under the charter of Transylvania University. Their offer was 
accepted and the union with Kentucky University consummated by the 
aid of legislative action on January 22, 1865. 

While the equity of this transfer of what was largely, at least legally, 
State property to a denominational institution may be questioned by 
some, it is certainly true that that property has since been of eminently 
more educational value to the people of the State at large than it was 
at the time, or than it seemed likely to be at any time soon. Since 
January, 1865, Transylvania University has ceased to exist as a separate 
institution, becoming then a part and parcel of Kentucky University, 
with the history of which her history has since blended. 

The reasons for the failure of Transylvania University, as indicated 
by the progress of this narrative, are not far afield, but as they are of 
some special interest, and perhaps in some ways instructive, it may be 
worth while to recount them somewhat explicitly, as follows : 

(1) The initial endowment, as in the case of the early academies, was 
not sufficient to make the institution self-sustaining, nor had the State 
sufficiently committed herself to the policy of ample regular appropri- 
ations supplementary to the endowment. The State had not assumed 
moral or pecuniary obligations sufficiently large, nor had she committed 
herself to a policy of sufficiently liberal support through taxation, 
either or both of which could be pleaded in behalf of future aid. Unless 
something of the kind had been done in the early history of the insti- 
tution through the influence of prominent public men, as was the case 
later in regard to Jefferson and the University of Virginia, public 
opinion was not sufficiently strong in its behalf to demand that the 
university be properly supported. 

(2) The institution was never made a distinctively State enterprise, 
as the State had only a partial control over it, being, as a rule, asso- 
ciated with some form of denominational management, the power of 



80 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

each being just sufficient to hinder and weaken that of the other. 
Either power by itself might have built up a great university, but 
together they could not, as it was impossible for them to cooperate 
harmoniously. Then, too, each denomination when attempting to oper- 
ate the institution was hampered by the others, as was later the case 
in regard to Kentucky University, where another attempt was made to 
build up a great university with the same union of forces as in the 
case of Transylvania originally, but with these forces reversed in order. 

(3) This lack of proper cooperation, always in the nature of the case 
more or less necessary, was rendered much more so in the early history 
of Kentucky by the prevalence in the State, especially among its pub- 
lic men of French deistic ideas, which naturally put the religious bodies 
more on the defensive and made them more sensitive to what they 
thought were attacks upon their faith, when probably there was no 
intention of anything of the kind. This same feeling seems to have 
led, at least to a considerable extent, to the educational institutions of 
the State generally taking such a decided denominational character. 

(4) By reason of the plan of joint control just described the uni- 
versity was never placed under the direct supervision of the State 
authorities, who could hold its management responsible and could 
themselves be called to account. Its board of trustees were in the 
main, throughout its history, either by law or practice, self-perpetuat- 
ing, not even having, as a rule, to report their action in any way to any 
superior officer. The plan of their organization was very similar to that 
of the early academy boards, and gave, as we have seen in the case of 
these, great opportunity for the creation and perpetuation of factions 
among themselves, for the carrying out of schemes, denominational or 
otherwise, and for irresponsible action generally. 

The record of Transylvania University for the two generations it 
existed is, in many respects, a proud one. Although unusually ham- 
pered in its usefulness in many ways, especially by the unfortunate plan 
of its organization and the state of public opinion on religious and edu- 
tional questions — never being largely endowed or regularly supported 
by either State, denomination, or individuals, and always depending 
largely on tuition fees for its maintenance — it perhaps accomplished as 
much, or even more, than any other of the earlier educational institu- 
tions of this country in the same period, counting from the foundation 
of each. The record of growth and expansion during the Holley era 
may certainly fairly be said never to have been excelled, if equaled, in 
America in the same length of time until comparatively recent years. 

The history of the professional departments was especially brilliant, 
for a long time almost entirely eclipsing that of any rivals in the West 
of that day. Its medical faculty, with the celebrated Dr. Dudley at its 
head for forty years, and at various times including such other men 
as Caldwell, Cooke, Drake, Short, Yandell, Cross, Bush, and others, 
was quite generally unsurpassed of its kind in the country. The fac- 



•- 



TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY. 81 

ulty of its law college, embracing at different times such names as 
those of Barry, Bledsoe, Boyle, Humphreys, Mayes, Robertson, Mar- 
shall, Woolley, and others, was almost, if not quite, as noted. 

We have already spoken in a general way of the number of gradu- 
ates in the various departments. Among the names of these, reaching 
in number into the thousands, are such men as Josiah Stoddard John- 
ston, Richard M. Johnson, Jefferson Davis, Dr. B. W. Dudley, Thomas F. 
Marshall, Richard H. Menifee, John Boyle, James McChord, Dr. Joseph 
Buchanan, John Rowan, William T. Barry, Jesse Bledsoe, Charles &• 
Morehead, Elijah Hise, "Duke" Gwinn, Charles A. Wickliffe, Robert H. 
Bishop, Robert J. Breckinridge, and a host of others, thus described 
by Collins,^ "statesmen, jurists, orators, surgeons, divines, among the 
greatest in the world's history — men of mark in all the professions and 
callings of business life." 

Morehead 2 speaks as follows of the work of the institution: 

"All institution which has nursed to maturity the intellect of the Com- 
monwealth, having in the progress of sixty years filled her assemblies 
with lawgivers, her cabinets with statesmen, her judicial tribunals with 
ministers of justice, her pulpits with divines, and crowded the profes- 
sional ranks at home and abroad with ornaments and benefactors to 
their country." 

One or more of these alumni were to be found at the close of the uni- 
versity's history in almost every community of any size in the South 
and West, where they were principally located, and upon the history 
of which sections and through them upon that of the whole country 
they have exerted a great influence. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

All the works referred to in regard to the early State university system, except 
Bradford's Laws, Littell and Swigert's Statutes, Spalding's Early Catholic Missions,. 
McMurtrie's Sketches, and the Report of the Commissioners of 1822, also contain 
some information about Transylvania University. The following additional author- 
ities have been consulted in regard to the facts of the university's history: 

Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit. 

Hening's Statutes at Large of Virginia. 

Sketches of North Carolina, by Rev. W. H. Foote, D. D., New York, 1846. 

A Tour in Ohio, Indiuna, and Kentucky in 1805, by .fosiah Espy, Cincinnati, 1871. 

A History of the Church in Kentucky for Forty Years, Containing the Memoirs of 
Rev. David Rice, by Robert H. Bishop, Lexington, 1824. 

Notes on Kentucky History, by John Bradford, published in the Kentucky Gazette 
between August 25, 1826, and January 9, 1829. 

An address delivered at Boonesborough in Commemoration of the First Settlement 
of Kentucky, by J. T. Morehead, Frankfort, 1840. 

A History of Lexington, Ky., by George W. Ranck, Cincinnati, 1872. 

An address to the Public in regard to the Controversy about President Holley, by 
Professors Barry, Bledsoe, Dudley, and Caldwell, Lexington, 1824. 

A Discourse on the Services and Character of Rev. Horace Holley, LL. D. (also 
called Memoirs), by Charles Caldwell, M. D., Boston, 1828. 

^ History of Kentucky, Vol. II, p. 184. 
2 Boonesborough address, p. 81. 

2127— No. 25 — »-6 



82 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Autobiography of Charles Caldwell, M. D., edited by Harriot W. Warner, Philadel- 
phia, 1855. 

Memoirs of the Life and Services of Daniel Drake, M. D., by E. D. Mansfield, LL. D., 
Cincinnati, 1855. 

Memoirs of Rev. Thomas Cleland, D. D., by E. P. Humphrey and Thomas H. Cleland, 
Cincinnati, 1859. 

The Life of Rev. H. B. Bascom, D. D., LL. D,, by Rev. M. M. Henkle, Nashville, 1856. 

A Scrapbook of Law, Politics, Men, and Times, by George Robertson, LL. D., Lex- 
ington, 1855. 

A Biographical Sketch of Hon. L. W. Powell, by direction of the General Assem- 
bly, Frankfort, 1868. 

Thoughts on Medical Education in America, by Robert Peter, M. D., Lexington, 1838. 

Thoughts on Public Education in America, by Robei*t Peter, M. D., Frankfort, 1877. 

The Minutes of the Board of Trustees of -Transylvania University. These are 
preserved in the archives of Kentucky University and are quite complete up to 
February, 1818, after which date they are quite fragmentary. 

By-Laws of Transylvania University, Lexington, 1818. 

Inaugural Address of President Woods, Lexington, 1828. 

Laws of Transylvania University, Lexington, 1829. 

The Transylvania Journal of Medicine for October, November, and December, 1831. 

Inaugural Address of President Peers, Lexington, 1833. 

Extra of the Lexington Intelligencer for April 11, 1837. 

Statutes of Transylvania University, Lexington, 1842, 

A communication from the Commissioners of Kentucky Conference to the Legisla- 
ture of Kentucky in reply to a Memorial from the Trustees of Augusta College, Lex- 
ington, 1843. 

The Transylvania Journal of Medicine for December, 1850. 

Inaugural Address of President Green, Frankfort, 1856. 

Reports of the State Superintendents of Public Instruction, from 1839 to 1857, and 
Appendix to the Report of 1875-76. 

Niles's Weekly Register, September, 1811, to July, 1849; third edition, 76 volumes, 
Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia, 1816-1849. 

The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, 1830-1861, 32 vol- 
umes, Boston and New York, 1830-1861. 

The last two authorities have been consulted mainly for the statistics used, which 
in the case of Transylvania, have been fully verified by reference to a number of old 
catalogues. The History of Transylvania University, by Robert Peter, M. D., edited 
by Johanna Peter, Louisville, 1896, has been carefully examined ; but, as this chap- 
ter had been practically completed before it was accessible, very little use has been 
made of it, and what has been made is duly credited in the footnotes. 



Chapter IV. 



INSTITUTIONS MORE OR LESS DIRECTLY CONNECTED WITH 
TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY AND OLDER COLLEGES. 



KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, LEXINaTON. 

Kentucky University, in the most extensive use of the name, may be 
said not to have come into existence until the regular ratification, on 
June 20, 1865, by the board of curators of the previous Kentucky Uni- 
versity of the legislative ^t of February 28, 1865, which completed the 
arrangements for uniting the older Kentucky University, Transylvania 
University, and the Agricultural and Mechanical College into one gen- 
eral institution, which was designed to be, and actually was for a time, 
the most extensive in the history of the State. The Agricultural and 
Mechanical College was then just being brought into existence, but the 
former Kentucky University and Transylvania University both had his- 
tories extending considerably back of this date, that of the latter, as 
we have seen, reaching even to the beginnings of Kentucky. 

We have traced the history of Transylvania University up to the 
time of this union and will now take up the other source of the enlarged 
University, bringing its history up to the same date before beginning 
the history of the combined institution. The primary origin of the 
original Kentucky University is to be found in Bacon College, whose 
history will now for a time engage our attention. 

BACON COLLEGE. 

This institution is one of the many arising in Kentucky between 1830 
and 1840, owing to the desire of the various denominations to possess 
institutions over which they would have direct control and which would 
serve their purposes better, as they considered, than Transylvania Uni- 
versity, previously the most important educational institution in the 
State. 

The beginnings of the college are to be found in a school opened at 
Georgetown, Ky., on .N^ovember 7, 1836,^ by T. F. Johnson, formerly a 
professor in Georgetown College, assisted by tutors Mullins and Knight. 
Its pupils numbered only 50 or 60 at first, but within four months their 
number had increased to 130. The school was from its inception under 



1 Collinses History of Kentacky, Vol. I, p. 41. 

as 



84 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

the patronage of the denomination known as Disciples of Christ, or 
Christians, and had, as a specially fast and valaable friend, Elder John 
T. Johnson, then a prominent man in that church. Its prosperity soon 
led its friends to think of enlarging its scope, and so, mainly through 
the influence of Elder Johnson, a charter was obtained for it on Febru- 
ary 23, 1837, which started it on its career as Bacon College, so named 
in honor of Sir Francis Bacon, and the earliest institution of its grade 
established by the Christian Church. 

It was placed under the control of a board of six trustees, and Walter 
Scott was selected for its first president. We know comparatively little 
of the history of the institution while it remained at Georgetown. One 
fact of some interest in connection with its history while there is, that 
John B. Bowman, a man to be so prominently connected with the future 
of the institution, was then one of its students, being among the first 
to enter its halls. President Scott's connection with the college seems 
to have been largely nominal, he probably not having entered regularly 
upon any academic duties, and, after a few months David S. Burnet 
became the first active president. 

The success of the institution at this period does not seem to have 
been very great, and accordingly, in the summer of 1839, it was removed 
to Harrodsburg, Ky., as being a more eligible location. Elder Johnson, 
who was one of its first curators, had especially interested himself 
about the time of its removal in endeavoring to secure for it an endow- 
ment of $100,000, one-half the income of which was to be used to assist 
deserving poor youths in obtaining an education. He does not seem to 
have had very much success in carrying out his idea. At the opening 
of the first session of the college in Harrodsburg, on September 2, 1839, 
its endowment appears to have been about $20,000, something more 
than one-half of which was invested in a fairly good building. 

It existed for some time at its new location with varying fortune. It 
maintained a course of high grade and soon gained an excellent repu- 
tation, but, as its endowment was insufficient, its success was irregalar. 
Collins tells ^ us that, in 1845-46, there were in attendance upon its 
classes 113 students, from 9 different States, and that the institution 
was flourishing in 1847, with 180 students, and yet we find that in 1850 
it was suspended and virtually abandoned because of financial difficul- 
ties. Various plans had been submitted in vain and many unsuccessful 
eflbrts made for its permanent upbuilding, and so its be^t friends, includ- . 
ing its curators, had practically given up all hope for its future. Its his- 
tory as Bacon College ends with its suspension in 1850, for when it was 
revived several years later, it appears under a new name and wif^ a 
character somewhat different. 

Its presidents during the period of its existence as Bacon College, 
with their terms of service, were as follows: Walter Scott, few nQK>ntIi8 
in 1837; David S. Burnet, 1837-1839; Samuel Hatch, 1839-40 j JtMM 

1 Sketches of Kentucky, p. 114. 



KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. 85 

Shannon, 1840-1850. Its faculty in 1847, one of its most prosperous 
periods, was composed as follows: James Shannon, president and pro 
fessor of intellectual, moral, and political science; Samuel Hatch, 
professor of chemistry and natural philosophy; Henry H. White, pro- 
fessor of mathematics and civil engineering; George A. Msttthews, 
professor of ancient languages; E. Askew, teacher in the preparatory 
department. Itslibrary at that time numbered 1,600 volumes. 

During its existence the college had had 27 graduates, among whom 
especially may be mentioned John B. Bowman and H. H. White, both 
later so prominently connected with its history, Professor White, as we 
have seen, being already a member of its faculty before its suspension. 

THE OBiaiNAL KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. 

The failure of Bacon College caused John B. Bowman, then living 
near Harrodsburg, to reflect upon the consequences due to the loss of 
the institution and to meditate upon a plan whereby an institution of 
even greater compass might be erected on the ruins of his alma mater. 
After mature deliberation he determined, in 1855, to devote himself to 
the task upon a plan peculiarly his own, and accordingly, in the winter 
of 1855-66, leaving his own important business affairs, he proceeded 
to make, in behalf of his design, a house to house canvass of several 
counties in central Kentucky, where his denomination was particularly 
strong. His plan was to get the members of his own church, and 
others interested in educational matters, to contribute in the form of 
notes in which the payments were made easy, and which, as they were 
paid, would form an endowment fund, which in time, being invested, 
would furnish a fixed income for the institution. Scholarship coupons 
were issued to the subscribers in proportion to the amount subscribed. 

Mr. Bowman met with a hearty response in his canvass and was suc- 
cessful, it seems, even beyond his own expectations; but his ideas grew 
as the funds secured enlarged. In about one hundred and fifty days 
he secured $150,000, contributed chiefly in small amounts, and given 
mainly by the farmers of the region, and mostly by members of the 
Christian Ghurch, although other public- spirited citizens also sub- 
scribed. 

For the better materialization of his ideas, Mr. Bowman, through the 
trustees of Bacon College, called a public meeting of the friends and 
donors of that institution to consult about its reorganization. This 
meeting occurred at Harrodsburg on May 6, 1857, and was numerously 
attended, especially from the counties to which the appeal in behalf of 
the new plan had been principally directed. It was harmonious in 
spirit and earnest in action, and to it Mr. Bowman presented the report 
of his canvass and his ideas in regard to the proposed institution. It 
was not his intention to reestablish Bacon College in its old form, but, 
as expressed in his own words, to found an '^ institution more liberal in 
all its appointments — permanent in its nature — and auxiliary to the 



86 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

cause of sound morality and pure religion in our State," ^ which was to 
be made easily accessible to poor young men of the industrial classes. 

These plans were heartily approved by the meeting, and a committee 
of conference appointed to act in conjunction with the trustees of Bacon 
College in determining what amendments were needed to the charter 
of the college in order to carry them out. Accordingly, amendments 
were obtained, by legislative action approved January 15, 1858, invest- 
ing, with all the property and claims of Bacon College, a new body of 
curators, representing the various counties contributing to the new 
enterprise, who were to be not less than thirty in number, and two- 
w thirds of whom must be members of the Christian Church in Kentucky. 
They were given the corporate power necessary to establish '^ a first-class 
university, upon a modern American and Christian basis,'' under the 
title of Kentucky University, and were given the right " to grant such 
literary honors as are usually granted in the best colleges and universi- 
ties in the United States,'' the diplomas conferred entitling their pos- 
sessors "to all the immunities and privileges whicTi by law or usage are 
allowed to the possessors of diplomas granted by any other college or 
university in the United States." 

The amended charter, with its enlarged provisions, was accepted by 
the trustees of Bacon College on February 2, 1858, and the new board 
of curators, at their first meeting on February 4, 1858, adopted the 
necessary laws and regulations for putting it into operation. They 
then issued an address to the public on the history, aims, and objects 
of the institution, in which they called upon its friends to increase the 
endowment, which they proposed to make at least $500,000, and declared 
that what had been done was only a small amount of what they hoped 
to do in the future, their ideas and aims, under Mr. Bowman's inspira- 
tion, enlarging as the means for carrying them out increased. Disavow- 
ing sectarian purposes and deprecating the multiplicity of sickly and 
puny institutions throughout the West, not furnished with "the true 
apparatus of an education," they only proposed to lay, in their day, a 
foundation upon which future generations might build. All the depart- 
ments of a genuine university were contemplated, embracing normal 
and agricultural departments as well as literary and scientific ones. 

The beginning of the new Kentucky University is to be found in a 
preparatory department, to which a normal department was attached, 
opened in Harrodsburg, on September 21, 1857, under the name o: 
Taylor Academy, William C. Piper being its principal and Joseph B 
Myers his assistant. About 80 pupils were present at the opening o 
this school and 94 were in attendance altogether during its first year.; 
The university proper was first opened on September 19, 1859, with 
Bpbert Milligan, A. M., as its first president, who was duly installed 
two days later. 

President Milligan associated with him while the university was at 
Harrodsburg Eobert Bichardson, Bobert Graham, L. L. Pinkerto% 



^ Minutes of the meeting of the friends and donors of Bacon College, page 7. 



KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. 87 

H. H. White, and J. H. l^eville as professors in the various depart- 
ments which were, at the time, biblical literature and moral philosophy, 
mathematics, ancient languages, physical science, belles-lettres, and 
modern languages, all except the last, which might be substituted for 
some of the work in mathematics, being required for the degree of 
A. B. The scientific apparatus of the university, at its opening, was 
estimated to be worth $10,000, Mr. Bowman having recently raised 
$5,000 for the purchase of new apparatus. He had also, about the 
same time, s(*cured conditionally an additional $50,000 for the purchase 
of Harrodsburg Springs and the erection on that splendid estate of 
new buildings for the institution. He was, however, disappointed in 
securing that property. 

More than 150 students were present at the opening in 1859, and 194 
were in attendance during the year. One hundred and seventy-two 
were enrolled in 1860-61. The advent of the civil war reduced the 
matriculation considerably, but it is rather remarkable, considering the 
circumstances, that during that struggle not a week's exercises of the 
university were suspended nor a dollar lost from its endowment. In 
1862-63 there were only 62 students, but in 1863-64 the number had 
increased to 100. 

The institution was conducted at Harrodsburg until the summer of 
1865, having 14 graduates between 1861, the first year since the open- 
ing to send out a graduating class, and 1865. 

On February 23, 1864, the university building was destroyed by a 
fire, which also consumed the library and apparatus, and although the 
next session was continued at Harrodsburg, the institution began to 
look around for another location and, in September, 1864, received 
propositions looking toward this object from Covington and Louisville, 
as well as one from the trustees of Transylvania University. This last 
offered to transfer the Transylvania University property and funds to 
Kentucky University, provided the latter should be moved to Lexing- 
ton and the two institutions consolidated in such a way as to carry out 
all the Transylvania trusts. This offer was favorably considered and 
finally accepted by the curators of Kentucky University. 

Committees of the two boards had met in Frankfort in January, 1866, 
to make the final arrangements for the consolidation and to secure the 
necessary legislative ratification of their action, when the question of 
making provision for the carrying out of the laud grant for agricultural 
colleges, made by Congress in 1862, came before the legislature, and 
that body seeming to be unwilling to comply with the conditions 
imposed, Mr. Bowman, the chairman of the committee of the Kentucky 
University curators, proposed to make the new college a department of 
the university in such a way as to fully carry out the intent of the act 
of Congress in regard to agriculture and the mechanic arts, the uni- 
versity furnishing an experimental farm and the requisite buildings, 
to cost not less than $100,000, and giving free tuition to 300 State 
students. 



88 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Accordingly a bill to this eflfect was drawn up, and after an animated 
discussion in which the principal objection was to the denominational 
control of a State institution, was passed by a large majority, being 
approved on February 22, 1865J The union with Transylvania Uni- 
versity was accomplished by a bill approved February 28, 1865. These 
actions were accepted by the curators of the university on June 20, 1866, 
which may thus be considered as the day on which began 

THE ENLARGED KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. 

As soon as the acts of consolidation had been passed, Mr. Bowman 
went to work with a will to raise the needed extra endowment, a task 
which he accomplished in less than three months, being able to report 
his success to that session of the legislature before its adjournment. 
He not only secured the $100,000 needed for the equipment of the Agri- 
cultural and Mechanical College, but raised an additional $30,000 which 
was repaid to the citizens of Harrodsburg and Mercer County who 
objected to the removal. In the enlarged Kentucky University the 
dream of old Transylvania's developing into an institution ranking 
with the first in the land seemed about to be realized. The consolidated 
institution had an endowment of at least about $400,000, and property 
of about $200,000, a library of 15,000 volumes, with ample museums 
and apparatus, and accommodations considered sufficient for 1,500 
students. Three departments of the university, in addition to a pre- 
paratory department, were to be opened at once in Lexington; the col- 
leges of the Bible and of law having been added to the previous college 
of literature, science, and arts. The Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 
lege was to be instituted as soon as the funds from the land scrip 
donated by Congress were realized, and additional medical, normal, 
and commercial colleges were contemplated in the near iuture. 

All the professors at Harrodsburg, except Professor Richardson, 
accompanied President Milligan to Lexington. President Milligan 
devoted his attention mainly to the College of the Bible, in which he' 
was assisted by John W. McGarvey, A. M. In the College of Arts the 
faculty had been increased by the addition of John Au^rustus Williams, 
A. M., Eobert Peter, M. D., J. K. Patterson, A. M., » .d G. F. Eyraudj 
their respective chairs being intellectual and moral philosophy, chem- 
istry and experimental philosophy, Latin, and the French language. 
Of this faculty, besides Dr. Peter, who has been mentioned in another 
connection. Professors White and Neville were at this time specially 
noted for their scholarship and teaching ability. The professors in 
the College of Law were M. C. Johnson, LL. D., W. C. Goodloe, A. M., 
and R. A. Buckner, A. M., of whom Professor Johnson had already 
established a reputation as a member of the law faculty of Transylva- 
nia University. 

The university was first opened in Lexington on October 2, 1865, with 



Chapter 968, acts ot 1865. 



KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. . 89 

about 300 students. Duriug the year 336 students were in attendance 
altogether, 223 of whom were in the College of Arts, 37 in the College 
of the Bible, 13 in the College of Law, and 63 in the preparatory 
department. 

By action of the curators on July 17, 1865, the office of regent had 
been created and Mr. Bowman made the official head of the institution 
under that title. In 1866, when the Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 
lege was put into operation, the new plan of administration was more 
fully carried out, the regent looking after the general interests of the 
university, while the affairs of each college were supervised by its own 
presiding officer. Under this arrangement President Milligan, the 
office of president of the university having been abolished, became 
presiding officer of the College of the Bible, Professor Graham presid- 
ing officer of the College of Arts, Professor Johnson presiding officer of 
the College of Law, Prof. A. E. Milligan principal of the preparatory 
department, and Professor Williams presiding officer of the new Agri- 
cultural and Mechanical College. 

This new department was opened on October 1, 1866, Mr. Bowman 
having that year purchased for its use ''Ashland," the home of Henry 
Clay, and an elegant adjacent tract, "Woodlands," nearer the city, 
indeed partly within the city limits, paying for the combined magnifi- 
cent estate, containing 433 acres of unsurpassed beauty and fertility, 
$130,000, As the land scrip had not yet been sold, the State legislature, 
by an act of February 10, 1866,' granted to the university the loan of 
¥20,000 to put the institution into immediate operation. It occupied 
temporary quarters the first year, but in 1867 four brick buildings were 
erected at "Woodlands'' for its officers and students, and in 1868 a 
mechanical building was erected at "Ashland." Its effective organi- 
zation was largely due to the efforts of Professor Williams, its presid- 
ing officer, who, however, remained at its head for only one year, 
resigning for more congenial work in 1867, when he was succeeded by 
J. D. Pickett, A. M. In 1869 Professor Pickett was succeeded by 
Prof. J. K. Patterson, who presided over it during the remainder of its 
connection with the university. The college had 190 students during 
its first year anf^^220 the second year, all of whom were required to 
labor two hours each day, either on the ornamental grounds, the farm, 
or later in the shops of the institution, the course otherwise being quite 
similar to that of the College of Arts, stress being put particularly upon 
civil engineering, modern languages, and military tactics. 

Enlargement also took place in other directions and changes in other 
departments of the university. In 1867 a commercial college was 
added by the association with the university of Hollingsworth's Busi- 
ness College, a relation which, while lasting some time, was always 
more or less nominal, about the only connection being the privilege of 
attendance upon university classes extended to matriculates of the 



Chapter 483, acts of 1866. 



90 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

business college. la 1870 the preparatory department was discontin- 
ued, and in January, 1874, a regular medical department, called the 
Transylvania Medical College, with seven professors, several of whom, 
including Dr. Bush, had formerly been connected with the medical 
department of Transylvania University, was inaugurated. This depart- 
ment was, however, never a very great success, and was soon discon- 
tinued. 

In 1869 Professor Graham resigned as presiding officer of the Col- 
lege of Arts, and was succeeded in that positioa by Professor White. 
Upon his voluntary retirement in 1877 Professor Pickett was elected to 
the position. The course in this department had been maintained on 
the original plan, but had been somewhat enlarged, the schools of 
natural history, history, music, and drawing having been added; the 
first two were additional requirements for the degree of A. B. 

The matriculation of the institution had grown with its enlargement 
and soon became comparatively quite large. In 1866-67 there were 
602 students in all departments; in 1867-68, 650, and in 1868-69, 767. 
In this last year thirty different States and countries were represented 
by the students, and only three other educational institutions in the 
country had a larger matriculation. So it appeared the institution was 
going to overshadow every rival, at least in the Mississippi Valley. 
During the next four years its average attendance was about 700, the 
largest number being 772 in 1869-70. 

The university, however, began to be somewhat financially embar- 
rassed about 1873, by reason of some of its stocks failing to pay divi- 
dends, owing to the panic of that year. In June, 1875, $40,000 of its 
endowment fund and $30,000 of its building fund remained uncollected, 
and it was at that time $37,000 behind with all of its financial obliga- 
tions. This fact partially accounts for the fact that " a most unhappy 
issue and strife arose within the official management."^ Many of the 
church controlling it considered it too great a burden on the denomi- 
nation to conduct so extensive an educational enterprise, and thought 
the union with the Agricultural College, especially, a burden rather 
than an advantage, a feeling intensified by the comparatively small 
returns realized from the sale of the land-scrip fund, from which much 
more had been at first expected. On the other hand, there was a wide- 
spread dissatisfaction throughout the State against any kind of denom- 
inational control of this college, and a belief that it would succeed 
better on an independent basis, a feeling also, strange as it may seem, 
strengthened by the same land sale for which many unjustly blamed 
the university authorities. 

This state of the public mind, both within and without the church, 
combined, as has been noticed, with financial difficulties to some extent, 
soon destroyed, by producing a lack of confidence in his plans and man- 
agement, the usefulness in connection with the institution of Mr. Bow- 

^ Smith's History of Kentucky, p. 635. 



KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. 91 

man, wliohad always been in favor of a comprehensive university, and 
led to his resignation as regent, that office being abolished bj' the cura- 
tors on June 12, 1878. 

The condition of public feeling, both within and without the church, 
had already led to two previous acts, both of which necessarily produced 
a great change in the organization of the university. In July, 1877, 
the old College of the Bible had been abrogated and a new one insti- 
tuted, under its own charter, which in control and administration was 
entirely independent of the university, and by a legislative act of 
March 13, 1878,^ the Agricultural and Mechanical College had also been 
separated from the institution. This led, in the summer of 1878, to the 
reorganization of the university upon a more strictly denominational 
basis, and to its becoming for the future one of the important denomina- 
tional colleges of the State rather than a comprehensive university, 
complete in all of its departments, into which Mr. Bowman had labored 
to develop it. 

THE LATER UNIVERSITY. 

The completion of the reorganization of 1878 left of the former univer- 
sity really only its College of Liberal Arts, with which was associated 
a commercial college, as the Colleges of the Bible and of Agriculture and 
the Mechanic Arts had previously been made independent, the Medical 
College was already suspended, and the Law College, which had been 
declining of late, was discontinued the next year. 

The new College of the Bible went into operation in the fall of 1878, 
the old one having continued until the summer of that year. This col- 
lege and that of Liberal Arts have since, while administratively inde- 
pendent, been conducted in close union, the students of each being 
freely admitted to the classes of the other, and the management being 
such otherwise as to practically make them still parts of the same insti- 
tution. Some notice will now be taken of the history of each of these 
up to the present time, together with the movements, partly successful 
and partly not, which have recently been made to put the university 
again on a somewhat enlarged basis. 

ft 

THE COLLEaE OF LIBERAL ARTS. 

This is the modern title of the older College of Science, Literature, 
and the Arts, ordinarily called simply the College of Arts. Upon the 
abolition of the office of regent on June 12, 1878, the office of president 
of the university was revived, the position carrying with it, ex officio, 
that of presiding officer of the College of Arts, To this position Prof. 
H. H. White was at that time elected, and continued to discharge its 
duties for two years, when, in 1880, he voluntarily retired and was suc- 
ceeded by Charles Louis Loos, who held the position for seventeen years, 
during which the university made gratifying progress in many ways. 

' Chapter 424, Acts of 1878. 



92 HISTORY OF HIGHEB EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

During the period of dissatisfaction the attendance of the university 
had necessarily decreased, there being only 125 students in the College 
of Arts and the Commercial College combined in 1877-78, but the admin- 
istrations of Presidents White and Loos soon restored confidence in the 
future of the institution, and its matriculation has for several years 
past been almost constantly larger than it ever was as a separate 
department. The preparatory department, which had been abolished in 
1870, was restored in 1878, and has since been maintained as a feeder to 
the larger institution. It is known as the Academy. The Commercial 
College, which has remained associated with the university, without, 
however, in recent years, having its students counted as a part of the 
institution's matriculation, has had, since 1877, Wilbur E. Smith as its 
successful president. It has become one of the most important schools 
of its kind in the South, and annually has large numbers of students 
from many different States. 

The course of instruction in the college of arts has been maintained 
substantially on its original plan, but some modifications have taken 
place. Upon the reorganization in 1878 a B. S. course was instituted, 
in which the school of Greek was not required, as that of modern lan- 
guages was not in the A. B. course. In 1893 a B. L. course was added, 
which does not require the schools of Greek and mechanics and astron- 
omy. In 1892 a system of partial electives in the courses of study was 
inaugurated, which, by allowing the substitution of studies for each 
other in the several courses, permits a considerable modification of 
these in accordance with the student's needs and tastes. 

The schools of instruction as at present arranged are: Greek lan- 
guage and literature, Latin language and literature, mathematics, 
mechanics and astronomy, English language and literature, natural 
science, sacred history and evidences of Christianity, civil history, 
mental, moral, and political philosophy, and modern languages. Of 
these, the school of sacred history and evidences of Christianity has 
recently been especially emphasized, perhaps more so than formerly. 

The faculty of the college has in recent years been increased by the 
addition of two new members. Its equipment was, in 1893-94, mate- 
rially improved by the erection of a handsome and well-arranged gym- 
nasium, supplied with modern apparatus, at a total cost of something 
over $10,000. There has otherwise been no material increase in its 
property or funds since the benefactions raised by Mr. Bowman. Its 
grounds, buildings, and apparatus of various kinds are now approxi- 
mately worth $200,000, and its endowment funds are something over 
the same amount. 

Its graduating class has in recent years numbered something over 
twenty annually. Since sending out Its first graduating class in 
1861, it conferred, altogether, 310 regular degrees up to and including 
1898. Of these, 227 were A. B.; 34, B. S.j 12, B. L.5 32, A. M.; 3, 
M. S.J and 2, C. E. It also granted 9 honorary A. M.'s and 1 LL. D. 



KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. 93 

Among its alamni a number have made a considerable reputation as 
teachers, physicians, lawyers, ministers, and in political and literary 
life. Among the last may be mentioned particularly James Lane Allen. 

THE COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE 

As has been noted, the first College of the Bible, which was an inte- 
gral part of the university, was organized upon the removal of the 
institution to Lexington in 1866, and closed its career in 1878. Presi- 
dent Milligan was its first presiding officer, and he and J. W. McGarvey, 
A.M., were its first professors. Professor Milligan died in 1875, and 
was succeeded by Prof. Eobert Graham, who at that time resigned 
the presidency of Hocker Female College and returned to the service 
of the university, he and Professor McGarvey constituting the faculty 
of the College of the Bible for a considerable period. The first College 
of the Bible sent out its first graduating class in 1867, and had, during 
its existence, a total of 65 alumni. 

The present College of the Bible was separated from the university 
in July, 1877, and was placed by its new charter under the control of 
its own board of trustees, making it a distinct institution, which has, 
however, since remained closely associated with the university. Under 
the new arrangement Professor Graham continued as its presiding 
officer, and he and Professor McGarvey still constituted its faculty, 
together with one other professor, which in recent years has been 
I. B. Grubbs, A. M. 

The number of matriculates of the college increased considerably 
after 1878, there being 54 in 1879-80 and 128 in 1887-88. For the last 
few years the attendance has averaged nearly 150, who have come 
from as many as twenty different States of the Union and five foreign 
countries. This necessitated an increase in the faculty in June, 1895, when 
B. C. Deweese, A. M., was made an additional professor. At the same 
time Professor Graham, while still retaining his chair, retired from the 
position of presiding officer, in the duties of which he was succeeded 
by Professor McGarvey, who is the present executive head of the insti- 
tutiou. 

The college had, up to this time, had its lecture and recitation rooms 
in the main university building, but in this year a fine new building 
was completed for it at a cost of $25,000. It is located on the university 
grounds and furnishes for the institution excellent class rooms, society 
halls, a chapel, and a library and reading room. The college has besides 
the permanent use of three brick buildings on the university campus, 
which afford boarding accommodations for about 100 of its students. 
Its library has also of late been considerably enlarged. The institution 
has a permanent endowment of $5,000 for its library, also a general 
endowment of about $70,000. 

The college, while intended primarily to furnish systematic instruction 
in the Scriptures both in English and the original tongues and other- 



94 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

wise prepare its students for the special work of the ministry, does not 
claim to be strictly a professional school, but receives all who wish to 
extend their knowledge of the Bible, from those who have only a com- 
mon school education to those who possess a college degree, its courses 
being so coordinated with those of the college of arts that the former 
class of students can profitably pursue strictly classical and scientific 
work at the same time. 

The institution has annually a number of students, not candidates 
for graduation, who only take certain special studies, while it also con- 
fers diplomas in two courses made up from the following independent 
schools of instruction : ^ Sacred history. Christian doctrine and church 
polity, church history, hermeneutics and exegesis, homiletics, Hebrew 
language and literature, philosophy, mental, moral and political. Bibli- 
cal criticism, Hellenistic Greek, vocal music, and elocution, No degrees 
are granted, but only a diploma of graduation in these courses, which 
are called, respectively, the classical and English course. The former 
is only open to college graduates, is three years in length, and includes 
all the above schools except the last; the latter requires a preliminary 
training equivalent to a college course to the end of freshman year in 
mathematics and natural science, and to the end of junior year in 
English language and literature, and the completion of the first eight 
of the above schools, except that of philosophy, mental, moral and 
political, a course extending through four years. 

The Kentucky Christian Education Society, an independent organi- 
zation of the church, assists annually a limited number of deserving 
students who have not the means to defray all their expenses. 

The College of the Bible has in recent years had an average of some- 
thing over 20 graduates annually. Its total alumni, to 1898 inclusive, 
are 357, of whom about 60 have graduated in the classical course, the 
others in the English course. Among the alumni are a number of emi- 
nent ministers, a dozen or more college i)rofessors, and some prominent 
editors of religious papers. 

RECENT HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY AS A WHOLE. 

The university as a whole, looked upon as an association of cooperat- 
ing colleges, has of late years enlarged the scope of its instruction and 
the sphere of its action in several respects. 

In 1890 the College of Liberal Arts and the Commercial College were 
opened, in all their privileges, to women upon the same terms as men. 

In 1892 the College of Law, which had closed in 1879, was revived with 
Hon. Joseph D. Hunt as its presiding officer, with whom were associated, 
as other professors, David G. Falconer, John T. Shelby, and John E. 
Allen. The success of the college was not, however, sufficient to justify 
its continuation and it was again suspended in 1895.* 

1 These schools require different times, from a half year to two years.for their com- 
pletion. A half year's course in Old Testament criticisms has recently been added. 
^The two colleges of law during their existence had a total of 164 graduates. 



KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY. 95 

In November, 1897, a farther extension of the operations of the uni- 
versity was brought about by an arrangement which constituted the 
Kentucky School of Medicine, located in Louisville, as the medical 
department of the institution,^ thus substituting a well-established and 
vigorous medical college for the former medical department, closed in 
1878, and also reestablishing an old connection, as the Kentucky School 
of Medicine is in a sense a lineal descendant of the medical department 
of old Transylvania University. 

In the the summer of 1897 President Loos, after seventeen years of 
capable and useful service in the position, resigned the presidency of 
the university. He, however, still retained his professorship. His 
successor in the presidential chair of the institution is Rev. R. Lin. Gave, 
who assumed the executive duties of the institution in September, 1897, 
shortly before the expansion referred to above. President Cave is an 
alumnus of the College of the Bible in the class of 1867, and has been 
mainly engaged in the active work of the ministry of his church since 
graduation. He has had, however, some special training for his present 
position in having been for a time the president of Christian University, 
at Canton, Mo. He has devoted himself, in connection with the uni- 
versity at Lexington, mainly to the work of informing the public, espe- 
cially his denomination, more fully in regard to its work and getting 
them interested in its welfare. 

The faculty of the medical department will be given in connection 
with the appended sketch of the Kentucky School of Medicine. 

The following is the combined faculty of the colleges of the university 
located in Lexington : Rev. R. Lin. Cave, president of the university and 
ex-officio presiding officer of the College of Liberal Arts; Charles Louis 
Loos, LL. D., professor of the Greek language and literature; John W. 
McGarvey, A. M., president of the College of the Bible and professor 
of sacred history and evidences of Christianity; Wilbur R. Smith, pre- 
siding officer of the Commercial College; Henry H. White, LL. D., 
professor emeritus of mathematics and astronomy; Robert Graham, 
A. M., professor of mental, moral, and political philosophy; Alexander 
R. Milligan, A. M., professor of the Latin language and literature; 
Isaiah B. Grubbs, A. M., professor of exegesis, church polity, and church 
history; Alfred Fairhurst, A. M., professor of natural science; Charles 
J. Kemper, A. M., professor of the French and German languages and 
of mechanics and astronomy; Clarence C. Freeman, A. M., professor of 
the English language and literature; Richard H. Ellett, A. M., pro- 
fessor of mathematics; Walter G. Conley, A. M., professor of sacred 
history and evidences of Christianity; Benjamin C. Deweese, A. M., 
professor of Hebrew and homiletics; Mrs. A. R. Bourne, professor of 
civil history and assistant professor of English. 

*The connection between the Kentucky School of Medicine and Kentucky Uni- 
versity was dissolved in the latter part of the summer of 1898, and the university 
established a new medic^^l department^ also located in Louisville. 



96 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY, 

There are besides an assistant in the Academy and an instructor in 
elocution, also a number of other teachers in the Commercial College. 
Professor White, while having given up the duties of his professorship, 
still continues a long and honorable service for the institution by acting 
as its treasurer and librarian. 

THE KENTUCKY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, LOUISVILLE. 

As has been mentioned above, this school became, in November, 1897, 
the medical department of Kentucky University, thus resuming, even 
more closely than formerly, an old relation, as we have already seen 
that the medical faculty of Transylvania University, the predecessor 
of the present Kentucky University, had a large share in founding the 
Kentucky School of Medicine, and that the two schools were in this 
way connected for several years. Others were, however, interested in 
the establishment of the new school, the second of its kind in Louisville. 
The first steps looking toward its organization were taken in 1847, when 
a number of the most eminent physicians and other citizens of Louis- 
ville petitioned the State legislature for a charter for the enterprise 
from considerations of public policy as well as in the interests of med- 
ical education. For some reason the legislature did not see fit to grant 
a charter at that session. Another unsuccessful attempt to secure a 
separate charter was made at the next session, as well as an equally 
futile one to have the proposed medical school made explicitly the 
medical department of the Masonic University, then in operation at 
Lagrange, Ky. Finally, in 1849, the charter of this institution was 
modified in such a way as to give it university privileges, and under 
this provision of its charter the Kentucky School of Medicine was 
opened in the succeeding year. 

Just about the time the matter of the charter had been arranged, 
the sessions of the medical department of Transylvania University 
were changed from fall and winter to spring, and its faculty were 
invited, on account of the eminence of their services and their reputa- 
tion as teachers, by those in Louisville interested in the new school to 
take part in its organization. They accordingly constituted the main 
part of its first faculty. The first session of the Kentucky School of 
Medicine was opened in Louisville on the first Monday in November, 
1850, and its initial faculty was composed as follows: Benjamin W. 
Dudley, M. D., emeritus professor of anatomy and surgery; Eobert 
Peter, M. D., professor of medical chemistry and toxicology; Samuel 
Annan, M. D., professor of pathology and the practice of medicine; 
Joshua B. Flint, M. D., professor of the principles and practice of 
surgery; Ethelbert L. Dudley, M. D., professor of descriptive anatomy 
and histology; Lewellyn Powell, M. D., professor of obstetrics and dis- 
eases of women and children ; James M. Bush, M. D., professor of surgi- 
cal anatomy and operative surgery; Henry M.Bullitt, M. D., professor of 
physiology and materia medica; Philip Thornberry, M. D., John Bart- 



KENTUCKY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. 97 

lett, M. D., demonstrators of anatomy. Of this faculty, Drs. Peter, 
Annan, B. L. Dudley, and Bush were, with one exception, the medical 
faculty of Transylvania University at the time, while Drs. Flint, Powell, 
and Bullitt were additional members from Louisville. Dr. Bullitt was 
made the first dean of the faculty. Dr. B. W. Dudley's connection 
with the school, as with Transylvania University at the time, was only 
nominal. It was originally intended that he should from tiine to time 
deliver lectures on special points of surgical doctrine and practice, but 
it is known that he never delivered any of these. The first quarters of 
the institution were on the southeast corner of Fifth and Grreen streets, 
where an amphitheater capable of seating 400 students had been fitted 
up, besides a convenient dissecting room and rooms for a library and 
museum. Dr. Peter had been sent East the previous summer to pur- 
chase the apparatus for a complete modern laboratory, and Dr. Bush 
had been dispatched to Europe, where he had secured an excellent 
anatomical cabinet. 

The original course of the school was the one then generally in vogue 
in Transylvania and elsewhere, of two courses of lectures, with one 
year's office study. The sessions at first were four months in length, 
beginning the first of November. 

The institution was fairly prosperous from the start, having 101 stu- 
dents the first year, a number of them being advanced students from 
Transylvania and elsewhere, of whom 35 were graduated at the end of 
the session. For the next year, Dr. Annan resigned and Dr. Thomas 
D. Mitchell, the remaining member of the Transylvania medicnl faculty 
of the year before, was made professor of the theory and practice of 
medicine, Dr. Bullitt taking the chair of physiology and pathology, 
and E. D. Force, M. D., of Louisville, becoming professor of materia 
medica and therapeutics; at the same time Dr. Flint succeeded Dr. 
Bullitt as dean of the faculty. There were, that session, 110 students 
and 26 graduates, while the third year there were 101 students and 31 
graduates. 

In 1854 Drs. Peter, Dudley, Bush, and Mitchell severed their con- 
nection with the school, as the Transylvania Medical School at that 
time resumed its winter sessions; Dr. Powell also resigned, so the 
faculty of the Kentucky School of Medicine had, as new professors, 
Drs. Robert J. Breckinridge, Thomas W. Colescatt, J. G. l^orwood, 
John Hardin, and L. M. Lawson, who held the chairs, respectively, of 
materia medica and clinical surgery, anatomy, chemistry, obstetrics 
and diseases of women and children, and theory and practice of medi- 
cine and clinical medicine. The institution then became entirely an 
independent school and remained so until its recent connection with 
Kentucky University, its afi'airs being managed by a board of seven 
self perpetuating regents. 

At an early date in its history, the school, in order to secure a better 
season of the year and better suit the courses of other schools, changed 
2127— No. 25 7 



98 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

its sessions to the spring, a custom whicli it has since maintained, and 
which it was t lie fits t institution to follow as a regular lolicy. The 
school continued many years in its original location, during which time 
it continued to grow in public favor. In 1866 an affiliation was formed 
between it and the medical department of the University of Louisville, 
a joint faculty of ten professors being appointed from the two faculties; 
but this connection lasted only about a year, at the end of which each 
institution resumed its separate existence. 

The prosperity of the Kentucky school was such that after a time 
it was forced to seek larger and better quarters, which were obtained 
at its present location on Sixth street, between Walnut and Chestnut 
streets, where its original building was capacious and well adapted to 
its uses. The institution has put stress upon jDractical and demonstra- 
tive teaching and early had, as a part of its equipment, a dispensary 
to furnish the desired clinical advantages. In 1890 laboratories of 
histology, pathology, and bacteriology were added to the previous 
laboratories of chemistry, of materia medica and pharmacy, and of 
anatomy, and at the same time the ample museum was refitted. Since 
then clinical and surgical laboratories have been established. In 1894, 
in order to further enlarge the clinical advantages of the school, its 
faculty had erected, in connection with the college building, a large 
auxiliary hospital at a cost of $50,000. This building is a credit to the 
city and its founders. It is fitted throughout with modern appliances 
and its appointments are in every way commodious and elegant. 

The graduation requirements of the institution have, in recent years, 
been brought up to those of the foremost medical schools of the country. 
In 1892 a preliminary matriculation examination and a three-years' 
course of lectures were required of all students entering that year, and 
in 1895 the regular matriculation requirements and lecture courses of 
four years of the Association of American Medical Colleges were made 
essential to graduation. The sessions of the school now extended six 
months, from January 1 of each year. 

The course of instruction is that of a modern progressive institution, 
and embraces the following departments: Anatomy, chemistry, physi- 
ology, materia medica, therapeutics, physical diagnosis, medicine and 
clinical medicine, diseases of children, nervous diseases, hygiene, 
obstetrics, gynecology and abdominal surgery, operative gynecology, 
surgery and clinical surgery, ophthalmology and otology, venereal and 
skin diseases, dental surgery, medical jurisprudence, and medical 
physics. 

The popularity of the school is attested by its large annual matricu- 
lation, which has not been largely reduced by the additional require- 
ments for graduation recently instituted. In 1889, 263 students were in 
attendance upon its classes; in 1891 their number had increased to 411, 
and in 1892 to 504, these last representing 34 States and Territories of 
the United States and 6 other countries. The average matriculation 



KENTUCKY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. 99 

for the past two years lias been 338. There were 104 graduates in 
1889, 155 iu 1891, and 188 in 1894. The average for the past two years 
has been 79. The school had educated, altogether, something over 5,000 
physicians up to 1898, inclusive. Its graduates are scattered through- 
out the States and Territories, and many of them have won prominence 
and distinction in practice and teaching in all parts of the country. 
Besides these already mentioned and the present faculty of the insti- 
tution, the following prominent physicians have, among others, at dilt'er- 
ent times been connected with its faculty for longer or shorter periods: 
T. G. Eichardson, Middleton Goldsmith, A. B. Cook, G. W. Bayless, J. 
M. Bodine, N. B. Marshall, G. W. Wright, L. J. Frazee, George J. Cook, 
and J. A. Ireland. 
The following are the present regular professors in the school : 
Samuel E. Woody, A. M., M. D., professor of chemistry, public 
hygiene, and diseases of children ; William H. Watheu, M. D., LL. D., 
professor of obstetrics, abdominal surgery, and gynecology 5 Martin 
F. Coomes, A. M., M. D., professor of physiology, and clinical lecturer 
on ophthalmology and laryngology; Clinton W. Kelly, M. D., CM., 
professor of anatomy and clinical medicine; Henry Orendorf, M. D., 
professor of materia medica and therapeutics, and clinical lecturer on 
genitourinary, venereal, and skin diseases; Joseph M. Mathews, M. D., 
professor of surgery, and clinical lecturer on diseases of the rectum; 
James M. Holloway, A. M., M. D., professor of surgery and clinical 
surgery; Joseph B. Marvin, B. S., M. D., professor of medicine and clini- 
cal medicine; William L. Eodman, A. M., M. D., professor of surgery 
and clinical surgery; Carl Weidner, M. D., associate professor of medi- 
cine, and director in the laboratory of histology and pathology; Louis 
Frank, M. D., professor of bacteriology, and director in the laboratory 
of bacteriology; W. T. St. Clair, A. M., professor of medical Latin; 
Harry Gault Brownell, B. S., professor of medical physics; David W. 
Fairleigh, B. L., x)rofessor of medical jurisprudence. 

The faculty also contains 4 lecturers on special subjects, 3 directors 
of laboratories, and 15 assistants in the various departments. Dr. 
Wathen was for many years its dean, but was succeeded in 1895 by 
Dr. Woody, who is the present executive officer of the institution. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Collinses Sketches 

Collinses, Smith's, and Perriu, Battle and Kuiffen's histories. 

Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky. 

Peter's Fayette County. 

Reports of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Barnard's American Journal of Education. 

Acts of the Legislature. 

Home and School, an educational magazine published at Louisville, Ky., for some 
time after 1872. 

The Biography of Elder John T. Johnson, by .John Rogers, Cincinnati, 1861. 

Minutes of a Meeting of the Friends and Donors of Bacon College at Harrodsburg, 
Ky., May 6, 1857, Harrodsburg, 1857. 



100 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Tho Statutes and Laws of Kentucky Uuiversity, Harrodsburg, 1858. 

Inaugural Address of Robert Milligan, A. M., as president of Kentucky University, 
Louisville, 1859. 

Annual Report of the Executive Committee of Kentucky University, Cincinnati, 
1863. 

Charter, Statutes, and Laws of Kentucky University, Lexington, 1866. 

Regulations for the Government of the Cadets of the Agricultural and Mechanical 
College, Lexington, 1867. 

Report of tho Agricultural and Mechanical College to the Governor of Kentucky, 
by J. B. Bowman, Regent, Frankfort, 1869. 

The Annual Report of tho Treasurer of Kentucky University, with a financial 
history from 1855 to 1871, Lexington, 1871. 

Report of the Board of Visitors of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of 
Kentucky, Frankfort, 1873. 

A Centennial Exhibit of Education in Kentucky, by H. A. M. Henderson, Frank- 
fort, 1876. 

The History of the Ohio Falls Cities and their Counties, by L. A. Williams & Co., 
2 vols., Cleveland, 1882. 

Newspaper Sketch of the Kentucky School of Medicine, by Dr. J. A. Ouchterlony 
(date uncertain). 

THE AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE — LEXINGTON. 

The foundation of this institution, ordinarily called the State Col- 
lege simply, is due to the act of Congress of July 2, 18C2, which 
granted to each State of the Union that would provide colleges for the 
benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts a donation of 30,000 acres 
of land for each of its Eepresentatives in the National Legislature. 
Section 4 of this act requires that the leading object of such colleges — 

Shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including 
military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and 
the mechanic arts in such manner as the legislatures of the States may respectively 
describe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial 
classes in the several pursuits and professions of life. 

This donation amounted, in the case of Kentucky, to 330,000 acres 
of land, and was formally accepted by the State legislature on January 
27, 1863. The act provided, however, that the State should furnish an 
experimental farm, proper buildings, and a suitable equipment other- 
wise for the new college, and as Kentucky was at the time, owing to 
tlie civil war, in quite a depressed condition financially, some diflBculty 
was experienced in getting her legislature to make the needed direct 
appropriation for putting the institution into operation. Proposals for 
bids for its location were arranged for, but none were offered during 
the next two years that were considered sufficiently advantageous to 
be accepted. 

It is probably because the proposition carried with it no experimental 
farm that the excellent proposal of the trustees of Transylvania Uni- 
versity to make the property and funds of "that venerable institution 
the basis for the new one was not taken advantage of. The buildings, 
grounds, and apparatus of the university at that time were estimated 



AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE. 101 

to be worth $100,000 or more, while its endowment was aboat $05,000 
in bonds and $5,000 in cash. This would have furnished a splendid 
foundation for the Agricultural and Mechanical College, one for which 
it had to wait years afterwards before acquiring in its own right. It 
was this diflBculty in securing the proper equipment, besides the advan- 
tages of the oifer itself, which made the legislature as a body, in Jan- 
uary, 1865, quite willing to turn over the inauguration of the enterprise 
to Kentucky University upon the terms then proposed by Mr. Bowman, 
its founder. 

We liave seen, in connection with the history of that institution, 
what were the terms of that offer and how it was accepted by the act 
of February 22, 1865, and the new college opened, under the auspices 
of the university, on October 1, 1866, a loan of $20,000 having been 
made by an act of February 10, 1866, in order to put it into immediate 
operation without depending on the returns from the sale of the Gov- 
ernment land scrip. This sale was authorized by an act of February 
28, 1865,^ and occurred some time after that date. The land was dis 
posed of for 50 cents an acre, thus realizing a fund of $165,000, which 
was invested in State bonds, bearing 6 per cent interest, the returns 
from which for a considerable time were the principal income of the 
institution. The comparatively small amount obtained from the land 
endowment caused much dissatisfaction throughout the State, espe- 
cially among the friends of Kentucky University, and was, as has been 
noted, one of the causes operating to separate the college from the 
university. If any are to be specially blamed in this connection they 
are those, both within and without the denomination controlling the 
university, who by their clamors for the early inauguration of the new 
college, caused those in whose hands the matter had been placed to be 
perhaps rather hasty in disposing of the college lands. Kentucky did 
quite as well with this endowment as some Stat,es who were equally 
hasty in realizing on it, although other States handled their scrip more 
judiciously and were thus able to obtain much more from it. When 
the Agricultural and Mechanical College was first put in operation, on 
the splendid estate provided for it by Mr. Bowman, its faculty was 
constituted as follows: John Aug. Williams, presiding officer and pro- 
fessor of mental and moral philosophy; H. H. White, professor of 
mathematics and astronomy; Eobert Peter, professor of chemistry and 
experimental philosophy; James K. Patterson, professor of Latin, 
political economy, and history; Alexander Winchell, professor of 
geology and natural history; Joseph D, Pickett, professor of the Eng- 
lish language and literature; William E. Arnold, professor of military 
tactics. Besides these there were six instructors, a farm superintend- 
ent, and two stewards. 

The original course of instruction in the institution embraced the 
ten schools of philosophy, English language and literature, mathe- 



Chapter 1174, acts of 1865. 



102 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

matics, chemistry and experimental philosophy, natural history, his- 
tory, nioderu languages, civil engineering and mining, military tactics, 
and fine arts. Tn addition to this, practical work was required of all 
students for two hours a day on the ornamental grounds, the farm, or 
in the mechanical shops after these had been established in 1868, a 
number of students being assisted financially by being paid for extra 
labor on the farm. 

We have seen that the college was, for a time, quite successful, 
having as many as 300 students in 1869-70; but the connection with 
Kentucky University, for the reasons already given, soon proved 
unsatisfactory to all parties, the number of students having, in 
1877-78, declined to 78; so, by an act of March 13, 1878, the legis- 
lature, which had reserved such a right over the control of the land- 
endowment fund, as well as the right of inspection through a board 
of six visitors appointed by the governor, separated the college from 
the university, the act to take eifect July 1, 1878, from which date 
the former became an independent institution. The college up to this 
time had had two other presiding officers besides Professor Williams, 
who had directed it the first year and largelj'^ organized its course. He 
had been succeeded in 1867 by Professor Pickett, and he in 1869 by 
Professor Patterson. It had sent out its first graduating class of one 
member in 1869, and had had altogether during this period of its his- 
tory 12 graduates. 

The act separating the institution from Kentucky University, which 
the legislature looked upon as having made a loyal attempt to fulfill its 
pledges to the college, but had failed, owing to adverse circumstances, 
appointed for the latter a commission, composed of the lieutenant- 
governor and one member from each of the ten Congressional districts 
of the State, whose duties were threefold : (1) To arrange for continuing 
the operation of the institution until the next session of the legislature; 

(2) to decide upon its permanent location at that place in the State 
which would, all things considered, offer the greatest inducements; 

(3) to prepare a plan for its reorganization in regard to departments of 
instruction, and other important particulars. 

The first of these objects was accomplished by an arrangement, entered 
into on July 5, 1878, between the commission and a committee of the 
board of curators of Kentucky University, by which the college was to 
still occupy its former grounds and buildings until July 1, 1880, and was 
to liave the use of 100 acres of the experimental farm, together with one 
acre additional for every student it had over 100, the institutions mean- 
while acting in harmony as previously and mutually opening their 
courses to each other's students. The board of visitors, composed of six 
representative public men to whom the direct management of the insti- 
tution had been committed for the next two years, after organizing on 
July 12, 1878, elected a new faculty of seven members, composed mainly, 
if not entirely, of members of the former faculty, with Prof. J. K. Patter- 



AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE. 103 

son, wbo had been at the head of the institution for the past nine years, 
as its president, thus putting the college in running order for the next 
two years. 

In accordance with the terms of the Congressional land grant, the com- 
mission made agriculture and the mechanic arts, as also military tactics, 
obligatory in the course of instruction, but, in regard to other depart- 
ments a wide discretion was given to the trustees of the college. An 
advanced course in agricultural chemistry and other subjects were at 
once added to the curriculum, which, according to the recommendations 
made, was to be wide in scope and to be conducted on a university and 
not simply a college basis. The putting of the institution on this basis 
was not, however, to be hurried, but was to be carried out as its means 
would permit. Kentucky University had for several years been unable, 
by reason of financial embarrassment, to carry out the intention of Con- 
gress in regard to agriculture and the mechanic arts, as its experimental 
farm had been used only to aid students and its expensive machine 
shops had for some time been closed. The college only attempted to 
give the scientific basis of instruction in these departments, waiting 
for greater resources before instituting practical operations. 

After having made these preliminary arrangements the commission, 
in accordance with its instructions, had advertised for bids for the per- 
manent location of the college to be reported to the next session of the 
legislature, and at a meeting on August 14, 1879, recommended that of 
Lexington and Fayette County as offering the best and greatest induce- 
ments. Lexington, in order to secure the location of the institution 
permanently in its midst, proposed to give the city park of 52 acres, 
lying within the limits of the city and valued at $250,000, as a site and 
$30,000 in bonds for building purposes, which was to be supplemented 
by $20,000 in bonds given for buildings or land by Fayette County.^ 
This offer was accepted, and the college so located by an act of the leg- 
islature approved February 6, 1880.^ 

Meanwhile the institution had made a fair start toward its future 
prosperity. Its irst session under the new auspices was opened on 
September 7, 1878, and during the year 118 students were in attend- 
ance, an advance of 50 per cent over the previous year's attendance. 
The college also closed the year with some cash in the treasury, although 
its agricultural produce for the year had not been realized on and con- 
siderable had been paid out for student labor. During its second year 
its attendance reached 137. 

By a legislative act of March 4, 1880,^ the institution was granted a 
liberal charter, conferring upon it full collegiate powers, and putting it 
under direct State control, by having its management coTumitted to a 



^ The donatiou of Lexington was authorized by a legislative act approved January 
31, 1880 (chapter 49, acts of 1880), and that of Fayette County by an act approved 
January 24, 1880 (acts of 1880, chapter 71). 

2 Chapter 157, acts of 1880. 

=' Chapter 359, acts of 1880. 



104 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

body of twelve trustees, a])i)oiiite(l by the governor and confirmed by 
the senate every four years, with the governor as an additional ex 
oflBciomeniber. A clause provided for theaddition of four other members 
elected by the alumni of the college from among themselves whenever 
their number should reach 100. This last provision was abrogated by 
an act of May 9, 1893, which placed the control of the institution in the 
hands of fifteen trustees, one-third of them appointed every two years 
by the governor, who, with the president of the college, is also an ex 
officio member. 

The original charter provided free tuition for 4 students from each 
of the 100 legislative districts of the State. An amendment of April 
23, 1880,' did a great service to the cause of public education In the 
State by establishing a normal department which, as declared by section 
7 of the act, is "designed more particularly, but not exclusively, to 
qualify teachers for common and other schools," and was also to furnish 
free tuition to 4 students from each legislative district who are pre- 
paring themselves for teaching. To further increase and make efficient 
the endowment of the institution, an additional amendment of April 
29, 1880,2 imposed a regular tax of one-half cent on each $100 of the 
property of the white citizens of the State, thus making a very material 
and much needed addition to the scant income derived from the land- 
scrip fund. This tax yielded in 1880, the first year it was levied, about 
$17,000 and now furnishes an income of about $33,000 a year. 

The history of the college from the time of its permanent location, 
when it received its endowment from Lexington and had the income 
from a State tax added to its former revenue of about $10,000 a year, 
has been one of constant and regular growth and expansion, which 
have been further extended by the increased income derived from the 
Hatch bill of 1887 and the Morrill bill of 1890. 

In 1880 its faculty was enlarged and its course of instruction extended. 
Its faculty as then constituted was composed as follows: James K. 
I^atterson, president and professor of history and metaphysics; Bobert 
Peter, professor of chemistry and experimental philosophy; John H. 
Neville, professor of Latin and Greek; John Shackleford, professor of 
English; J. G. White, professor of mathematics and astronomy; A. K. 
Crandall, professor of natural history and mechanics; R. J. Howell, 
U. S. A., professor of civil engineering and military science; F. M. 
Helveti, professor of French and German; W. A. Kellerman, professor 
of agriculture, horticulture, and economic botany; Maurice Borby, 
principal of the normal school; T. C. H. Yance, principal of the com- 
mercial department; W. K. Patterson, principal of the preparatory 
department; A. M. Peter, adjunct professor of chemistry and natural 
history; John Patterson, assistant professor of Latin; David A. King, 



'Chap. 1094, acts of 1880. Under this act, as female teachers were admitted as 
well as male teachers, the institution became coeducational and has since so remained 
in all departments. 

'^bap. 1315, acts of 1880. 



AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE. 105 

instructor in practical mecLanics; J. L. McCIellan and M. L. Pence, 
assistants in the preparatory department. 

The course of instruction as laid down in the regulations of the 
board of trustees, adopted in final form on June 30, 18S2, was divided 
into twenty-one departments, besides a preparatory department, all 
of which, except those relating to commercial education, are included in 
the present curriculum of the college, with its fifteen departments, 
which will be enumerated later,' Instruction in bookkeeping, commer- 
cial law, and phonography were originally included in the regular cur- 
riculum, but in 1889 an arrangement was made by an association with 
Orcutt's Short Hand and Commercial Institute to furnish college 
students desiring it free instruction in these departments in that 
institution. A similar arrangement, which continued until quite 
recently, was later made with Lexington Business College; but com- 
mercial education is now looked upon by the institution as professional, 
and is not made a part of its curriculum. 

When the agreement made by the commission of 1878 and Kentucky 
University expired on July 1, 1880, the college, seeing its new quarters 
could not be prepared for it for some time, rented its former buildings 
and grounds from the university and continued in its old location for 
nearly two years longer. The corner stone of a fine new main building, 
constructed of brick with stone trimmings, with accommodations for 
600 students in the way of chapel, lecture rooms, etc., was laid with 
appropriate ceremonies on October 28, 1880. This building was com- 
pleted and occupied as a new home for the institution on February 15, 
1882. About the same time a brick residence for the president and a 
brick dormitory, with accommodations for 90 students, were erected. 
Meanwhile the matriculation continued to increase, there being 234 
students in attendance in 1880-81. 

The work of the college in its new home soon began to show that 
expansion which has since been characteristic of it. In the latter part 
of 1885 the first important step in realizing the special aims of the 
institution was taken by the organization of the agricultural experi- 
ment station. Prof. M. A. Scovell, its present eflficient director, was 
then placed at its head, and in 1886 the station began work as a State 
enterprise, it having been reorganized and named the Kentucky Exper- 
iment Station by the legislature in that year. Its twofold work of 
making experiments in scientific agriculture and making their results 
known to those interested by the publication of frequent bulletins was 
able to be still further increased and enlarged by the passage by Con- 
gress, on March 2, 1887, of what is ordinarily known as the Hatch bill, 
from its author, which appropriates annually $15,000 to similar stations 
la each State throughout the country. The board of control of the 



' The degree courses provided in 1880 were a classical and a scientific course of four 
years each, leading to the degrees of A. B. and B. S., with A. M. and M. S. conferred 
after an additional year's study. There was also a general course of four years not 
leading to a degree. 



106 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Kentucky station, as at i)resent organized, is composed of three of the 
college trustees, together with the president of the college and the 
director of the station as ex-officio members. The provisions of the 
Hatch bill were accepted by the legislature on February 20, 1888, ^ and 
an experimental farm of 48^ acres, situated near the college campus, 
was soon purchased and equipped with suitable buildings. The chief 
building for the station is located on the campus. It is a handsome 
and well-planned structure, costing, with its equipment, about $20,000, 
and was completed in August, 1889. All commercial fertilizers sold in 
the State are required by State law to be analyzed and inspected by 
the station. This so far has been a means of some income, besides fur- 
nishing valuable information to the agricultural community. The staff 
of the station contains, in addition to the director, two chemists, an 
entomologist and botanist, a horticulturist, a meteorologist, a superin- 
tendent of field experiments, and a dairyman. 

The development of the other leading object for which the college 
was established has had a similar, although somewhat more recent, 
history. A course in practical mechanics was first offered in 1889, but 
no regular mechanical department was organized until two years later. 
Meanwhile the revenue of the institution and its ability to carry out 
its purposes in this direction were materially increased by what is com- 
monly known as the Morrill bill, of June 23, 1890, which granted to 
each of the agricultural and mechanical colleges in the different States 
an appropriation of $15,000 for the year 1890, which was to be 
increased each year by $1,000 until it reached $25,000 annually. A 
regular department of mechanical engineering was organized in the 
Kentucky State College in June, 1891, when the chair of mechanical 
engineering was established and the professor appointed. A new 
mechanical building was soon begun and was completed and occupied 
in January, 1892. It is commodious and specially well adapted to its 
purposes and has an equipment second to none south of the Ohio 
Eiver, the estimated value of the building and apparatus being about 
$60,000. The building contains, besides three recitation rooms and 
three oflSces, two drawing rooms, a wood pattern shop, two boiler 
rooms, a wash room, a tool room, an engine room, two machine shops — 
one for working wood, the other metal — a foundry, a blacksmith shop, 
and two large rooms devoted to experimental engineering. 

The addition of the normal school in 1880 and the recent enlargement 
of the means of instruction in the special departments of the college, to 
which we have just been referring, have led to a corresponding expan- 
sion in its courses of study, courses in pedagogy, in agriculture, in 
civil engineering, and in mechanical engineering, having been added to 
those already in operation, so as to make the present curriculum quite 
broad in scope as well as special in character. The former scientific 
course has recently been subdivided into mathematical, biological, and 



1 Chapter 208, acts of 1888. 



AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE. 107 

cliemieal courses, all scientific in character, but each emphasizing espe- 
cially the science indicated by its name. The equipment of the depart- 
ments of biology, physiology, geology, botany, chemistry, and physics 
has become quite complete for work and illustration, the apparatus of 
those departments being estimated to be worth something over $20,000. 

The facilities for instruction in these departments were largely 
improved in 1897 by the erection of a new natural science building. 
This IS a three-story brick structure and is modern in all its appoint- 
ments, costing, with its electric-lighting and steam-heating apparatus, 
$20,000. The entire third floor of this building is given up to the proper 
display of a recent valuable acquisition to the scientific apparatus of 
the college, consisting of the collection of minerals and other i)roducts 
of the State, collected by the State geological survey and for many 
years deposited in the capitol at Frankfort. This collection is now in 
charge of the State inspector of mines, who by an act of the legislature 
of 1898 was attached to the staff of the State college and had his office 
and the geological collection moved to Lexington. This collection will 
constitute a valuable scientific museum for the future. 

The libraries of the different departments of the college, especially 
the scientific departments, have of late been considerably enlarged and 
now contain the standard authorities needed for reference in each case. 
The plan of having special libraries has been adopted rather than 
having one large general collection. 

The approximate value of the entire college property is $475,000. 
The income of the institution, including the experiment station, is 
about $80,000 annually. The following is an exhibit of the revenue 
between July 1, 1896, and July 1, 1897: 

CoUege proper : 

State taxes $32,429.32 

Federal fund of 1890. 18,810.00 

Students' fees 1,428.57 

From other sources 498. 91 

Total 53,166.80 

Experimeut station : 

Federal fund of 1887 $15,000.00 

Fertilizers 3, 240. 00 

Farm 1,280.43 

Other sources 132. 70 

Total 19,653.13 

To the college income, besides the above items, is to l)e added $8,404.50 
annually coming from its share of the Federal fund of 18G2, from which 
no revenue is given above, because the former State bonds had expired 
in 189C and no new revenue was derived from this source until Septem- 
ber, 1897, on new bonds issued by the legislature of 1896.^ The Federal 

'The legislature of this year gave to the State Normal School at Frankfort its 
share, 14^ per cent, of the Federal fund of 1862, which made the share of the State 
college $141,075, which hears 6 per cent interest annually. 



108 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

fund of 1890 also increases $1,()00 each year until the year 1900, 85 J 
l)er cent of which will go to this institution. 

The course of instruction in the college as at present constituted is 
composed of the following departments: History, political economy, and 
metaphysics; botany, horticulture, and agriculture; the English lan- 
guages and literature; military science; chemistry; mathematics and 
astronomy; modern languages; Greek and Latin; [)edagogy, or the 
normal school; civil engineering; mechanical engineering; anatomy 
and physiology; geology, zoology, and physics. 

The college ofters six degree courses of four years each, leading 
respectively to the degrees of bachelor of science, bachelor of arts, 
bachelor of agriculture, bachelor of civil engineering, bachelor of 
mechanical engineering, and bachelor of pedagogy. The degree of 
master is also conferred in the lirst five of these departments, upon an 
additional year's regular stndy and the presentation of an acceptable 
thesis in the principal department of study. In certain departments 
special courses, not leading to a degree, are arranged to suit the needs 
of a particular class of students. In agriculture a short course has 
been lately inaugurated for scientific instruction in the most practical 
part of agriculture, which may be attended by farmers during their 
leisure season. In pedagogy, besides the regular degree course, there are 
special State diploma. State-certificate, and county-certificate courses, 
designed to meet the needs of certain classes of teachers, especially 
in the State public schools. In the course in mechanical engineering 
a choice of one of tliree lines of work — mechanical engineering proper, 
chemical engineering, or electrical engineering — is allowed in the last 
two years of the course. 

The academy courses are preparatory to those of the college and are 
two years in length. There are two of them — the scientific, agricul- 
tural, and engineering course and the classical and normal course. 
The college has recently arranged for a more general preparation of its 
students throughout the State by the recognition of a number of private 
and public high schools as accredited schools, whose courses are coordi- 
nated with those of the college, and whose students are received upon 
certificate into certain classes of the institution. 

The matriculation of the college has in a general way kept pace with 
expansion in other ways. Within five years after the occupancy of the 
new building its students had risen in number to 309, and for the past 
^ve years they have averaged 390, of whom an average of about 90 have 
been in the normal'school and about 100 in the academy. There were 
in 1897-98 432 students in all departments. The general financial 
de])ression has not, as in many other institutions, decreased the attend- 
ance, which has kept up well, and in the numbers in the college classes 
especially has shown a marked enlargement, the average in these for 
the past two years being about 100 more than in the three years 
previous. 



AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE. 109 

The accommodatLons for students were materially increased about 
1890 by the addition of a new dormitory with rooms for 50 students. 
The legislative act of May 6, 1893, in addition to changing the plan of 
managing the institution, as already noted, made the appointments of 
beneficiary pupils in the normal school four from each county of the 
State, instead of each legislative district, as before, and besides furnish- 
ing free tuition to all beneficiary students, grants them free traveling 
expenses to and from Lexington to their homes after they have honor 
ably sustained themselves for one year as matriculates. In order to 
bring the benefits of the college within the reach of as many as possi- 
ble, the tuition fees for other students are made very moderate and a 
number of poor students are given work on the college farm for several 
hours each day, for which they are paid from 6 to 10 cents an hour. 

The college has had an average of about 19 graduates each year for 
the past five years, and its total alumni in all of its regular courses to 
1898, inclusive, are 190. Several of these are members of its present 
faculty and others occupy important positions in teaching and other 
professions. Among them may be mentioned particularly T. V. Munson, 
of Texas, who is considered the highest authority in the United States 
on the subject of vine culture. In recognition of his services in intro- 
ducing the American stocks upon which to graft the French vines, he 
received from the Government of France the decoration of the Legion 
of Honor. 

The faculty of the institution, including the nine instructors in the 
various departments, is at present composed of twenty-four members, 
nearly four times as many as at the time of the reorganization in 1878. 
The regular professors, with their chairs, are as follows : James Kennedy 
Patterson, Ph. D., LL. D., F. S. A., president, professor of history, 
political economy, and metaphysics; John Shackleford, A. M,, vice- 
president, professor of English and logic 5 James Garrard White, A. M., 
professor of mathematics and astronomy; John Henry Neville, A. M., 
professor of Greek and Latin; Walter Kennedy Patterson, A. M., prin- 
cipal of the academy ; Joseph Hoeing Kastle, Ph. D., professor of chem- 
istry; Rurlc Neville Boark, Ph. D., principal of the normal school; 
Joseph William Pryor, M. D., professor of anatomy and physiology; 
Frederic Paul Anderson, M. E., professor of mechanical engineering; 
James Poyntz Nelson, 0. E., M. E., professor of civil engineering; 
Clarence Wentworth Mathews, B. S., professor of botany, horticulture, 
and agriculture; Arthur McQuiston Miller, A. M., professor of geology 
and zoology; Merry Lewis Pence, M. S., professor of physics; Samuel 
Miller Swigert, captain Second Cavalry, U. S. A., commandant and 
professor of military science; Paul Wernicke, professor of modern 
languages. 

Two venerable and able members of the faculty died in 1894, Dr. 
Robert Peter and Prof. F. M. Helveti. Dr. Peter, of whom mention 
has been made elsewhere, had had a distinguished career and was 



110 HISTORY O*^" HKiHER EhlTATION IN KENTUCKY. 

noted for his lii^li diaracter and eminent wortli. lie biul entered the 
facnlty of the college in 1878 and ha<l retired from the active daties of 
his professorship in 1887, on acconnt of tlie intirmities of age. Profes- 
sor llelveti had been professor of modern hingnages in the institation 
from 1869 until the time of his deatli. lie was universally respected 
and was an accomplishe<l and faithful teacher. 

The career of steady and uniform prosperity which the State College 
of Kentncky has experienced since 1878 has been due in large measure 
to the able and energetic management of President Patterson, who has 
been at its liead almost from its iucipiency. In his hands it is i>roba- 
ble, as much of thi» work of the institution is already on a university 
basis, that it will become before lon<if a university in name as well as iu 
fact. 

BiRLio<;itAPin . 

Report of the Agricultural aud Meeliani<-:il Collej^e for l^<78-79, Frankfort, 1879. 

Bienuial Report of tin- Bosird of Visitors for 1878-1S80, Frankfort, 1880. 

An address before the Coinuiissiou on the Agricultural and Mechanical CoUego by 
J. K. Patterson, Ph. I)., Frankfort, 1882. 

Regulations of the Agricultural and Mechanical Collegt* adopted June, 1882, 
Frankfort, 1882. 

Petei-'s History of Fayette County. 

Legislation, Federal and State, in relation to the Agricultural and Mechanical 
College of Kentucky and Kegulations Governing the same, compiled by George B. 
Kinkead, Lexington, 1890. 

nicnnial Keports of the Boar<l of Trustees. 

Reports of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

Acts of tin; State legislature. 

CENTRE COLLEGE, DANVILLE, 

Centre College has had a continuous history under its present title 
since 1819, and is therefore the oldest college in Kentucky with a con- 
tinuous name and corporate existence. It dates back in conception 
even to the beginnings of Transylvania Seminary, with wliich institu- 
tion its (continuity appears, in a sense, in the fact that Governor Isaac 
Shelby, the president of its first board of trustees, was also a member 
of tiie Transylvania Seminary board of 1783. It may, however, be 
looked ui)()n as the more direct successor of Kentucky Academy, for 
it was founded by the same religious denomination, and the reasons 
for its establishmtjnt — dissatisfaction with the religious status of Tran- 
sylvania University and the plan of its management — were practically 
identical with those that operated in separating Kentucky Academy 
from Transylvania Seniinary. That this succession was felt explicitly 
by its foundel's is shown by the effort made by them to secure the 
return of the Kentucky Academy endowment from Transylvania Uni 
versity. 

The Presbyterian members of the Transylvania University board of 
trustees had already become acquainted with Dr. HoUey's religious 



CENTRE COLLEGE. Ill 

opinions even prior to his final election as president of the university 
iu November, 1817, at wbich time a number of them had resigned, while 
others retired soon afterwards or were removed from the board by 
the reorganization of February, 1818. These and other members of 
the denomination, fearful of what they considered the irreligious influ- 
ences then surrounding the university, especially those emanating from 
Dr. Holley's ideas, resolved to have an institution of their own whose 
religious atmosi)here would be what they desired, and where the young 
men of the church who were preparing for the work of the ministry 
might be educated free from contaminating influences. 

Accordingly, in October, 1818, under the leadership largely, it seems, 
of Rev. Samuel K. Nelson, who may be called, before any other one 
man, the founder of the college, steps were taken by the synod of Ken- 
tucky looking toward the organization of the new institution. The 
legislature of the State was soon petitioned for a charter for the enter- 
prise, but, although this was granted, it was refused — Davidson thinks 
mainly because of the influence of Transylvania University, which did 
not want competition — to the church upon the terms they desired. This 
charter, which bears the date of January 21, 1819, ^ located the institu- 
tion under its present name ^'in or near the town of Danville," granted 
to it the funds of Danville Academy, and placed it under the control 
of a self-perpetuating board of nineteen trustees, largely composed of 
l)rominent public men of that portion of the State, with ex-Governor 
Shelby as their chairman. Instead of placing it under the management 
of their synod, as the Presbyterians wished, the legislature, on the 
ground, it seems, that such action would be, in effect, uniting church 
and state, made it in organization a State institution, and, instead of 
the charter making provision for religious or theological instruction, 
section 4 explicitly declares that ^'no religious doctriiies peculiar to 
any one sect of Christians shall be inculcated by any professor in said 
college." 

A committee of canvassers had been appointed by the synod at the 
time that body petitioned for the charter, and a considerable endowment 
had been raised for the new college, but the Presbyterians refused to 
endow it under the conditions imposed, these funds, for the present, 
being held subject to the orders of the synod, and so the institution 
went into operation under a board of trustees which was not exclusively 
Presbyterian and many of whose members were only interested in the 
matter as a general educational enterprise. Presbyterian influence 



'Acts of 1818-19, pp. 618-621. The trustees named in tlie act were Isaac Shelby, 
John Boyle, William Owsley, Thomas Montgomery, Samuel M'Kee, WiUiam Craig, 
Thomas Cleland, Barnabas McHenry, Samuel K. Nelson, Nathan H. Hall, Joshua 
Fry, James Birney, Joshua Barbee, James Barbour, Daniel G. Cowan, John Bowman, 
Ephraim McDowell, Jeremiah Briscoe, and Jeremiah Fisher. In locating the insti- 
tution in Danville the act was again following in the steps of Transylvania Semi- 
nary, but there has never been any occasion to remove the college for lack of local 
support, as was the case with the seminary. 



112 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

seems, however, to have been predominant in its affairs from the start, 
through the prominence of members of tliat church in its councils, aud 
the denomination had a moral, if not a legal, control of the institutiou 
in this way. 

Soon after the charter was obtained the trustees, through their chair- 
man, in order to disarm opposition, especially that of Transylvania 
University, issued an address ^ to the public in which it w as declared 
that tlie college would not inculcate any denon)inational tenets, that 
its main intention ^'was to supplement the work of the declining 
academies," and that its object was not to injure the university, but 
rather to aid it by a generous rivalry. 

Immediately after the charter was secured in 1819 a modest build- 
ing was erected in Danville, mainly from local contribatioDS, and in 
1820 Rev. James McOhord was chosen as the first president of the new 
college. He, however, never served in that capacity, having died the 
year of his election after he had probably declined the proffered honor. 
Rev. Samuel Finley was then temporary president for two years, during 
which, by an act of December 18, 1821,^ which shows the institution 
was looked upon at that time as to some extent a State enterprise, the 
legislature aided the struggling undertaking by giving to it, for two 
years, one-third the profits of the branch Bank of the Commonwealth 
at Harrodsburg, to be used for purchasing a library and a scientific 
apparatus. The amount secured from this scmrce appears to have been 
about $6,000, which at the time must have been quite a help to the new 
school, although, as we shall see, it was not permanently retained. 

On July 23, 1822, Rev. Jeremiah Chamberlain, D.D.,^ became the first 
regular president of the college. Dr. Chamberlain was a man of learn- 
ing, ability, and piety, and by the vigorous cooperation of several 
philanthropic individuals brought the institution out of its incipient 
state, placing it on a firm basis and filling its halls with students. The 
professors who assisted Dr. Chamberlain at the opening of his admin- 
istration were John Dailey, professor of mathematics, and Redmond 
Dougherty, professor of the Latin and Greek languages. During this 
administration, the first graduating class was sent out by the institu- 
tion in 1824, one of the two graduates being L. W. Green, afterwards 
prominently connected with the history of his alma mater. 



1 The substance of this address is given by Professor Chenault in Smith's History 
of Kentncjky, p. 704. 

-This was part of the act which established the first public-school fund of Ken- 
tucky. 

3 A sketch of Dr. Chamberlain is to be found in Sprague's Annals, Vol. IV, pp. 591- 
592, and also in the general catalogue of Centre College for 1890, p. 5. In the latter 
account it is said ho was born in Pennsylvania in 1794, graduated at Dickinson College 
in that State in 1814, and at Princeton Seminary, New Jersey, in 1817. He was then 
engaged in the active work of the ministry until he became the president of Centre. 
He is described as "a man of marked ability, of strong intellectual i)Ower, of great 
public spirit." Various dates are given in different accounts as the beginning and 
end of his administration at Centre, bnt those given in the text seem best verified. 



CENTRE COLLEGE. 113 

President Chamberlain resigned on September 26, 1826, to become the 
president of Jackson College, Louisiana. He was later instrumental in 
founding Oakland College, Mississippi. While at Centre he did much 
toward giving that institution an impetus toward its future career. 
He and Rev. Thomas Cleland were largely instrumental in obtaining 
the new charter of 1824, of which mention will now be made. 

In October, 1823, the synod of Kentucky, which was thoroughly 
aroused, as Davidson^ tells us, by the theological views expressed by 
Dr. Holley,in the previous April, upon the occasion of the funeral of Col. 
James Morrison, the benefactorof Transylvania University, determined 
to establish without delay such an institution as they desired, where 
what they considered proper Biblical instruction could be given. They 
appointed nine trustees, who were empowered to confer, at the end of 
the month, with the trustees of Centre College, with a view to its 
reorganization on a new basis, with or without a charter. The desired 
arrangement was harmoniously made and a charter applied for, which 
w^as finally obtained, the bill being carried through the lower house of 
the legislature, as related by Davidson,^ against the violent opposition 
of Transylvania University and other denominational institutions of the 
State, mainly by the telling, by Col. James Davidson, one of the friends 
of the enterprise, of a humorous anecdote which disarmed the oppo- 
sition. 

This amended charter was granted on January 27, 1824,^ and gives 
as the reason for its enactment that the funds of the college were low 
and it needed the endowment which the synod proposed to give to it. 
That body was to endow the institution with $20,000, the agreement 
going into effect as soon as $5,000 should be paid in. The number of 
trustees then in oflSce was to be retained until, by death, resignation, or 
otherwise, their number should be reduced to eleven.^ The former 
character of the institution, as to some extent a State enterprise, was 
removed by the requirement that the money previously received from 
the Harrodsburg branch of the Bank of the Commonwealth should be 
paid over to the State Institution for the Education of the Deaf and 
Dumb, recently located in Danville. The funds bestowed npoh the in- 
stitution were also to be restored to the synod if its charter was altered 
or repealed without the consent of that body. The powers and priv- 
ileges of the college by its amended charter were very wide in their 
character and scope, so much so that no extra provisions needed to be 
added for the operation of a university. A medical department was 



' Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 303. 

^Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, pp. 313, 314. 

« Acts of 1824-25, pp. 63-64. 

'•The number of trustees is, however, stiU retained as nineteen, one- third of 
whom (seven in one year, of course) are elected each year by the synod of Kentucky. 
It is usually stated that when the synod had paid in $5,000 it should have the i)ower 
to elect three trustees each year until all the original oues were replaced; but the 
act of 1824 contains no such provision, at least in the collection examined. 

2127— No. 25 8 



114 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

operated under it in Louisville for a while after 1833, and the present 
law school of the iustitutiou also finds the warrant for its existence in 
the same instrument. 

Six solicitors were appointed at the same time the trustees were, in 
1823, to further increase the endowment funds already in the hands of 
the synod. These do not seem to have been able, for some reason, to 
push this work very rapidly or successfully, as the whole of the needed 
$20,000 was not secured and paid over until 1830, at which date Centre 
may be said to have become strictly a denominational college, the Pres- 
byterians finally having an institution they could really call their own 
after a struggle of fifty years, counting from the date of the first incor- 
poration of Transylvania Seminary in the establishment of which they 
had taken so prominent a part. 

About the time of the granting of the amended charter an unsuccessful 
attempt was made, through a memorial to the legislature, to secure the 
return of the funds brought to Transylvania University by Kentucky 
Academy at the time of their consolidation and largely contributed by 
Presbyterians in Kentucky and the Eastern States, the amount of 
money, books, and other apparatus at the time of the union being esti- 
mated at $7,662,^ besides which there were 6,000 acres of land. The 
$20,000 raised to secure the control of Centre for the church was all 
contributed by the denomination in Kentucky, except about $1,000, 
which came from New England. A large share of the whole amount 
was contributed by Danville and its vicinity. 

After Dr. Chamberlain resigned in 1826, Rev. David C. Proctor, D. D., 
was acting president of the college until Rev. Gideon Blackburn, D. D., 
was elected the next president in 1827.^ 

That Dr. Blackburn was a man of enterprise and perseverance is 
illustrated by his successful eifort in paying his own expenses through 
Dickinson College, Pennsylvania. He was a man of the people and 
enthusiastic in whatever he undertook. He was also noted for his 
popular eloquence, and has been called^ "one of the most eloquent 
divines of the West." He seems to have been more of an orator than 
a profound scholar or strong administrator, but was popular with his 
students, as was shown by several of them leaving the institution in 
1830, when he resigned its presidency under circumstances which caused 
his friends to think he had been unjustly treated by the trustees. 

This probably partially accounts for the fact that there were, at the 
end of that year, in the college only 33 students, including those in the 



' Davidson's Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, p. 314. 

-This date is given in a recent catalogue sketch as 1828, but all other aathorities 
examined give 1827. A short sketch of Dr. Blackburn is to be found iu Spragae's 
Annals, Vol. IV, p. 46, and the general catalogue of Centre College for 1890, p, 6. 
He was born in Virginia in 1772, and was licensed to preach in 1792. He had 
engaged mainly in the work of the pastorate before becoming president of Centre. 
After he left Danville he was instrumental in founding a theological seminary at 
Carlinsville, 111. He died in 1838. 

r-^iUn.'s Sketches of Kentucky, p. 137. 



CENTRE COLLEGE. 115 

preparatory department. It was during Dr. Blackburn's administration^ 
in 1828, tliat a projected theological department modeled on the plan of 
the seminary at Princeton, ]^. J., with three professors and a proposed 
endowment of $20,000, was attached to the college by the synod of 
Kentucky. A fund of $2,000 was actually raised and the departmei.t 
opened with one professor, llev. James K, Burch, on October 14, 1828, 
but trouble in securing the remainder of the endowment caused it to 
be abandoned in 1831. The funds already raised subsequently went to 
Danville Theological Seminary. 

In connection more particularly with this department, another experi- 
ment was also made by the college in the purchase, about 1830, of an 
industrial farm, intended primarily to assist candidatesfor the ministry 
not financially able to educate themselves by furnishing them the 
opportunity of remunerative labor for two hours a day. The benefits 
of the enterprise were opened to all the students in 1833, but it appears 
not to have been a financial success, like other experiments of the same 
kind made about the same time by other institutions in the State, and 
so was soon abandoned. 

For many years during the early history of Centre it« faculty was 
composed of only two professors and a grammar-school teacher. The 
number of students during this period varied from 50 to 110 annually, 
a very large proportion of whoiu only took a partial or irregular course. 
Up to the end of Dr. Blackburn's administration there had been 25 
graduates. 

Dr. Blackburn's successor in the presidency was Eev. John 0. Young, 
D. D., who assumed the duties of the position on October 20, 1830, and 
continued to discharge them with great acceptability and success until 
his death on June 23, 1857, doing during this time more than any other 
one man before or since to establish the prestige of Centre among 
Kentucky colleges. 

Dr. Young, after attending Columbia College, ^ew York, for a time, 
had graduated in 1823, when just about 20 years of age, at Dickinson 
College, Pennsylvania, then under the presidency of the celebrated Dr. 
John M. Mason. He was then for two years a tutor in Princeton Col- 
lege, New Jersey, and later studied theology in Princeton Seminary 
for four years. He came to Kentucky in 1828 as the pastor of the 
McChord Presbyterian Church in Lexington, ancl it was from this pap- 
ular pastorate that he was called to the presidency of Centre College. 
He was eminently fitted for this position, being young, energetic, capa- 
ble, and prudent, while he was also a forcible and effect ve speaker 
and a born teacher. 

The affairs of the college, however, seemed in a bad way at his 
accession. A number of its students had left dissatisfied with the 
treatment of Dr. Blackburn, and the institution was also without 
funds. About $36,000 had been raised for the institution up to this 
time, but this had all been expended in buildings, books, and other 



116 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

apparatas, or for the support of the faculty and other purposes, and 
so affairs looked rather discouraging, but the circumstances were not 
real hindrances to a man like Dr. Young. The time was, moreover, 
somewhat propitious, as Transylvania University had materially lost 
her prestige, and the confidence of the public in her had been greatly 
shattered, so that this, the principal source of competition at the time, 
was no longer to be greatly feared. 

Dr. Young's many excellent qualities soon made him a favorite with 
people, church, and students, and so the attendance was soon largely 
increased and new members were added to the faculty. This body had 
been composed in 1830, besides Dr. Young, of James Buchanan, pro- 
fessor of mathematics; Alvin G. Smith, professor of chemistry, and 
William B. Thompson, professor of the Latin and Greek languages. 
In 1833^ the faculty was constituted as follows: Rev. John 0. Young, 
A. M., president and professor of logic and moral philosophy; James 
M, Buchanan, A. M., professor of mathematics; Eev. William L, Breck- 
inridge, A. M., professor of ancient languages; Lewis W. Green, 
A. M., professor of belles-lettres and political economy; Luke Munsell, 
M. D., professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and natural philosophy; 
Rev. Joseph Huber, professor of modern languages; William Y. Allen 
and Henry G. Cumings, grammar-school tutors. Tuition was at that 
time^ $30 per annum and the estimated yearly expenses of a student 
from $80 to $100, the usual price of board being $1.50 a week. 

Contributions to the endowment also soon began to come in, Dr. 
Young's own congregation in Danville leading in this movement. In 
1835 about $12,000 was received for this purpose from New York, but 
the total endowment of the institution in 1839 was only about $16,000,^ 
and for the first nine yeiirs of Dr. Young's administration the college 
was mainly supported by tuition fees. During this time, however, the 
institution was establishing for itself a reputation for sound learning, 
and the intellectual and oratorical gifts of its president and professors 
were placing them and it in the front ranks of the intellectual advance- 
ment of the day. Not only had the number of students increased, but 
the ratio of those who were taking a regular course was becoming much 
greater, and classes respectable in size and attainments were soon being 
graduated, there being 5 graduates in 1832, 9 in 1833, 11 in 1837, 15 in 
1838, and 12 in 1839. 

It was during this period, on December 1, 1833, that a medical col- 
lege, called the Medical Institute, was ox^ened in Louisville under the 
charter of the college. There seems, however, to have been very little 
real connection between the two institutions, and whatever there was 
was soon dissolved, the Medical Institute, which never seems to have 
amounted to much, being absorbed in 1837 by a new institution, under 

' American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for 1834. 
'2 The college had then a two story hrick building and also a refectory and dormi- 
tory, a library of 1,600 volumes, and a good chemical and philosophical apparatus. 
'^ Barbour's Alumni Address, p. 13. 



CENTRE COLLEGE. 117 

the same name, which subseqaently devieloped iuto the Medical Depart 
meut of the University of Louisville. 

It was also aboat the close of this same period that the increasing 
reputation of Centre led the trustees of Transylvania University to 
offer the presidency of that institution to Dr. Young, in the hope that 
some of the tide of popular favor might be turned in their direction. 

The schism in the Presbyterian Church in 1838 between the old and 
new schools injured Centre considerably, as did also, to some extent, 
the agitation, about this time, in the State in favor of the emancipation 
of its slaves, with which movement the college, especially through Dr. 
Young, who was a prominent advocate of the movement, had become 
to some extent identified. In regard to both these questions, however, 
its faculty took the position they deemed to be right without regard to 
the consequences. 

The period between 1840 and 1853 is one of especial growth in the 
history of the college. Notwithstanding strenuous efforts in its behalf, 
the institution had often been crippled in its work for lack of funds 
prior to 1840, but in that year its owji imperative needs and the recent 
munificent donations bestowed upon Transylvania University by Lex- 
ington and the Transylvania Institute spurred up the Synod of Ken- 
tucky to take more active measures in raising an endowment for the 
college, which it was intended to make not less than $100,000. This 
movement soon made favorable progress, but meanwhile the expansion 
in matriculation more than kept pace with it until, in 1846, the expenses 
of the institution were again greater than its income, while, at the same 
time, an additional new professorship was urgently needed. To meet 
this situation, a special effort was made, which was soon almost com- 
pletely successful in r;iising the desired amount. 

Collins tells us in his Sketches ^ that the income of the college in 1846 
was $3,000 a year, and that its library then had about 6,000 volumes, 
many of them rare and valuable. Its course of instruction, he says, then 
differed but little from that of the older colleges of the country, being 
equal to them in classics and mathematics, and while somewhat inferior 
in natural science, owing to the lack of equal facilities, stronger in the 
mental and moral sciences. At this time an increased endowment was 
especially desired in order to enlarge the sphere of work in natural 
science. We find that in 1849 the income of the college bad increased 
to $4,000 a year, and that its course is soon announced in its catalogue 
as the equal of any in the land. 

The importance of the institution, which had been constantly increas- 
ing for a number of years, was still further added to, in 1853, by the 
establishment of Danville Theological Seminary, which, being under 
the auspices of the whole church and being operated in close har- 
mony with the college, necessarily enlarged the prestige of the latter 
materially. 

' Sketches of Kentucky, p. 206. 



118 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Throughout this period and the remainder of Dr. Young's adminis- 
tration the number of students and the size of the graduating classes 
continued to grow. In 1851 there were 201 students, who were from 
fifteen States and Territories of the Union and one other country, and 
in 1855 seventeen States and one foreign country were represented by 
220 students. In the last scholastic year of his administration there 
were 225 students and 47 graduates, the average number of graduates 
for several years past having been about 30.' The whole number of 
graduates in 1857 was about 500, located mainly in the South and 
West, where they were to be found in every State and Territory. 

Dr. Young died in the prime of lite, greatly beloved and lamented, 
and his loss was considered a great blow to the college for which he 
had done so much. Besides this, his great life work, and his labors in 
behalf of emancipation, he had done much, in conjunction with Eev. 
B. O. Peers and others, in behalf of the cause of public school education 
in Kentucky. The other regular members of the faculty at the time of 
his death were: Ormond Beatty, A. M., professor of physics and chem- 
istry; Eev. Alfred Eyors, I). D., professor of mathematics; Eev. James 
Matthews, A. M., professor of English literature and of the Latin lan- 
guage, and Eev. Jacob Cooper, Ph. D., professor of the Greek language 
and literature. 

Dr. Young's successor in the presidency was Eev. L. W. Green, D. D., 
the outlines of whose previous career have been given in connection 
with the history of Transylvania University, of which he was president 
at the time of his electiou to the presidency of Centre, on August 6, 
1857. As already noted, he was an alumnus of the institution, having 
been a member of its first graduating class, that of 1824, and had taught 
in his alma mater for a time in his earlier educational career. Dr. 
Green entered upon the duties of his new office on January 1, 1858, 
and, like his predecessor, also died in office, on May 20, 18G3. Dr. Green 
was a worthy successor of Dr. Young, and the prosperity of the college 
continued until interrupted by the advent of the civil war. There were 
253 students in attendance in 1859-GO, and in 18G1 the endowment of the 
college was reported as $100,398. 

In 1858 an agent was appointed by the synod to secure funds for a new 
building and additional equipment. By 18G1 $50,000 had been raised 
for this purpose, but the uncertainty of affairs, due to the coming on of 
the war, led to the erection of the building being postponed. At the same 
time, $5,000 was given for a library building by Mr. David A. Sayre, 
of Lexington, the founder of Sayre Institute. This building was com- 
pleted and occupied in 1862, being named Sayre Hall, in honor of the 
principal donor. 

During this administration more emphasis than formerly was put 
upon the scientific departments, and the foundations were laid of what 
has since developed into a regular bachelor of science course. For a 
considerable time, students devoting their main attention to these 



There were 29 graduates in 1853, 31 in 1854, 24 in 1855, an<l 27 in 1856. 



CENTRE COLLEGE. 119 

departments were special scientific students, who did not receive a reg- 
ular degree. 

The operations of the college were only interrupted for a few days 
occasionally by the civil war, and its funds during that period were 
not materially decreased, although its matriculation, of course, was. 
In 1862-63 there were only 105 students altogetlier. Upon Dr. Green's 
death, in May, 1863. Eev. William L. Breckinridge, D. D., was elected to 
the vacant presidency. He had already been for a while professor of 
ancient languages at Centre, and had for the past four years been the 
president of Oakland College, Mississippi. He entered upon the duties 
of his position at Danville on October 18, 1863, and served until his 
resignation on October 16, 1868. 

Dr. Breckinridge stood high in the councils of his church, and while 
perhaps more noted as a preacher and pastor than as an educator, was a 
wise and capable executive head for the college. His administration 
fell during the difficult times of the latter part of the war, and the even 
more troublous period, to one in his position, of the reconstruction era. 
His difficulties were especially complicated by the contention between 
the two synods of Kentucky, after the disruption of the original synod 
in 1866, as to which should have the right to control the college by 
electing its board of trustees. This contest occurred mainly during the 
next administration, but was begun in 1867. It, of course, led to a con- 
tinuation of the small matriculation brought about by the war. The 
average attendance during this period was only from one-third to one- 
half what it had been prior to the war. 

When Dr. Breckinridge resigned in October, 1868, Orniond Beatty, 
LL. D., became president pro tem., acting in this capacity until Septem- 
ber 1, 1870, when he was elected president, a position held by him until 
September, 1888. Dr. Beatty was an alumnus of the college in the 
class of 1835, and had been teaching in it all his life, having been 
appointed its professor of natural science just prior to his graduation, 
when he was only twenty years old. He had accepted the position on 
the condition that he might spend a year at Yale College in additional 
preparation before assuming its duties. He held that chair until 1847, 
when he was transferred to the chair of mathematics, but in 1852 he 
again resumed his old chair. At his election as president in 1870, he 
took charge of the department of metaphysics. He had been promi- 
nently connected with the work of his church in various capacities and 
was a man of ability and of great equableness of temper, besides being 
a speaker of force and clearness. Under his administration several 
progressive steps in the history of the college occurred. 

In the first place a fine new building was erected, mainly from the 
funds collected for this purpose before the war. It was completed and 
dedicated on June 26, 1872. At the same time Dr. Beatty was formally 
inaugurated as president.' It was quite a handsome structure, costing 

* The requisite majority of trustees had not bceu present when Dr. Beatt}^ was first 
elected in 1870, and so his ekiction was confirmed at this time and his formal inaugu- 
ration took, place. 



120 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

about $60,000, and was considered the finest of its kind in the State 
at the time. 

In addition to the new building, new books and apparatus were also 
added to the equipment of the institution. The Scott museum of nat- 
ural history was begun at this time. The faculty was also increased in 
numbers and the scope and sphere of its work generally enlarged. Its 
regular professors in 1872, with their departments of instruction, were 
as follows: Ormond Beatty, A. M., LL. D., president and professor of 
metaphysics and political science; Rev. John L. McKee, D. D., vice 
president and i)rofessor of moral philosophy; Rev. James C. Randolph, 
A. M., professor of mathematics; Jason W. Chenault, A. M., Ph. D., 
professor of the Latin language and j'hetoric; Salvator De Soto, A. M., 
professor of Greek and modern languages; John C. Tales, A. M., pro- 
fessor of physical and natdral science. 

Since the occupation of the new building the old one has been con- 
verted into a dormitory for students, especially intended for those who 
wish to live in an inexpensive way. 

The difficulty about the future control of Ihe college was also perma- 
nently settled. After various unsuccessful efforts had been made to 
heal the schism, unite the parts in support of the institution, or divide 
its funds, the legislature and the courts — circuit, appellate, and United 
States district — were invoked, all of which tribunals gave the college to 
the original synod, commonly called that of the Northern Presbyterian 
Church in contradistinction to the newer body, the Southern Presby- 
terian Church, as being the party in control and as having steadfastly 
adhered to the original General Assembly. The final decision in the 
matter was reached in 1873. 

The institution had then begun to regain some of its former vigor, 
T3ut had hardly started on its new career of prosperity before it was 
overtaken by what was apparently a new adversity, in the form of 
the robbery of about $60,000 of its bonds, on March 10, 1873, from the 
vaults of the Falls City Tobacco Bank of Louisville, Ky. This amount 
was nearly two-thirds of its productive endowment at the time and it 
seemed that the college would either have to suspend entirely for a 
time or greatly curtail its work for the future. Its friends, however, 
rallied to its aid, and in the end it was really strengthened by the catas- 
trophe. When Dr. McKee, its vice president, announced its condition^ 
to his congregation, at Danville, $6,000 was raised in its behalf in a 
very short while, and $6,000 more was subscribed in the vicinity in the 
next few days. Largely through the efforts of Dr. McKee subscriptions 
and promised legacies, amounting to more than $100,000, were soon 
secured, and, as all but about $20,000 of the stolen bonds were ultimately 
recovered, the institution was really placed in a much better financial 
condition than before — its endowment by 1885 having been nearly 



' On March 23, 1873, when it was thought the college would have to Buspend in 
June if $50,000 was not raised towards its endowment (Collins's History of Ken- 
tucky, Vol. I, p. 246). 



CENTRE COLLEGE. 121 

doubled — and continued to enlarge its work rather than curtail it, as 
had been feared would be necessary. 

It was during this period that a regular course leading to the degree 
of bachelor of science was instituted, while an elective course quite 
similar to that formerly taken by scientific students was also added to 
the former curriculum. 

The funds given at this time, as at other periods, were mainly given 
in hundreds of small donations, but among the most prominent contrib- 
utors were Samuel Laird, who gave about $12,000; Caldwell Campbell, 
L. L. Warren, and B. F. Avery, who gave over $10,000 each; while Dr. 
John Scott contributed $10,000, A. M. January, $5,000 or over, Mrs. 
M. A. Wilson, $5,000 or more, and many others $1,000 each. 

Dr. Beatty, owing to advancing years and failing health, first ten- 
dered his resignation as president of the college to its board of trus- 
tees on June 15, 18S6. He again tendered it on ^November 30, 1886, at 
which time it was accepted, to take effect upon the qualification of his 
successor. The selection of his successor did not take place, however, 
until June 19, 1888, when, after various unsuccessful efforts to secure a 
president, Rev. William C. Young, D, D., the son of the distinguished 
former president. Dr. John O. Young, was unanimously elected to the 
position. Dr. Beatty retained his professorship until his death, on 
June 24, 1890, after a long career of faithful and able services to his 
alma mater and the interests of education in general. 

Dr. W. C. Young promptly accepted the presidency upon his election 
and entered upon the duties of his office at the opening of the next 
scholastic year, on September 6, 1888. He had graduated from Centre 
in the class of 1859, when about seventeen years old; had taught, trav- 
eled, and studied for the next three years, and had then entered Dan- 
ville Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1865. He then 
engaged principally in the successful work of various pastorates of his 
church until, upon the general desire of the Synod of Kentucky and, 
in some sense, of the whole Presbyterian Church, he accepted the presi- 
dency of Centre College. He was a man of an agreeable personality, 
was a fine scholar, an able minister, and made an admirable college 
president. 

His administration was one of general enlargement in almost all 
directions. Dr. Young's efforts in this direction being seconded by old 
and new friends of the institution. Funds for this purpose soon began 
to be contributed, a considerable part of the contributions coming from 
the East, and by 1891 the endowment had been increased by $100,000. 
In that year' three new professorships were added to the faculty, and a 
splendid new gymnasium was added to the equipment of the college, 
largely through the liberality of Judge A. P. Humphrey and Hon. 
St. John Boyle, of Louisville, alumni of the institution. The library 
of Dr. Beatty, and also a large portion of that of Eev. S. D. Burchavd, 
of Isew York City, another alumnus, were also added, by bequest, to 



122 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

the college library, thus increased to 6,000 volumes, while an eflfort on 
the part of other alumni to endow a chair of English named in honor 
of Dr. John C. You!ig was partly successful. In 1894 a beautiful new 
library building, with space in its alcoves for more than 20,000 volumes, 
and an attractive and commodious reading room attached, was erected. 
It still bears the name of Sayre Hall, in honor of the donor of the 
original building. 

In October of 1894 a new law school, with three professors, was 
attached to the college. J. Proctor Knott, LL. D., a man prominent in 
both Kentucky and national public affairs, and who had been con- 
nected with the faculty for the i)ast three years as professor of civics 
and economics, was made dean of the new department, in the instruc- 
tion of which he is assisted by Robert P. Jacobs, LL. D., and John W. 
Yerkes, A. M., LL. B, Their respective chairs are: Institutes of law, 
constitutional law, pleading and evidence, domestic relations and con- 
tracts; equity, jurisprudence, mercantile law, real and personal prop- 
erty and wills ; and corporations, criminal law and procedure, insurance, 
agency, and torts. These titles indicate the scope of the curriculum, 
which leads to the degree of bachelor of law. The course of instruc- 
tion covers two years and is designed to fit students for the practice of 
their profession in any part of the country. Matriculates of the school 
can attend lectures and recitations in other departments of the college 
without additional expense. 

The attendance upon this department since its organization has been 
very gratifying and seems to be such as to guarantee its permanency 
for the future. More recently a new chair of physics and chemistry 
has been established, which shares with the chair of geology and 
biology the work of the previous chair of natural science. The scien- 
tific apparatus of the college has also been improved in such a way as 
to furnish it with well-equipped laboratories and an excellent museum 
for work and illustration. By 1896 the invested funds of the institu- 
tion had become about $265,000, about $125,000 having been added in 
the previous eight years. Its annual income from all sources was then 
about $23,000, whereas in 1887 it had been about $9,000. 

The matriculation of the college had meanwhile increased in a man- 
ner corresponding with the expansion in other directions. At the 
beginning of Dr. Young's administration the annual attendance had 
been about 175 each year, of whom about 100 had been in the collegiate 
department. In 1895-96, the last full year of his presidency, there 
were 208 students in the collegiate classes, while there were 20 law 
students and about 75 others in the academy. The graduating classes 
about 1888 averaged 15. In 1895-96 the class numbered 40. During 
this period students had at one time been in attendance from sixte^i 
of the States and Territories and one foreign country. 

On September 16, 1896, President Young died suddenly while in the 
active discharge of his duties, being cut off, like his honored father, iu 



CENTRE COLLEGE, 123 

the prime of life and in the midst of a career of usefulness. His admin- 
istration had been a pronounced success, as during it the number of 
students had been largely increased, a law department auspiciously 
organized, and the income of the institution more than doubled, while 
about $20,000 had been spent for new buildings and the scientific 
apparatus of the institution had also been much enlarged. 

For about two years after Dr. Young's death, while negotiations for 
securing a new president were being conducted. Prof. J. C. Tales, as 
the senior member of the faculty, or dean, was the acting president of 
the college. Dr. McKee, who had served the institution so long and 
well, especially in the matter of securing its endowment during Dr. 
Beatty's administration, declining the new responsibility and retiring 
from the faculty at the end of the first of these years. At that time 
Eev. W. H. Johnson, M. A., became professor of logic and psychology. 
A lecturer on criminal law and an instructor in elocution were also 
added to the corps of instruction. 

The institution also continued to advance in other ways. Its library 
especially was increased by the gift of 1,000 volumes from the library 
of its late president. Dr. Young, by an additional donation from the 
library of Dr. Burchard, and by a collection of 3,000 volumes of new 
and modern works presented to the institution by the Memorial 
Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, Pa., through its pastor, liev. S. A. 
Mutchmore, D. D., an alumnus of the college, which is to form the 
nucleus of a collection to be called^' The S. A, Mutchmore Library." 
These additions, together with the purchase of standard works from 
time to time, have augmented the present college library to about 
12,000 volumes, besides which the two literary societies connected with 
the institution have combined libraries of about 3,500 volumes. Among 
other improvements contemplated by the college are a new academy 
building, anew scientific building, and an alumni commencement hall, 
and the probabilities are that these will soon be secured. 

Centre College is one of the few larger and more important institu- 
tions in the State which has not adopted coeducation, now a pretty 
generally accepted policy throughout educational circles in Kentucky. 
The institution considers that, at least for the present, it has a suffi- 
ciently large field for it to carry out its work in the old historic way. 
This position appears to be abundantly maintained by its large matric- 
ulation from year to year, which, although it has not been quite so 
large as formerly for the past two years, has sustaitied itself well in 
comparison with other educational institutions generally in the State 
and throughout the country. 

In June, 1898, a new president for the institution was secured in the 
person of Rev. William C. Roberts, D. D., LL. D., S. T. D., who was 
born in Wales in 1832, graduated at Princeton College, New Jersey, in 
1855 and at Princeton Seminary in 1858. Since the latter date he has 
been mainly engaged in the pastorate of various Presbyterian churches, 



124 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

and has served two terms, from 188L to 1886 and from 1893 to 1898, as 
corresponding secretary of the board of home missions of his church, 
in which he has always held a prominent i>ositiou. He should be well 
fitted to carry out the traditions of the college over which he has been 
called to preside, wliich has always been noted for its high moral tone 
and its devotion to sound learning. 

No institution in Kentucky has a more distinguished body of alumni 
than Centre College; in fact, few colleges in the country have a greater 
number of graduates distinguished in political life especially, the pro- 
fession of the law and that of the ministry being those most largely 
followed by Centre alumni. Once or twice in the past seventeen years 
there have been more old students of Centre in both Houses of Congress 
than of any other college in the country except Yale University. The 
following statement, taken substantially from the catalogue of the col- 
lege for 1897-98, will perhaps best show the number and attainments of 
Centre's graduates: 

The entire number of its alumni at the present time is over 1,200. Among these 
are more than 330 lawyers, about 225 ministers of the gospel, and more than 100 
physicians, and the remainder are found in various professions and callings. Among 
the alumni are many, both of the living and the dead, who have greatly distin- 
guished themselves in their respective professions, and have attained the highest 
positions of honor and trust, especially throughout the South and West, where they 
reside, or where they did reside while they lived. 

Centre College has educated 24 college presidents, 44 college professors, 26 repre- 
seutatives iu Congress, 5 United States Senators, 7 governors of States, 2 Vice- 
Presidents of the United States^ 1 justice of the United States Supreme Court, 38 
circuit judges. State and national; 48 editors, 4 or 5 ministers to foreign countries; 
and many others occupying positions of trust and responsibility in other fields. 

The course of instruction in the collegiate department of the institu- 
tion is at present divided into thirteen departments, as follows: Bibli- 
cal studies, moral philosophy and history, evidences of Christianity and 
logic, metaphysics, civics and economics, geology and biology, physics 
and chemistry, mathematics, Greek, Latin, English, modern languages, 
and hygiene and physical training. There are two regular courses, 
thnt of bachelor of arts and tha^t of bachelor of science,' the latter 
substituting certain natural sciences for Greek. In the junior and 
senior years of these courses considerable specialization is allowed 
by the choice of so many hours' work a week among a group of elective 
studies. There is, besides, an elective course of two years, not leading 
to a degree, for students desiring to take special subjects, in which 
practically the only requirement is that the student be proi)erly quali- 
fied to pursue with success the subjects taken and that the amount of 
work done be equal to the work of one of the regular courses. 

An academy, with a course of two years specially arranged to pre- 
pare students for the college classes, is attached to the institution and 

' In each of these courses, as usual, the master's degree is granted upon the satis- 
factory completion of an additional year's work and the presentation of an acoept- 
ahle thesis. 



KENTUCKY WESLEY AN COLLEGE. 125 

has been from the beginning. It is under the control of the college and 
its students are enumerated as a part of the college matriculation^ but 
it has really been operated as a separate institution for over fifty years. 
The following are the regular professors of the college faculty, besides 
whom there are connected with the institution a lecturer, three instruct- 
ors, and a principal and assistant of the academy : Ee v. William 0. Rob- 
erts, D. D., LL. D., S. T. D., president, professor of moral philosophy and 
history; John Cilley Fales, A. M., F. G. S. A., professor of geology and 
biology, and librarian; Alfred Brierley 'Nelson, A. M., M. D., professor 
of mathematics; John W. Kedd, A. M., professor of Greek language 
and literature, secretary of faculty; Samuel Robertson Cheek, A. M., 
professor of Latin language and literature ; James Proctor Knott, LL. D., 
professor of law, civics, and economics; Robert Powell Jacobs, LL. D., 
professor of law; John Watson Yerkes, A. M., LL. B., professor of law; 
Richard Oakley Stilwell, M. E., professor of physics and chemistry; 
Frederick Houk Law, M. A., professor of English language and litera- 
ture; Rev. William Hallock Johnson, M. A., professor of logic and 
psychology. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Collins's Sketches, CoUins's, Shaler's, Smith's, aud Perrin, Battle, and Kuiflfen's 
histories. The last is especially valuable, as it contains a sketch of the college, 
written by President Beatty. 

Davidson's Presbyterian Church in Kentucky. 

The Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky. 

Henderson's Centennial Exhibit. 

Acts of the State legislature. 

Cleland's Memoirs 

Sprague's Annals. 

Barnard's American Journal of Education. 

Niles's Register. 

The American Almanac. 

A Memoir of Sylvester Scovel, D. D., by James Wood, D. D., New Albany, 1851. 

A History of Mercer and Boyle counties, by Maria T. Daviess, weekly articles in 
the Harrodsburg Democrat from January 30, 1885, to November 20, 1885. 

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN COLLEGE, WINCHESTER. 

Although Kentucky Wesleyan College has been in operation as a 
college only since 1866, yet, in conception and as a representative college 
of Kentucky Methodism, it dates back even- to the planning of Bethel 
Academy in 1790, as the institution is, in a seo^e, a continuation of the 
three older institutions, Bethel Academy, Augusta College, and Tran- 
sylvania University, while under the control of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. As President Pearce expresses it,^ "The journeying ark of 
educational purpose of the church fathers in Kentucky found rest for a 
time," first at Bethel — then truly in a western wilderness — then at 
Augusta, then at Lexington, then at Millersburg, and finally at Win- 
chester on the one hand, and Nashville, Tenn., on the other, for Van- 



• Inaugural address, p. 23. 



126 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

derbilt University is the adopted institution of Louisville Conference, 
the western portion of old Kentucky Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. This continuity of history is typified, both in the 
case of Kentucky Wesleyan, and Vanderbilt, by some of the bricks 
from the walls of old Bethel Academy having been built into the Avails 
of the main building of each of these institutions. 

In regard to the strictly Kentucky branch of this educational move- 
ment, we have already traced the history of the sojourn at Lexington, 
in connection with the history of Transylvania University. A sketch of 
Bethel and Augusta will be reserved for a later date, and our attention 
for the present will be confined to the principal events connected with 
the career of Kentucky Wesleyan College at its two locations, Millers- 
burg and Winchester. 

AT MILLEBSBUBG. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church was rent asunder not long before 
the final decline, in 1849, of Augu"?ta College, its originally adopted 
educational institution in Kentucky, and its abandonment, at the same 
time, of Transylvania University, both of which events were doubtless 
hastened by the disruption. Neither branch of the denomination in 
Kentucky undertook any other educational enterprise at once. The 
Methodist Episcopal Church South, however, which was then, more so 
than now, much the larger of the two branches of the original organi- 
zation in the State, soon began to consider plans to supply its educa- 
tional needs, which developed into the founding of Kentucky Wesleyan 
College at Millersburg. 

Eev. Daniel Stevenson, D. D., of whom we shall hear more in con- 
nection with the history of Union College and the State public-school 
system, in 1856 or earlier caused Kentucky Conference of that church 
to pass a resolution favoring the location of a college in the town 
within its limits offeriiig the greatest inducements, but Rev. T. P. 
Shellman is the one most prominent in bringing about the immediate 
organization of the institution. 

In September, 1857, while presiding elder of the Covington district, 
Mr, Shellman had set to work to establish a male and female conference 
school somewhere in his district. By seeking for propositions ftom dif- 
ferent towns, he induced Millersburg to undertake the building of a house 
for the proposed school, the idea at the time being to engraft it upon the 
school already being conducted there by Dr. George S. Savage, which 
had outgrown its building. A number of other people had become 
interested in the enterprise, principally through Mr. Shellman, and 
$7,500 havirg been subscribed by citizens of the town, in the summer 
of 1858 a building committee, which had been appointed for the insti- 
tution and consisted of Dr. A. G. Stitt, Mr. Alex. S. Miller, and Mr. 
William Nunn, purchased grounds just outside the northern limits of 
the town and laid the foundations of a large building for the institute^ 
as the school was to be called. 



KENTUCKY WESLEYAN COLLEGE. 127 

When conference met in Millersburg, in September of that year, it 
caught, as it were, more strongly than ever the spirit of education then 
in the air there, and its committee on education, of which Dr. Stevenson 
was a member, proposed to the stockholders of the institute that, if 
they would enlarge the building and present it to the Conference, that 
body would endow the institution with $100,000, and make it a male 
college. This offer was promptly accepted by the stockholders, most 
of whom doublet! their subscriptions in order to aid in carrying it out. 
The grounds, incomplete foundations, and all the funds of the institute 
were at once turned over to the representatives of the Conference for 
the new college, which was intended to be of high grade and was to 
be under the patronage of the church, the purpose in view in its founda- 
tion being 'Hhe promotion of literature, science, morality, and religion.''^ 

The corner stone of the main building of the intended institution was 
laid, with impressive ceremonies, during that session of the Conference, 
Bishop Kavanaugh and others delivering addresses. Under the super- 
vision of the former building committee, which was continued in office, 
the building was soon again under way, although it was not entirely 
completed for about two years. It cost when complete $30,000, and 
could furnish excellent accommodations for from 150 to 200 students. 

The session of conference which projected the new institution also 
appointed an agent to secure subscriptions and donations for its sup- 
port. By the autumn of 1859, $57,000 in cash and good notes had been 
secured for this purpose, and, as the success of the enterprise seemed 
assured, on January 12, 1860, a charter was secured for the college, 
placing it under the control of a board of education composed of tweh e 
members, half lay and half clerical, one-third of whom were to be 
chosen each year by the conference. To these were given by the char- 
ter all the usual corporate and academic powers and privileges needed 
to conduct an institution of liberal culture. The first board had as 
members Eev. W. C. Dandy, Rev. Daniel Stevenson, Rev. J. H. Linn, 
Rev. J. W. Cunningham, Rev. J. C. Harrion, Rev. Robert Hiner, David 
Thornton, Moreau Brown, Hiram Shaw, B. P. Tevis, William Nunn, 
and A. G. Stitt. The name Kentucky Wesleyan University was first 
adopted for the institution, but Kentucky Wesleyan College has since 
been substituted. 

A high school was opened in the autumn of 1859 in the town hall of 
Millersburg, as the college building was then not ready for occupancy, 
under Prof. A. G. Murphey, for a number of years subsequently a 
member of the faculty of Kentucky Wesleyan and Millersburg Female 
colleges and the present president of Logan Female College. It was 
expected to add a collegiate department soon, but as the civil war 
came on this did not take place until 1866. Professor Murphey taught 
until April, 1862, when he resigned on account of bad health, and the 
school was closed temporarily. Professor Murphey during this time 



• Perriu's History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison, and Nicholas counties, page 128. 



128 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

had as assistant teachers Beujainin Ashbrook, J. F. Neal, John W. 
Craig, and Joseph T. Onten, there being one assistant the first year, 
two the second, and three the third. Seventy-five pupils were in 
attendance the first year and 100 the second, over 30 of the latter being 
from a distance. The attendance was fair daring the third year, as up 
to that time it had not been largely, at least locally, affected by the 
war. On December 5, 1860, the school had been moved to its new 
building, some of the rooms of which had then been completed. 

In October, 1863, the school was reopened by Prof. T. J. Dodd, who 
had been elected principal by conference in the previous September. 
Professor Dodd was assisted by his brother, Virginius Dodd, and 
remained in charge until the middle of the next scholastic year, when 
he resigned, the second year being finished out by Eev. Duke Slouns, 
upon the appointment of conference, liev. H. W. Abbett and Eev. 
S. L. Eobertson were then joint principals of the school for a year. 

In September, 1865, most of the first board of education having 
resigued, a new board then appointed, after deciding that the funds on 
hand justified it, determined to open the collegiate department at an 
early date. After considerable canvassing, in the spring and summer 
of 1866, Eev. Charles Taylor, A. M., M. D., was selected by them as the 
first president of the college, under whom the institution was regularly 
opened in the autumn of that year. Since that time Kentucky Wes- 
leyan College has had a continuous existence. 

The college faculty, as announced in its first annual catalogue, Avas 
constituted as follows : Eev. Charles Taylor, A. M., M. D., president, also 
professor of mental and moral philosophy and evidences of revealed reli- 
gion; A. G. Murphey, A. M., professor of logic and English literature 
and adjunct professor of natural sciences; Eev. H. W. Abbett, A, M., 
professor of the Latin and Greek languages and literatures; Charles H. 
Theiss, A. M., professor of mathematics and natural sciences. Theo- 
logical department: Eev. S. L. Eobertson, professor of Hebrew and 
Biblical literature. President Taylor remained in office until 1870, 
when he resigned. The first year of his administration there were 90 
students in attendance and the last year 144, the latter being the 
largest matriculation the college has had until comparatively recent 
years. Classical and scientific courses of instruction were, instituted 
from the beginning, and in 1868 the first bachelor of science degree 
was conferred. In 1869, 2 A. B.^s were granted, and in 1870 5 A. B.'s 
and 2 B. S.'s. 

Dr. Taylor's successor in the presidency of the college was Eev. B. 
Arbogast. About the beginning of his administration the West Vir- 
ginia Conference was invited by the Kentucky Conference to become 
part owner of the college and give it their patronage. They contrib- 
uted a small amount toward building a dormitory, and for a number of 
years were given two representatives on the board of education. These 
have, however, recently been replaced by two members selected from 



KENTUCKY WESLEYAN COLLEGE. 129 

the alumni of the college. The name board of curators has also been 
substituted for that of board of education. 

In June, 1872, President Arbogast, by reason of the pressure of 
other engagements, resigned, and was succeeded by Prof. John Darby, 
A. M., Ph. D., who had been professor of natural science in the col- 
lege for two years already, and a teacher of advanced reputation for 
nearly forty. Professor Darby resigned the presidency in 1875, and 
Eev. T. J. Dodd, D. D., was then elected to the position. President 
Dodd, however, left the institution at the end of a year to accept a 
professorship in Vanderbilt University, then newly established. Eev. 
W. H. Anderson, D. D., then became president of Kentucky Wesleyan, 
which position he retained for three years. 

During President Anderson's administration the course of instruc- 
tion was modified to some extent, the previous scientific course being 
lengthened somewhat and a course leading to the degree of bachelor of 
philosophy instituted. The college also received by gift the valuable 
herbarium and scientific library of Professor Darby. There were at 
this period 5 teachers and a maximum of about 90 students in the insti- 
tution, the average attendance being considerably below this number. 
Since 1870 there had been from two to six graduates each year, and 
in the nine years 22 A. B.'s, 11 B. S.'s, and 1 Ph. B. had been conferred. 

Upon the resignation of President Anderson, in 1879, D. W. Batson, 
A. M., an alumnus of the college in the class of 1874, and since then 
its professor of mathematics, was put at the head of the institution. 
President Batson was quite a young man at the time of his appoint- 
ment, and had associated with him a faculty also of young men, mainly 
alumni of the institution. He was, however, thoroughly interested in 
his work and soon succeeded, with the cooperation of his colleagues, 
in restoring the institution to something of its early prosperity, its 
average attendance being almost doubled within the first two years 
after his election. He was the presiding oflEicer of the college up to 
1894, with the exception of the scholastic year 1883-84, when Eev. Alex- 
ander Eedd, A. M., was president. 

During these fifteen years several events of importance took place in 
the history of the college. In 1884, the valuable library of Bishop 
Kavanaugh and also that of Eev. S. L. Eobertson were donated to the 
college. These, together with its previous nucleus, formed the founda- 
tion of a good collection for the future, the lack of which had previously 
been much felt, for while the institution had always maintained a high 
standard in its courses and had kept itself well supplied with apparatus, 
in the department of natural science especially, its educational equip- 
ment in other respects, outside of a fairly good building, had not been 
of the first order. 

President Batson was able to keep up the matriculation fairly well 
and the college prospered, but its enlargement in the future was not 
hopeful and its work was much crippled for lack of sufficient funds. 

2127— :eTo. 25 9 



130 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The original endowment was never large, the productive funds, in 1882, 
only aggregating about $32,000,' and although several agents had at 
different times been appointed to solicit further means, they had been 
able to accomplish little or nothing. The endowment the college did 
have was also much less effective than it would otherwise have been, 
because it had been secured on the basis of allowing a free scholarship 
for comparatively small amounts contributed. 

Owing to this state of affairs, the board of education, in September, 
1886, presented to the conference a plan arranging that proposals be 
invited from any and all places in the bounds of the conference looking 
toward the future relocation of the college, in order that it might secure 
the largest facilities and the most favorable conditions. Conference at 
once appointed a commission to receive, examine, and accept or reject 
any such proposal. This commission, on July 12, 1887, voted to accept 
the offer of the citizens of Winchester and Clark County, who had that 
summer agreed to present to the institution a campus of eight acres of 
ground lying within the corporate limits of Winchester and $42,000 in 
cash for new buildings and general equipment. This decision was 
afterward ratified by the board of education and by the conference, and 
the college was removed to Winchester, where it was first opened on 
September 3, 1890, since which time it has entered upon a new era. 
During the period from 1879 to 1890 there had been from 3 to 9 gradu- 
ates each year and the following regular degrees had been granted: 
35 A. B.'s, 15 B. S.'s, 5 Ph. B.'s, and 2 A. M.'s. 

AT WINCHESTER. 

As its building at its new location was not ready for occupancy at 
the time of the removal, the college occupied temporary quarters in a 
private residence in 1890-91, when it had 4 regular professors and 122 
students were matriculated. 

The new main building was sufficiently completed to be occupied in 
the autumn of 1891. It is a handsome structure, built of brick with 
stone trimmings, and is very complete in its appointments, having fif- 
teen rooms, all commodious and arranged with reference to the most 
approved methods in educational work. In 1891-92 a new professor 
was added to the faculty, the work in the scientific department espe- 
cially being further subdivided and specialized. At the end of this 
year the character of work done by the institution was further enlarged 
by the introduction of coeducation, young women being admitted to its 
course upon the same terms as young men. About the same time, or 
soon after, a special English course of two years, a business course of 
one year, and a common-school teacher's course of one year were added 
to the previous curriculum for those who could only attend for a limited 
time and were not candidates for a degree, an instructor in shorthand 
and typewriting being then added to the faculty. 



iPerrin's History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison, and Nicholas counties, p. 129. 



KENTUCKY WESLEYAN COLLEGE. 131 

While its matri(5ulation was somewhat larger thau before, the opera- 
tions of the college were considerably embarrassed and its prospects 
hindered during its first four years at Winchester by the litigation in 
which it was involved through those who were opposed to its removal 
from Millersburg, and who appealed to the courts against that step. 
This contest was finally settled in 1894 by a decision in favor of the 
present location, a result which has materially conduced to the subse- 
quent prosperity of the institution. Iii this year, also, Mr. Batson 
retired from the presidency, after fifteen years' faithful and ef&cient 
service in that position. He has since continued to be one of the 
members of the regular faculty. 

In 1894-95 Prof. B. T. Spencer was chairman of the faculty, the next 
regular president, Eev. E. H. Pearce, D. D., being elected in the latter 
part of the year. President Pearce was formally installed on June 4, 
1895, and entered auspiciously upon his administration. The college 
has since made a distinct advance. During the first year of his term 
the main building was finished and newly furnished throughout at a 
cost of $8,000, while extensive additions were made to the apparatus in 
the departments of chemistry and physics. Soon after this a hall in the 
main building set apart as a gymnasium was equipped with the latest 
and best appliances for physical exercise. 

The most marked enlargement of late has been in the founding of 
preparatory schools, under the control of the college, in different parts 
of the Kentucky Conference. Besides the preparatory department 
connected with the college in Winchester and another operated in the 
old building at Millersburg, three others have been established at 
Oampton, Burnside, and London, important points in the eastern part 
of the State. Campton Academy was opened on January 1, 1896; 
Burnside Academy on September 1, 1896, and the academy at London, 
called Bennett Memorial Academy, in September, 1897. 

These schools make quarterly reports to the college, of whose faculty 
their principals are considered members, and prepare students for the 
sophomore class. They are also training schools for teachers for the 
portion of the State in which they are located. They all have excellent 
buildings, for the erection and equipment of which about $30,000 has 
recently been contributed by friends of the college, part of it by the 
Woman's Home Missionary Society. New dormitories for the acad- 
emies at Campton and Burnside have recently been projected, and 
arrangements are now in progress for the erection of a new $10,000 
dormitory on the college campus at Winchester. Material additions to 
the endowment of the college have also been made in the last three 
years, and plans are now under way which it is hoped will cause its 
property and funds, now about $100,000 in value, to reach $250,000 in 
the next five years. 

In 1895 the faculty was enlarged by the addition of special lecturers 
on church history, on the Bible, and on civics, and in 1896 an instructor 
in elocution was appointed. The matriculation of the institution has 



132 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

also recently increased, there being 154 students in the college proper 
in 1894-95 and a total of 448 in college and academies together in 
1897-98. The number of graduates has increased in like manner, 
nineteen degrees having been conferred in the last three years. 

Kentucky Wesleyan College has always been able to maintain an 
able faculty, and its standard of classical and scientific education has 
been high. It has consequently occupied a worthy place among similar 
institutions of learning in the State, and has turned out many well- 
equipped graduates who have taken an honorable rank in the various 
professions and callings of life, the ministry being more largely repre- 
sented than any other profession. Its students have recently main- 
tained an excellent standing in eastern institutions, where they have 
gone to pursul^ special and advanced work. The total number of 
graduates up to 1898, inclusive, is 169, of whom about 30 have entered 
the ministry, about 25 the law, quite a number teaching, while medi- 
cine and other vocations are well represented. Many of those who 
spent a time at the college, but took no degrees, are occupying impor- 
tant places in church and state. 

The curriculum of the institution is divided into the following schools 
of instruction : Latin, Greek, German, French, English, mathematics^ 
chemistry and biology, physics and astronomy, history and political 
science, psychology and ethics, theistic and Christian evidences, Bible 
study, bookkeeping and commercial science, and shorthand and type- 
writing. The completion of eleven out of the first twelve of these schools 
leads to the two regular degrees of bachelor of arts' and bachelor of 
science, the former requiring the school of Greek, while the latter 
substitutes German and French for Greek. There are also the special 
courses already indicated and an academic or preparatory course of 
three years in length. The present faculty, in addition to the princi- 
pals of the various preparatory schools, two instructors in elocution 
and in shorthand and typewriting, respectively, and two special lec- 
turers, the one on Bible history and literature, and the other on civics, 
has the following regular professors and officers: Rev. E. H. Pearce, 
A. M., D. D. president and professor of psychology and ethics; D. W. 
Batson, A. M., professor of natural science; B. T. Spencer, A. M., pro- 
fessor of Greek and instructor in German; W. H. Garnett, Ph. D., 
Abram Megowan professor of mathematics and instructor in French; 
Marvin West, A. M., professor of Latin and history. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

GoUins's and Smith's histories, Henderson's Centennial Exhibit. 

A History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison, and Nicholas Counties, by W. H, Perrin, 
Chicago, 1882 (contains a sketch of the college by President Batson). 

A Manuscript History of Kentucky Wesleyan College^ by Rev. John Jay Dickey. 

Installation exercises and inaugural of E. H. Pearce, D. D., as president of Kentucky 
Wesleyan College, Winchester, 1895. 

1 The degree of A. M. is conferred on bachelors of arts who porsne some literary 
profession for three years and present a satisfactory thesis. 



ST. mary's college. 133 

ST. MABY^S COLLEaE, MARION COUNTY. 

St. Mary^s is the oldest aud most important Catholic male college 
now in existence in Kentucky, and is one of the oldest, if not the old- 
est, of its kind in the Mississippi Valley. It had its own beginning in 
1821 and in a way now has a right to have the date of its origin made 
about two years earlier, as it was in 1890 made in a sense the legal 
successor of St. Joseph's College at Bardstown, Ky., its older and in 
some respects more celebrated colleague, whose history will be sketched 
in another chapter. There we shall find that the foundation of St. 
Joseph's was largely due to the efforts of Eev. G. A. M. Elder; St. 
Mary's, in a still more eminent degree, owes its existence to the self- 
sacrifldng exertions and the energy of one man. Rev. William Byrne, 
and it is rather remarkable that these two men should have been 
ordained to the priesthood in their church at the same time, a ceremony 
which occurred in the cathedral at Bardstown, Ky., on September 18, 
1819,1 

Father Byrne was born in Ireland in 1780. His talents were not 
brilliant nor his education extended, but he was noted for his industry 
and application. He had not the means of obtaining an advanced 
education in early life, but after coming to America had studied for a 
time at St. Mary's College, Emmittsburg, Md., where he held the posi- 
tion of prefect of discipline. On coming to Kentucky and seeing the 
pressing need of educational institutions, he determined to found, to 
meet the needs of the hour, a school for boys similar to the school for 
girls lately established at Loretto. 

He set to work with his characteristic energy, only waiting long 
enough to obtain the bishop's permission. Without money or anyone 
specially to help him, he purchased a farm in Marion County about 5 
miles from where Lebanon now stands, which had been occupied for a 
time by the Sisters of Loretto, and which Rev. Charles Nerinckx had 
secured in 1820 for the purpose of founding a new Christian brother- 
hood devoted to the education of boys and had named St. Mary's. 
This Father Byrne obtained possession of in 1821 by means of funds 
partly raised by subscription, and here he first opened a school, called 
St. Mary's Seminary, in the early spring of that year in an old stone 
distillery fitted up with rough furniture i)artly made by his own hand. 

The school soon became popular and so increased in numbers as to 
speedily outgrow its old quarters. For the accommodation of its 
jjatrons, who were then mainly the farmers of the neighborhood, its 
tuition fees were largely paid in produce, which Father Byrne partly 
converted into money and partly exchanged for labor, and by this 
means soon paid for the farm, and by 1825 had erected a modest new 
building at a cost of $4,000. 

Unfortunately just as this structure was nearing completion, and 
while Father Byrne was in Louisville completing arrangements for that 

1 Allen's Bistory of Kentucky, p. 173. 



134 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDIIOATIOX IX KENTUCKY. 

purpose, it was burned, but was reerected within a few months under 
the personal supervision and partly by the labor of its founder. The 
school was peculiarly unfortunate in this respect, as hardly had the 
debt incurred by the first fire been paid and the wing of an additional 
building nearly completed when it, too, was destroyed by fire,* but — 

Nothing daunted, Father Byrne rebuilt the burnt edifice on an enlarged plan, and 
m a few yeira was able by patient industry and rigid economy to pay all its debts 
and to place the iustitution on a firm and enduring foundation. < 

That he was able to do this entirely from tuition fees at the very 
moderate rate of $G per session is a high tribute to his financial manage 
ment and to the popularity of the seminary. This popularity was due 
largely to its cheap tuition, its good discipline, and excellent teaching. 
There Avere early in its history 120 students in its classes and its 
numbers during Father Byrne's administration are said to have been 
all that its limited quarters could accommodate, and students had to 
apply a whole year in advance in order to secure admission. During 
the first twelve years of its existence it educated, either completely or 
partially, at least 1,200 youths, among whom may especially be men- 
tioned Martin J. Spalding, subsequently archbishop of Baltimore, who 
was its professor of mathematics at 14 years of age, two years before 
his graduation, and was famous for his solution of diflEicult mathemati- 
cal problems. 

Never was an institution, for the same length of time, more completely 
the work of one man, as Father Byrne was not only its financial stay, 
but he was much more. 

He formed himself the teachers who were to aid him in carrying on the work of 
the college. He originated everything. He was president, chief disciplinarian, 
principal professor, procurator, missionary, everything at the same time.^ 

He was greatly assisted in the work of instruction by the advanced 
students, who in their turn became teachers. 

The spirit in which all his efforts had been put forth is well shown 
by the fact that when negotiations were began in 1830 looking toward 
the transfer of the institution to the control of the order of Jesuits he 
cheerfully acceded to their assuming i^ossession, because he saw that 
other colleges were beginning to offer superior advantages and he con- 
sidered the Jesuits, by reason of their greater resources and higher 
scholarship, better calculated than he to conduct the seminary success- 
fully. These negotiations were completed in the latter part of 1831,^ 
but, by request. Father Byrne remained at the head of the school, 
Fathers Gilles, Lagouais, and McGuire being associated with him in 
1832 in its management. Father Byrne died of cholera in 1833, and 
then the Jesuits took exclusive control of the institution. 

1 Spalding's Early Catholic Missions, p. 267. 

2 Spalding's Life and Times of Bishop Flaget, p. 300. 

3 This date is usually given as 1832, but extracts from the private papers of the 
Jesuits, furnished by President Fehrenbach, show it to have been 1831. 



ST. MARY^S COLLEGE. 135 

The seminary was opened under their supervision in September, 1833, 
and had as its new president Eev. Peter Ohazelle, S. J., who was a 
native of France, and a man of great energy and perseverance. The 
institution was then regularly organized as a college and President 
Ohazelle was assisted by a faculty composed of Fathers Nicholas Petit j 
Thomas Legouais, Vital Gilles, Simon Fouche, and Evremond Harris- 
sart, all Frenchmen and men of high literary education and pronounced 
ability. Under the new order of things pupils came in from all direc- 
tions, and the prospects for the future were bright, but the session of 
1833-34 was hardly well begun before the fire fiend descended upon 
the institution for the third time and sent many of the students to their 
homes by destroying the main building. This was, however, restored 
within a single month, and not long afterwards, from the revenue aris- 
ing from increased patronage, another wing was added. 

In 1836 the faculty of the institution was much strengthened by the 
addition of Fathers William G. Murphy and Nicholas Point, who came 
over from the provincial headquarters of the order at Lyons, France, 
having been sent for by President Chazelle. Father Murphy was at 
first the college professor of English literature, and was noted for his 
accomplishments in that department. On January 21, 1837,^ mainly 
through his influence and that of Eev. Eobert Abel, a charter for the 
institution was obtained from the State legislature which conferred upon 
it all of the usual collegiate powers and privileges. In this year also 
the faculty was further enlarged by the arrival of Fathers Augustus 
Thebaud and Peter Lebreton. 

In 1839 Father Murphy succeeded Father Ohazelle as president of 
the college, and Father William Larkin, a man of great natural gifts 
and of profound and varied learning, joined the corps of professors. 
Father Murphy continued at the head of the institution during the 
remainder of the period of Jesuit control, which extended to 1846. 
During this period the prosperity of the college was uninterrupted. It 
not only continued to flourish, but soon grew in such a way that its 
patronage was only restricted by the limited capacity of its buildings, 
which, being situated in the country, had to furnish boarding, as well 
as educational accommodations. 

Students during this era came from all parts of the United States, 
the West Indies, Mexico, and even South America. In 1836 and for 
several years later the reputation of the fathers attracted students from 
many of the most influential families of Kentucky and the surrounding 
States, most of whom were Protestants, that element largely predomi- 
nating at this time in the history of the institution. In addition to 
those already mentioned as having come over from France to join the 
faculty. Fathers De Luynes and Gockeln came out later, so that in 1842 
the teaching body of the institution was a very able one. 

One feature of the history of the college during this period is that, 
according to a rule established by Father Byrne and continued during 



^ Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 41. 



136 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY, 

the Jesuit era, every student was required to work on the college fs^tm 
for one day a week. This farm, which was an important adjunct to 
the institution in the way of furnishing food products and additional 
revenue, had been enlarged, in 1838, by the purchase of an adjoining 
estate so as to accommodate the increased number of students. The 
authorities seem to have been quite successful in getting the students 
to cheerfully comply with this regulation, as well as to perform such 
other tasks as looking after the tallow caudles, with which, at that 
time, the college study-hall was lighted. 

The commencement exercises of this era were attractive events for 
the surrounding country. Original dramas, written by Father Ohazelle, 
or some other member of the faculty, were usually performed, and in 
order to accommodate the visitors the exercises were usually held in 
the open air, a suitable spot having been chosen in the primeval forest, 
where a stage, adorned with drapery and appropriate scenery, was 
erected on the rising slope, in front of which temporary seats, cover- 
ing a whole acre or more of ground, were arranged for the vast audi- 
ence. In 1846, owing to some misunderstanding with the local diocesan 
authorities, the Jesuits left St. Mary's for what they considered wider 
fields of usefulness at St. John's College, Fordham, M". T., their depar- 
ture being widely regretted by the friends of St. Mary's. 

Before this time every State in the South and West had become rep- 
resented in the catalogue of that college, and she had sent out a num- 
ber of alumni, scattered all over that region especially. Many of these 
have since risen to prominence in various professions and callings in 
life, among them being governors. Congressmen, circuit judges, writers 
of merit, and others of reputation in other fields. 

When the Jesuits left St. Mary's, in 1846, the institution was again 
turned over to the secular clergy, under the supervision of the bishop 
of the diocese. We are informed ^ that at that time its buildings were 
extensive and handsome and its library contained 5,000 volumes, while 
its faculty numbered 8 instructors and its enrollment was 125 students. 
The secular clergy took charge in 1847, and under their management 
the college was successful and useful for twenty-two years. 

The following is the list of the presidents of the institution from 
1847 to 1869, with their terms of office: Kev. Julian Delaune, 
1847-18495 Kev. John McGuire, 1849-1851; Eev. John B. Hutchins, 
1851-1853; Kev. Francis Lawler, 1853-1856; ^ Eev. P. J. Lavialle, 
1856-1865; Eev. A. Viala, 1865-1869. The following is a similar list 
for the same period of the vice-presidents of the institution, who had 
a considerable share in its management : Rev. Francis Lawler, 1849-1853 ; 
Rev. Michael Coghlan, 1853-1855; Rev. Edmund Driscoll, 1866-66; 

^ Collinses Sketches of Kentucky, p. 426. 

^ Father Hutchins was again president in the latter part of 1855-56, when he took 
the place of Father Lawler. 



ST. Mary's college. 137 

Eev. Joseph H. Elder, 1856-57 5 ^ Rev. A. Yiala, 1857-1865; Rev. T. J. 
Disney, 1865-1869. 

Of the presidential administrations of this era, that of President 
Hutchins is especially noteworthy, because the college was under him 
again put on a sound financial footing. Among the alumni of this 
period, at least one rose to the dignity of a bishop in his church, and 
others obtained repute in other vocations. In 1869, on account of 
financial embarrassment it was found necessary to close the time- 
honored institution for two years; during this period its lands were 
leased to a farmer of the neighborhood. 

This gloom in the history of the college was, however, soon dispelled 
and a new era for it began when, in September, 1871, upon the invita- 
tion of the Right Rev. William G. McOlosky, bishop of Louisville, it 
was reopened by a new and vigorous teaching order, the Fathers of the 
Resurrection,^ under the leadership of Rev. Louis Elena, 0. E., D. D. 
Father Elena was assisted by a select corps of lay, secular, and 
religous officers, and remained at the head of the institution until 1873, 
during which time repairs and improvements were made on the build- 
ings and grounds, and all the former rights and privileges of the insti- 
tution were confirmed under the new order of things by an amendment 
to the charter, secured in 1872. 

In 1873, one of the most successful presidents in the history of the 
college came into office in the person of Rev. David Fennessy, 0. R., 
who held the position continuously for twenty-four years, with the 
exception of a period of two years. Under his management the stand- 
ard of discipline and scholarship was raised and his well-chosen corps 
of professors, together with his own prestige as a scholar and educator 
soon attracted patronage and gained the confidence of the people of 
Kentucky especially. 

The history of the college during and since his administration has 
been one of substantial improvement and expansion. The course of 
instruction was developed until, in 1879, it included a classical course 
of five years in length, together with a scientific course of four years 
and a commercial course of three years, in addition to a preparatory 
department. In 1882 a military department was added, with a regular 
professor of military tactics, and in 1883 a professor of music was 
attached to the faculty. There had been up to this time, since 1873, 
an average matriculation of about 100 students, and the number of 
teachers and other officers connected with the institution had been 
about 13 each year. 

In 1884 a fine new building was completed, which furnished much 
better and larger accommodations for students, whose numbers have 
since increased considerably. In order to put the institution on a solid 

• Father Elder ouly bold the office for a part of the year 1856-57, being succeeded 
early in 1857 by Father Viala. 

2 This is a religions order of the Catholic Church one of whose chief objects is the 
imparting of education, intellectual and moral. 



138 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

financial basis and to insure its incoq)oration into his order. Father 
Fennessy succeeded in obtaining from the Bishop of Louisville a deed 
in fee simple to the college property^ the management of which was 
vested in a corporation of his own choosing, composed of five self- 
perpetuating trustees; he also secured the recognition of St. Mary's 
as the official Catholic college of the diocese. This was accomplished 
in August, 1890, when, by the action of the Bishop, St. Joseph's Oolleget 
at Bardstown, was closed for a period of twenty years in order that St, 
Mary^s might have the proper opportunity for its development^ as these 
colleges were so situated as necessarily to draw their students largely 
from the same limited field, by which each was thus hindering the 
progress of the other. 

In connection with the new arrangement, the curriculum of St. Mary's 
was strengthened, the classical course being made six years in length, 
and otherwise enlarged. Additions were also made to the •library and 
scientific apparatus, and other steps taken to make the institution rank 
with the first ('atholic colleges of the land. In conducting its educa- 
tional work its corx)s of teachers and officers are selected by its presi- 
dent, who is in turn appointed by the superior- general of the teaching 
order which controls the institution. 

In 1893 other improvements were made in the college proi)erty, all 
of its buildings being renovated and their interior equipped with mod- 
ern appliances, while an additional mansard story was placed upon 
each of the three main buildings. In the fall of this year an adjoining 
farm was also purchased and added to the college farm, which now con- 
tains about 450 acres of first-rate land. By a recent decision^ of the 
supreme court of the State this and all the other property of the col- 
lege, without limit, is exempted from taxation. In 1893 Father Fennessy 
retired from his office on account of bad health, and Rev. John L. 
Steffan, C. R., D. D., Ph. D., became president. In the fall of 1895, how- 
ever. Father Fennessy recovered his health and again resumed his 
position at the head of the institution, where he remained for about 
two years longer, resigning finally in July, 1897. 

From 1871 to 1897 the following were vice-presidents of the college 
for the terms indicated by the appended dates : Rev. D. Fennessy^ O. B., 
D. D., 1871-18735 Rev. R. De Carolis, C. R., 1873-1879; Rev. A. Vaghi, 
0. R., 1879-80; Rev. V. T. Lanciotti, 0. R., 1880-1886; Rev. John 
Fehrenbach, C. R., D. D., Ph. D., 1886-1897. 

Wlien Father Fennessy retired from the presidency in 1897, Father 
Fehrenbach became his successor. At the same time Rev. John Kos- 
kinski, 0. R., became vice-i)resident. 

Father Fehrenbach was born in Berlin, Ontario, in 1857 and gradu- 
ated at St. Jerome College in that place. He subsequently received 
the degrees of Ph. J), and D. D. from the Roman University, Borne, 

' Case of the Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Loretto Literary and Benevoleiii 

Institution, and Same i\ St. Mary's College. 



ST. MARY^S COLLEGE. 139 

Italy. He had been vice-president of the college since 1886, and being 
a man of great practical ability and basiness tact had ably assisted 
the successful efforts of President Fennessy to build up the institution 
and put it on a higher and more enduring basis. 

There is therefore good reason to believe that the prosperity of the 
college will not only continue but enlarge under his administration as 
president. In fact some progressive steps have already been taken. 
In the summer of 1897 a frame gymnasium was erected on the college 
campus, and in November of that year a collection of mineralogical 
specimens and Indian relics numbering several hundred was purchased 
for the institution. In that year also, in order to suit the depriessed 
financial condition of the country and bring the benefits of the institu- 
tion within the reach, of as many as possible, the prices of board and 
tuition were very materially reduced. 

The college has no endowment, but depends for its support and its 
progress in material equipment entirely upon tuition fees. That it has 
been able from this source, in the last few years, to not only maintain 
itself but to expand considerably is an evidence of its success. Situ- 
ated as it is, its chances for future growth may not be very flattering, 
owing to the depressed condition of the agricultural classes of the 
South, from which its patronage is mainly drawn, but it is probable 
that it will more than hold its own under its present management. 
The property of the college is at present estimated to be worth about 
$65,000, and its library contains about 5,000 volumes. Its matricula- 
tion as regards distribution is largely confined to the South. In the 
last twenty-four years there have been one or two classical graduates 
and five or six commercial graduates each year. The whole number of 
graduates during this period is 151, of whom 26 have taken the degree 
of A. B. and 12 that of B. S. A number of these have taken promi- 
nent positions in political, legal, medical, business, and clerical circles. 

The curriculum of the institution as at present arranged embraces 
three courses of study: The commercial, extending over three years, 
and including, besides instruction in bookkeeping and kindred subjects, 
the elements of a good English education, in which only a certificate is 
granted; the scientific or mathematical, which includes additional 
instruction in English, mathematics, and the natural sciences, extends 
over four years, and leads to the degree of B. S. ; the classical, in which 
the classics, English, philosophy, and modern languages are the prin- 
cipal features, which extends over six years and leads to the degree 
of A. B. The degree of A. M. is conferred ujHyn Bachelors of Arts 
who study an additional year at the college or attain recognized stand- 
ing in one of the higher professions. There is also a preparatory 
department and there are besides supplementary studies in the fine 
arts, elocution, military drill, and gymnastics. 

The faculty of the institution is composed of men who have made the 
education of youth their life work, this being the ijrincipal object of the 
order to which they belong. As at present constituted its members 



140 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

are as follows: Rev. John Felirenbacli, C. E., Pb. D., D. D., mental 
philosophy, modern languages; Rev. John Koskinski, C. R., classics, 
elocution, algebra; Rev. Michael Jaglowitz, C. R., classics, history; 
Rev. E. M. Crane, A. M., higher English, history, classics; T. A. 
Schalder, A. M., natural sciences, mathematics; J. M. Cooney, A. M., 
English, mathematics, bookkeeping. There are also assistant teachers 
in bookkeeping and shorthand, in music and drawing, in penmanship, 
and in United States history and geography. Rev. Michael Jaglowitz, 
besides being one of the professors, also holds the position of disciplin- 
arian, an officer with important functions. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Collinses Sketches, CoHlns's and Perrin, Battle and Kniffen's histories; Hender- 
son's Centennial Exhibit; Spalding's Early Missions. 

A History of Kentucky, by William B. Allen, Louisville, 1872. 

Sketches of the Life, Times, and Character of Bishop Flaget, by Right Bey. M. J. 
Spalding, Louisville, 1852. 

The Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, by Rev. C. P. Maes; Cincinnati, 1880. 

A Centenary of Catholicity in America, by B. J. Webb; Louisville, 1884. 

Extracts from the Jesuits' Private Papers, furnished by President Fehrenbach. ^ 

The History of Georgetown College, of Georgetown, Ky. 

By J. William Black, Ph. D.» 
EARLY HISTORY. 

Georgetown College is located in Georgetown, Ky., which is on the 
northern rim of the famous "Blue-grass" region. It is a convenient 
and delightful location for the college. The climate is good, the coun- 
try fertile and beautiful, the railroad facilities excellent, the town 
convenient to large centers, being only 12 miles north of Lexington 
and about 60 miles south of Cincinnati. The social environment of 
the college student is all that could be desired. 

THE TOWN. 

The town itself, though it has not grown to large size, is an old and 
historic one, and bears the proud title, " Belle of the Blue Grass." 
It is said to be the site of the first permanent settlement north of the 
Kentucky Eiver, for as early as November, 1775, one John McClelland 
and a few pioneers came down the Ohio River from Pittsburg, wandered 
about in northeastern Kentucky, and finally located here. The attrac- 
tion was a big spring, near which the first cabin was erected, and 
which received the name of the " Royal Spring." This spring, since 
called '^ Big Spring," is one of the features of the town to this day. In 
1790, by act of the legislature of Virginia, the name of <' Georgetown," 
in honor of the first President, was given to the settlement which had 
grown up about this spot. 

' Professor of history and political economy, Colby College; formerly professor of 
history and political science pro tempore (1891-92; in Georgetown College, Kentucky. 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 141 

THE COLLEGE. 

The founding of the college dates from January 16, 1829, It was the 
first collegiate institution of the Baptists south and west of the AUe- 
ghauies to receive a charter, and the fifth in order among the Baptist 
colleges established in the United States. In this new and sparselgr 
settled country there was much pioneer work to be done by this insti- 
tution and its sister colleges of the South and West, many of which 
were founded during this era of westward expansion. 

The college was incorporated by the legislature of Kentucky under 
the name of the Kentucky Baptist Education Society. The charter in 
its original form, including also the names of the first board of trustees, 
is as follows : 

THK CHARTER OF THE KENTUCKY BAPTIST EDUCATION SOCIETY, GRANTED JANUARY, 

1829. 

AN ACT to incorporate the trustees of the Kentucky Baptist Education Society. 

Be it enacted hy the general assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That Alva 
Woods, Silas M. Noel, Jeremiah Vardeman, John Bryce, David Thunnan, Gabriel 
Slaughter, Joel Scott, Peter Mason, Thomas P. Dudley, Peter C. Buck, Jephthah 
Dudley, Benjamin Tyler, George W. Nichols, Gurdon Gates, Kyland T. Dillard, Ben- 
jamin Davis, William Johnson, Samuel M'Kay, Thomas Smith, C. Van Buskirk, 
James Ford, and Cyrus Wingate shall he, and are hereby, constituted a body politic 
and corporate, to be known and designated by the name and style of " The Trustees 
of the Kentucky Baptist Education Society,'^ and by that name shall have perpetual 
succession and a common seal, with power to change and alter the same at pleasure; 
and, as a body corporate, shall be authorized to exercise all the powers, privileges, 
and rights which are exercised by the trustees of any academy of learning in the 
State; but that the ])roperty of said corporation shall be subject to taxation, except 
the college buildiugs and five acres of ground around the same; and on the death, 
resignation, or other disqualification of any of the said trustees or their successors 
in office a majority of two- thirds of the trustees remaining in office may fill such 
vacancies, and the person or persons so appointed shall be vested with the same 
powers and privileges as those named in this act, and by the name and style and 
denomination of *'The Trustees of the Kentucky Baptist Education Society" may 
sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in any court of 
law and equity in this State. 

Sec. 2. He it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said trustees and 
their successors in office, and that are hereby invested with full power and authority 
in their corporate capacity, to purchase, or receive by donation, demise, or bequest 
any lands, tenements, hereditaments, monies, rents, goods, and chattels, and to hold 
the &ame, by the name aforesaid, to them and their successors forever for the use and 
benefit of said institution, and according to the intention of the donor or donors of 
any such lands, tenements, hereditaments, monies, rents, goods, and chattels, and 
not otherwise, and to sell, transfer, and convey the same, under the seal of said cor- 
poration, unless prohibited by the terms of any such donation. 

Sec. 3. Be it further* enacted. That it shall and maybe lawful for the trustees afore- 
said, and their successors in office, to appoint, out of their own body, a chairman 
or president,' and a majority of the trustees shall at all times constitute a quorum 
to do business and may make such by-laws, rules, and ordinances necessary for the 
proper government of said institution as shall not be repugnant to the Constitution 
and laws of the United States or laws of this State. The said president and trustees 
shall also have power at all times to select and appoint such officers, teachers, tutors, 
and professors for the management of said institution as they may think necessary, 
to fix their salaries and i^rescribe their duties, to fix and prescribe the terms upon 
which students may be admitted into said institution, and for any misconduct in 
any officer, teacher, or professor to dismiss such person from office and appoint 
another or others iu their stead. 

Sec. 4. The said presidmt and trustees shall keep a record of their proceedings in 
a book or books, to be provided for that purpose, and may, if they deem it neces- 



The Rev. Silas M. Noel was chosen first president of the board of trustee^, 



142 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

sary, appoint a clerk to record their proceedings and prescribe his duties. It shall 
be the duty of the said president and trustees, and their Huccessors, to have recorded 
in the office of the county court of tlie county where tlie said institution may be 
located tlie nauies of the truHtees thereof hereby appointed and tlie names of such 
as shall hereafter be appointed in their 8t<'ad. 

Sec. 5. He it enactedy That within (K) days from the passage of this act the trustees 
aforesaid shall meet in Lexiujj^ton and enter upon the duties assigned them by this 
act, not less than a majority of two-thirds being competent thereto: Provided, how- 
ever, That the real aud personal estate acquired by the said corporation shall at no 
one time exceed the yearly rent or value of 50,()0() dollars. 

Sec. 6. Be it enacted^ That full power is reserved to the general assembly to repeal 
or modify the privileges hereby granted.' 

In December 22, 1798, the Rittenliouse Academy was founded in 
Georgetown, and endowed by the State with 6,000 acres of the public 
lands of Kentucky. A building was erected on the site of the present 
academy of Georgetown College, which occupies a spot 60 yards to 
the west of Recitation Hall. In 1829, when the college was organ- 
izing, the trustees of liittenhouse Academy, by the authority of the 
legislature of the Oommonwealth, transferred all the property of 
the academy, real and personal, to the trustees of the Kentucky 
Baptist Education Society for the benefit of Georgetown College. 

At the same time Issachar Pawling, a man not of great wealth but 
of generous impulses, a good Baptist and a friend of higher education, 
gave the founding of the college a great impetus by placing at the 
disposal of the newly created board of trustees a fund of $20,000. 
Pawling deserves much of the credit that attaches to his memory as 
the real founder of the college at Georgetown, and the trustees have 
fittingly recognized their obligation to this noble benefactor by naming 
one of their largest buildings Pawling Hall. 

To this endowment fund of Pawling's there was added immediately 
a contribution of $6,000 from the citizens of Georgetown, which had 
been subscribed by them for the purpose of securing the location of 
the college in their midst. 

On September 2, 1829, Rev. William Staughton, D. D., of Columbian 
College, Washington D. C, was chosen the first president of George- 
town College, but unfortunately he died suddenly on December 12, 
1829, while in the midst of preparations to proceed to his new field of 
labor. After this misfortune the trustees met with some difficulty in 
their efforts to find a suitable man for the newly created institution. 

Stephen Chaplin, D. D., likewise of Washington, was next called to 
the presidency in January, 1830, but he declined. The third choice 
then fell upon Irah Chase, D. D., president of the Newton Theological 
Institute, Massachasetts. President Chase went to Georgetown, looked 
over the field, and declined the call. The fourth effort of the trustees 
proved successful, and on June 21, 1830, Dr. Joel S. Bacon, of H"ewton 



' By an act of the Kentucky legislature dated January 23, 1840, the number of 
trustees was reduced to thirteen, with the further provision that a majority of this 
uuniher should constitute a quorum. By a later act (January 28, 1841) this first 
proviso was repealed, the number of trustees was increased to twenty-four, and the 
quorum for business was fixed at eight. 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 143 

Center, Mass., was elected president. He had previously been chosen 
professor of languages, May 4, 1830, and had accompanied Dr. Chase 
to Georgetown to assume his new duties. 

When Dr. Chase decided to decline the call to the presidency, he 
strongly recommended Bacon, and the trustees acted favorably upon 
his advice. Thus President Bacon, the fourth to be chosen, was the 
first to enter actively upon the duties of the presidency of Georgetown 
College. 

Meanwhile, however, the college had begun without a head, for in 
accordance with a resolution of the board the doors had been opened 
and instruction begun on January 11, 1830, the faculty at the opening 
consisting of but two officers, a principal of the preparatory depart- 
ment and a professor of mathematics. 

Charles O'Harra was the first principal of the preparatory depart- 
ment and the instructor of the 43 pupils who entered at the opening. 
In the college a mathematical class was formed with 15 students, 
and, under the instruction of Thornton F. Johnson, of Yirgina, the 
professor of mathematics, and the first member of the college faculty 
chosen by the board of trustees. Indeed, the intention of the board was 
to create manifold duties for the first college officer, if we are to judge 
by the full title of his chair, which reads: "Professor of mathematics, 
natural and experimental philosophy, and the French language." 

A professor of languages — presumably the classical languages — a Mr. 
Ruggles, of Columbian College, Washington, was also invited to George- 
town, but he declined. Joel S. Bacon was then chosen to the chair, and 
later was elected president, as already explained. The salary of the 
members of the faculty was fixed at $800 eachj the salary of the 
president at $1,500, and the latter's chair was to be known as the 
" Pawling Chair," ^ in honor of the first benefactor of the college. 

The college plant at the opening consisted of one small unpretentious 
structure, the former Rittenhouse Academy building j lots, valued at 
$6,000, for a campus — the gift of Georgetown citizens — and the $20,000 
endowment fund contributed by Pawling. 

The college year was divided into two sessions irrespective of vaca- 
tions, which were somewhat irregular at first, one continuing from 
March 20 to September 20, the other from September 20 to March 20. 
It was also further provided that during the first or summer term the 
hours of study should be from 8 to 12 a. m. and from 2 to 6 p. m., and 
in the latter from 8 to 12 a. m. and from 1 to 4 p. m., and a curious 
regulation required the professors and tutors to remain in their lecture 
rooms during these hours, and prohibited the student from leaving the 
college inclosure without the permission of his professor. Tuition fees 
in the college department were fixed at $25 per annum j in the pre- 
paratory department at from $12 to $20, according to the studies taken. 

1 The title of the president's chair was changed at a later time, as noted elsewhere, 
and it is now known as the ** R. M. Dudley Memorial Chair." 



144 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The i)iiri)08e of the college, aa stated in its prospectus, was "to 
impart the lights of education to pious indigent applicants of the Bap- 
tist order who are desirous of embarking in the ministry." Pawling 
had made his donation to the college with the proviso that it be used 
for the support aud education of indigent young ministerial students. 
He was now persuaded to incorporate the gift unconditionally with the 
general funds of the college, in return for which the trustees offered to 
grant free tuition to young men studying for the ministry. The i)olicy 
then agreed upon has prevailed to this day, and free tuition has always 
been granted this class of students. 

The college closed its first session June 11, 1830, to open again July 
20, 1830. On the latter day Eev. Joel S. Bacon, the first active j)resi- 
dent of the college, delivered his inaugural address in the Methodist 
Church in Georgetown. The number of students was now about 60, 
equally divided between the college and the academy. A library of 500 
volumes had been added, and a small assortment of maps, charts, 
globes, physical and chemical apparatus. 

Several new appointments on the staff of the college faculty were now 
made, and at the opening of the next spring session, April 18, 1831, the 
faculty had its full complement for the first time. It was as follows: 
liev. Joel Smith Bacon, A, M., president; Rev. N. N. Whiting, A, M., 
professor of languages J ^ Thornton F.Johnson, esq., professor of mathe- 
matics, etc.; Samuel D. Hatch, M. D., professor of chemistry; Mr. F. 
E. Frebuchet, of France, professor of French language; William Craig, 
A. M., tutor in the college proper; William F. Nelson, A. B., principal 
of preparatory department (the academy). 

The college was by this time fairly well organized and the work pro- 
ceeded with more system. Two courses were provided — a full college 
course of eight sessions, which would correspond approximately to the 
modern four year classical course, was offered, and the degree of bach- 
elor of arts conferred upon those completing it; besides this an Eng- 
lish course of six sessions (three years) was also offered and an English 
diploma conferred upon those completing the latter course. 

Provision was also made for the granting of certificates of scholar- 
ship to those who desired them for work done in any department. 

Three recitations were given daily for five days in the week and one 
recitation on Saturday. Speaking and composition were required 
weekly and examinations were held in all studies at the close of each 
session, and all candidates for degrees or diplomas were required to 
take the same bill of fare in their respective courses. Two breaks or 
vacations in the college year were now provided, one beginning the 
first Monday in March and continuing six weeks; the other beginning 
on the third Thursday in September and continuing until the third 
Monday in October. The third Wednesday in September was com- 



^ Resigned shortly after his appointment and was succeeded by George W. Eatoxiy 
A. M. . . 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 145 

meucement day. Tuition fees continued tlie same. The estimated 
annual expenses of the student for board, washing, lodging, fuel, and 
lights were $75, making the total average expenditure for the college 
year $100. For the preparatory students the charges were slightly 
less, the tuition for those taking classical studies being $20 a year; for 
those taking an English course, $15. There was also an additional 
charge of $1 for fuel used in the winter season. 

Dr. Bacon remained president of the college about two years. Lack 
of funds and controversies over the management of the property made 
his administration a trying one, and he felt obliged to retire from the 
presidency. From 1832 until 1836 the college was without a head, 
being managed as a private institution under the leadership of the 
professor of mathematics, Thornton F, Johnson. In the latter year 
the Eev. B. F. Farnsworth was chosen president and held the office 
for a few months. He made an earnest though unsuccessful attempt 
to place the institution on a sound financial basis and resigned the 
same year (1836). 

In October, 1838, Eev. Eockwood Giddings, D. D., of Shelbyville, 
Ky., became president. His term was limited to one year, his death 
occurring October 29, 1839, but it was long enough to demonstrate that 
he was the most successful administrator that had yet presided over 
the affairs of the college. Dr. Giddings was very active during his 
short administration. Though he never entered upon the work of the 
class room, he performed a more important service to the college in 
securing harmony among the trustees in the management of the insti- 
tution. He also made a strenuous and successful effort to increase 
the endowment fund, and secured subscriptions amounting to about 
$100,000, a large portion of which, however, was not paid in, owing to 
the subsequent financial distress which affected the whole country and 
prevented many of the friends of the college from meeting their pledges. 

Furthermore, through the aggressive efforts of President Giddings, 
the main college building, which still occupies the center of the campus 
and is now known as '' Eecitation Hall," was begun and completed from 
the Giddings endowment. This was the first college building erected 
by the trustees of the Kentucky Baptist Education Society, the college 
exercises having been conducted hitherto in the old Eittenhouse Acad- 
emy building and in rented quarters. 

After an interval of a few months Dr. Howard Malcolm became the 
successor of Dr. Giddings. The choice was a fortunate one for two 
reasons — in the first, he had the qualifications necessary to carry for- 
ward the movements so auspiciously begun by his predecessor, and, 
secondly, he remained in the office long enough — a period of ten years — 
to leave upon it the impress of his personality and to secure an efficient 
organization of the work, the general lines of which have remained to 
this day. Dr. Malcolm's service rounded out the second decade of the 
history of the college. In 1850, the year of the great compromise on 
2127— No. 25 10 



146 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

slavery, Dr. Malcolm retired from the presidency, imi>elled largely by 
the arising of political conditions about bim with which he was not in 
ftill sympathy, and was succeeded by the liev. Dr. J. L. lieynolds, of 
South Carolina. At the end of two years Dr. Eeynolds retired for 
domestic reasons and gave place to the liev. Dr. Duncan E. Campbell. 

During President Keyuolds's administration an important change 
was made in the charter of the college. By act of November 26, 1861, 
it was '* enacted that each individual who since January 1, 1840, has 
donated to the Kentucky Baptist Education Society $100, or shall do 
so in the future, shall be and are hereby constituted a body politic and 
corporate, to be known and designated by the name and style of the 
Kentucky Baptist Education Society, and by that name shall have per- 
petual succession, and a common seal, with power to change and alter 
said seal at pleasure.'' Power was also given to this bcdy " to carry 
out'' such measures as would promote the interests of Greorgetown 
College and the cause of college education. 

It was further providisd also that business meetings of this new cor- 
poration should beheld annually in Georgetown during commencement 
week; that 26 members of the society should constitute a quorum for 
business at the annual meetings, 20 sufQcing for called meetings during 
the interval between commencements; that this corporation should 
make such by-laws, rules, etc., and elect such officers as were necessary 
to carry into effect the provisions of the act; and further provided also 
that the society should have the sole power to appoint trustees of the 
Kentucky Baptist Education Society, and that henceforth the following 
method of choosing the trustees should prevail: ^'They " (the members 
of the society) "shall, at the first annual meeting, choose all the trus- 
tees aforesaid, dividing as equally as practicable the whole number into 
four classes, one of which classes shall be appointed for a term of one 
year, another for two years, a third for three years, and a fourth for four 
years. At each subsequent annual meeting said corporation shall 
nominate, etc., for a term of four years persons to fill vacancies of class 
whose term of office shall expire, etc., at said meetings, or fill vacancies 
in any class for unexpired terms. If said corporation fail to fill vacan- 
cies, then the trustees of Kentucky Baptist Education Society are 
empowered to fill vacancies by a two-thirds vote." The trustees were 
to report the condition of the college at the annual meetings of the 
society.* 

This act of 1851 changed fundamentally the governing machinery of 
the college, for instead of a close corporation of 24 trustees, a perma- 
nent and self-perpetuating body, there is substituted in its stead the 
Kentucky Baptist Education Society, which is now more than a mere 
corporate title, and which becomes an active and growing body of 



^ A few changes were made in this act by a subsequent act of January 10, 1863) bat 
these changes were repealed in a repealing act of January 19, 1866, thus leaving the 
act of 1851 intact and in force to-day as the constitution for the government of the 
college. 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 147 

friends of the college, who are entitled to membership in return for a 
gift of $100 or more to the endowment of Georgetown College. This 
body selects the trustees, who in turn select the president and faculty 
and manage the general business affairs of the institution. Conversely, 
also, the trustees are responsible to the Kentucky Baptist Education 
Society. It is expected that at least three-fourths of the trustees shall 
be active members of regular Baptist churches. Such a method of 
incorporation and organization as the foregoing is unique, and it has 
the advantage of attracting support to the college and of giving all 
who have contributed to its existence and maintenance a share in its 
direction. 

President Campbell entered upon the duties of his office in 1853, and 
the year and event were highly auspicious for the fortunes of the col- 
lege, for the new president proved to be one of the most energetic, 
tactful, and efficient executives Georgetown ever had. 

He saw at once the imperative need of an enlarged endowment fund 
and set himself without delay to the task. Of the ^^Giddings Fund," 
less than half of which had been collected, only $10,000 remained, the 
rest having been absorbed in the completion of the main college 
building and the enlargement of the campus. The result of President 
Campbell's laborious efforts was a subscription list of $100,000 for the 
endowment of the college. Of this amount one-half was collected and 
invested by the trustees. The rest, carried along for a number of years 
in the form of personal bonds and pledges,^ was swallowed up in the 
civil war, which carried down with it many a Southern institution and 
brought financial ruin to many a home. Misfortune thus rendered 
many donors unable to meet their obligations, and the college was 
obliged to cancel them. 

Notwithstanding these severe losses, however, Georgetown College 
was more fortunate in its investments than many of its contemporaries, 
and there is abundant evidence of the good management of its affairs 
in the fact that of the $50,000 of the Campbell fund which had been 
collected and invested, scarcely any portion of this amount was impaired 
by the war. This fund was the chief bulwark and support of the college 
during the trying period following the civil war. 

Dr. Campbell died suddenly in 1865, and was succeeded by the Eev. 
Nathaniel Macon Crawford, who resigned in 1871, owing to ill health, 
and who, in turn, was followed in September of that year by the Eev. 
Basil Manly, jr. D. D. Dr. Manly was a native of Alabama, a gradu- 
ate of the University of Alabama in 1843 and of Princeton Theologi- 
cal Seminary in 1847. He was called to the presidency of Georgetown 
from his chair in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary of Louis- 
ville, which he had occupied since the foundation of the latter institu- 

^ Many subscribers were permitted to retain the principal, provided they paid the 
annual interest on the amounts of their subscriptions. This proved an unfortunate 
arrangement for the college, as in many instances the financial failures of donors 
caused heavy losses of both interest and principal. 



148 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

tion. President Manly continued in the office of president until 1879, 
when he resigned to accept again his old professorship in the Southern 
Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville. The faculty numbered 
eight in the time of Dr. Manly.^ 

During these last two administrations no general efforts were made to 
increase the endowment of the college, owing to the danger of conflict 
with efforts that were being made to raise a fund of $300,000 for the 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville. After the civil 
war there was a marked falling off in the number of students in attend- 
ance at the college, and this decline was attributed by President Manly 
to several causes ; first, the impoverishment of many families by the war 
prevented them from giving their sons a collegiate edut^ation ; secondly, 
because of the narrowing of the field of the college, which had for- 
merly extended to the Gulf and beyond the Mississippi liiver in view 
of the appearance of new rivals in the field, like the new Baptist 
institution, Bethel College at Russellville, in Western Kentucky, and 
the efforts of many Southern States in restoring and extending the effi- 
ciency of their colleges and schools through public as well as private 
beneficence. 

One or two efforts to supply needs of the college are worthy of note. 
One of these was the attempt to endow a professorship to be known as 
the "Student's chair," and toward which some $8,000 was collected 
through the zeal of Prof J. J. Rucker, assisted by some of the alumni;^ 
and the other, the enlargement of the students dormitory, Pawling 
Hall, by the erection of a large wing forming a new front to the old 
building. This improvement was completed in 1879, It involved an 
expense of $7,000, the amount being raised by President Manly in 
cooperation with Mrs. James F. Robinson and Mrs. D. Thomas, of 
Georgetown. 

Rev. Richard M. Dudley, D. D., was the successor of Manly. Dr. 
Dudley was born in Madison County, Ky., September 1, 1838, and was 
descended from a line of Kentucky preachers. He graduated from 
Georgetown College in 1860. He then entered the Baptist ministry, 
and in 1880 was elected president of his alma mater, being the first 
alumnus to attain that distinction. He remained president until his 
death, January 5, 1893, a period of thirteen years, and bears the dis- 
tinction of having served a longer term than any other president of the 
college; but his fame rests upon a more substantial foundation than 
this. The college now entered upon a new era. The endowment fund ^ 



^ Basil Manly, jr. D. D., president and professor of English literature; Danford 
Thomas, A. M., Greek; J. E. Farnam, LL. D., physical science; J. J. Rucker, A.M., 
mathematics; J. N. Bradley, A. M., Latin; R. M. Dudley, D. D., history and modem 
languages (1872-76); Rev. H. McDonald, D. D., professor of systematic and pastoral 
theology [The Western Baptist Theological Institute Foundation]; L. V. Ware, 
A. M., principal of the academy. 

3 For a further account of this effort and its success, see page 151. 

3 An account of this fund, together with the purposes for which the different 
foundations were intended, will be found elsewhere. (See pp. 149-152.) 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 149 

was tripled, new professorships were created, new courses were added 
to the curriculum, the number of students increased, and coeducation 
was adopted. The new buildings recently erected were the results of 
efforts inaugurated by him. Indeed President Dudley's connection 
with the college was so long and so recent that the college is to-day 
largely as he left it, and in the description of its present resources and 
activities, which follows this historical sketch, many of the traces of 
his handiwork may be seen. After the death of President Dudley in 
January, 1893, the next choice of the trustees fell upon the Rev. 
Augustus Cleveland Davidson, D. D., of Covington, Ky., a graduate of 
the college in the class of 1871. After a six years' service, President 
Davidson resigned (August, 1898), and Prof. Arthur Yager was chosen 
chairman of the faculty during the interregnum. Up to the present 
time (April, 1899), so far as the writer knows, the trustees have not yet 
selected a president, and the college is therefore temporarily without a 
head. The college has now completed seventy years of its existence, 
and during that interval has had eleven presidents, whose average 
length of term is something over six years. 

ENDOWMENT. 

At the close of President Manly's administration (1879) the property 
of the college consisted of real estate, estimated at $75,000, and invested 
funds of about $80,000. 

During the term of Dr. Dudley, and through his untiring efforts, the 
endowment fund was largely increased until it amounted to $225,000. 
To this amount might also be added some $25,000 in notes and personal 
pledges, which remain as yet uncollected. Again, with the addition of 
some $65,000 or $70,000 which the college received during the adminis- 
tration of President Davidson, a portion of which represents the fulfill- 
ment of promises made to Dr. Dudley, the endowment fund now ap- 
proximates the sum of $300,000. 

The chief specific funds and bequests which were given to the college 
during the past twelve years, and which form a considerable part of 
the total endowment, together with the purposes for which they were 
designed, are as follows: 

First. The McCalla-Galloway fund, consisting of a bequest, in 1888, 
of $15,000 by Maj. F. C. McOalla, and of about $13,600 by W. B. 
Galloway, esq., both of Scott County, and uncle and nephew. By a 
combination of the two bequests the trustees established a special pro- 
fessorship, calling it the *' McCalla-Galloway professorship of natural 
sciences;" but in 1892 transferred this professorship to the chair of 
mathematics. 

Second. The Bostwick fund. This is a fund of $25,000 in railroad 
bonds, with annual interest at 5 per cent, given in January, 1889, by 
Mr. J. A. Bostwick, of New York. This fund is <* to be held by the col- 



150 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

lege in perpetuity and the income to be used for current expenses, or 
as the board of trustees may annually direct." It was an original con- 
dition of this gift that the college should raise $100,000 from other 
sources, but Mr. Bostwick made his contribution before this condition 
was entirely fulfilled. 

Third. The Macklin fund of $8,000, bequeathed by A. W. Macklin, of 
Franklin County, Ky. The interest is used to aid poor young men 
studying for the gospel ministry in obtaining a liberal education. 

Fourth. The Newton memorial. Miss Mary J. Newton, of Daviess 
County, Ky., who died in December, 1892, made provision in her will 
for several bequests of property to Georgetown College. While the 
matter still remains unsettled, it is probable that these bequests will 
realize a sum in the neighborhood of $15,000. A portion of this amount, 
$5,000, is designated as a memorial to her father. Col. William Newton, 
and the income of the fund is to be used for the library of the college. 

Fifth. The Pratt memorial. This memorial consists of an interest in 
an undivided property in Birmingham, Ala., of an estimated value of 
$5,000, which was conveyed to the trustees of the Kentucky Baptist 
Education Society by the late Eev. William M. Pratt, D. D., of Louis- 
ville, president of the board from 1886 to 1896. This property is to be 
sold and permanently invested, the principal to remain in perpetuity 
and the income only to be used for the benefit of the scientific apparatus 
of the college. 

Sixth. The Western Theological Institute fund. This fund was 
acquired by Georgetown College in the following way: The Western 
Baptist Theological Institute was founded and located in Covington, 
Ky., in 1840. According to a provision of the charter, the trustees 
were chosen about equally from Ohio and Kentucky, The new insti- 
tution was well under way by 1845, and enjoyed considerable pros- 
perity until 1852. About this time disagreements among the trustees 
over the slavery question wrecked its fortunes, and in 1855, the 
Northern and Southern elements being irreconcilable, the board of 
trustees decided to sell the property of the institute, amounting to 
about $200,000, and divide the proceeds equally between the two sets 
of claimants.^ The portion given to the South was transferred by the 
Kentucky trustees to Georgetown College and used at first for the 
maintenance of a professorship of theology in the college. 

In 1877 the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary moved to Louis- 
ville from Greenville, S. C, and shortly after the idea of maintaining 
a theological foundation at Georgetown was abandoned and the pro- 
ceeds of the fund were used for a number of years for the support of the 

^ Power was granted the trustees for this purpose in a special act of the Eentackj 
legislature, approved January 28, 1854. The act also further provided that a 
majority of the trustees residing south of the Ohio Kiver should have the right to 
change the location of the Western Baptist Theological Institute from Covington 
to Georgetown. 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 151 

president's chair. Though devoted to the exclusive use of Georgetown 
College, this fund was managed until June, 1891, by a separate board 
known as the trustees of the Western Theological Institute, a large pro- 
portion of whom were also trustees of the college. In that year the 
fund was formally transferred to the trustees of the Kentucky Baptist 
Educational Association and the former body ceased to exist. The 
fund received from the trustees of the Western Baptist Theological 
Institute, owing to a shrinkage in investments, now amounts to but 
$40,000. 

Seventh. The fund of the Students' Association of Georgetown Col- 
lege, which now amounts to about $22,000. In 1874 Prof. J. J. Eucker 
started a fund to endow a chair of history and political science and 
to be known as the students' chair. An association was formed and 
incorporated by the Commonwealth of Kentucky under the title of 
The Students' Association of Georgetown College. It was essentially 
an alumni organization, and the proviso was made that anyone could 
become a member by subscribing to the capital stock of the associa- 
tion, which was iixed at $20 per share. The alumni subscribed gener- 
ously until $15,000 in all were raised. This was accomplished by 
September 1, 1875. But the fund, being deemed insufficient for the 
purpose intended, was then allowed to accumulate at compound 
interest until it reached $22,000. In 1884 the trustees appointed 
Arthur Yager, Ph. D., a graduate of Georgetown College and of the 
Johns Hopkins University, professor of history and political science, 
and in 1885-86 the income of the fund of the students' association 
was used for the first time to pay tlie salary of the holder of the 
students' chair. This endowment fund is still managed separately by 
the students' association, which holds annual meetings during com- 
mencement week of each year. 

Eighth. The college reading-room fund. President Dudley and bis 
wife, before the death of the former, contributed $2,000 as a foundation 
for a reading room. The interest of this fund is expended for the 
maintenance of a file of current American and European periodicals. 

Ninth. The Galloway scholarships, a gift of $4,400 (1888) in the will 
of William B. Galloway, of Scott County, Ky., a trustee of the college 
and one of the founders of the McCalla-Galloway professorship. This 
fund is used for the education of indigent students from Scott County, 
and out of the income five annual scholarships are provided. In case 
the number of applications for these scholarships exceeds five they are 
awarded as the result of competitive examinations to the five highest 
candidates. 

Tenth. The Maria Atherton-Farnam chair of natural science. This 
foundation dates from 1893 and is due to the liberality of Mr. John M. 
Atherton, of Louisville, Ky., a wealthy and liberal alumnus of the col- 
lege. The amount of Mr. Atherton's gift was $30,000, and it is a joint 
memorial created by him in memory of his wife and his father-in-law, the 



152 HICTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

late Prof. J. E. Farnam, LL. D., who occupied this chair from 1839 to 
1887. His successor and the present holder of the chair is Prof. John 
Foster Eastwood, Ph. D., a graduate of the University of Michigan. 

Eleventh. The Dudley memorial fund, amounting to S<25,()00 ($5,000 
of this amount being given also by Mr. John M. Athcrton). This fund, 
the raising of which is now being compk^ted, is a tribute from friends 
and alumni of the college to the memory of the late President liichard 
M. Dudley. The fund will serve as a partial endowment, at least, of 
the president's chair. 

Besides the above-mentioned bequests, various other gifts of small 
sums have been made from time to time to the general endowment fund 
of the college. The proceeds are securely invested in the following 
securities: $100,000 in mortgage loans (yielding 7 per cent interest), 
$25,000 in railroad bonds, and the balance, for the most part, in bank 
stocks. These funds are exempted from all taxes in accordance with 
the provisions of the general statutes of the Commonwealth of Ken- 
tucky. 

BUILDINGS, aROUNDS, AND EQUIPMENT. 

The campus is situated on high ground in the south end of the town, 
and covers about 15 acres. Upon it are located the principal college 
buildings. 

In the center of the group and fronting toward the north stands the 
main building, the first to be erected in the time of President Giddings 
(1839). It is a large structure built of brick, and the architectural effect 
is plain and heavy, the front being ornamented with six massive brick 
pillars surmounted by Ionic capitals, a type of architecture so frequently 
met with in the public buildings and private residences of the South. 

This building until a few years ago contained the chapel, the library, 
and 5 class rooms, in which all of the college recitations were held* 
Since the erection of the new chapel and library building it has been 
devoted entirely to recitation purposes, and is now called liecitation 
Hall. 

On the east end of the campus, and next in point of seniority, is 
Pawling Hall. This is one of the men's dormitories and has accommo- 
dations for 60 students. It is a T-shaped building, the rear or older 
portion having been built some thirty-five years ago, while the front or 
newer part was constructed in 1879 at a cost of $7,000. This improve- 
ment more than doubled the capacity of the old hall and made it archi- 
tecturally much more attractive than formerly. The seminary building, 
within 200 yards of the campus and surrounded by 5 acres of recreation 
grounds, is also now used as a dormitory for men, and has a capacity 
of 75. The occupants of both halls are organized in clubs, with officers 
and a matron in each, who supervise the management of the halls. In 
this way prudence and economy are studied, as is seen in the statement 
that the average expense per student, including room rent, is not more 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 153 

than $9 per month. This is an exceedingly small outlay for the value 
received. Each student is expected to furnish his own room, and at 
the end of his college course is at liberty to dispose of his effects to the 
next occupant upon terms that are mutually agreeable. 

The dormitory for the women is known as Rucker Hall, named by the 
trustees in honor of Prof. J. J. Eucker, LL. D., who for so many years 
presided over the Georgetown Female Seminary and successfully advo- 
cated the adoption of coeducation by the trustees of the college. This 
building was erected in 1895 at a cost of $30,000. It is commodious, 
having accommodations for 100 students, and is thoroughly modern in 
its appointments and comforts. 

Unlike the men's dormitories, the rooms in Eucker Hall are all fur- 
nished and the rates are somewhat higher, the board and room rent 
being $160 per year. All young women in attendance upon the college 
and having homes away from Georgetown are expected to live at Eucker 
Hall. The hall is under the care of a matron and assistant. 

The handsomest and most modern hall on the campus is the New 
College Building, erected in 1893, at a cost of $35,000, on a site close to 
and just east of Eecitation Hall. It is constructed of brick, with stone 
base and trimmings, is nicely finished in its interior, with all modern 
conveniences, is well arranged for the purposes intended, and from the 
standpoint of architecture and utility is the gem of the campus. In 
this building are the chapel, library and Dudley reading room, gymna- 
sium, museum, and the two men's literary societies, all of which have 
commodious and well-arranged quarters. The chapel has a seating 
capacity of 500 persons. 

The library now numbers some 12,000 volumes. A large portion of 
this collection is made up of gifts of Baptist ministers and other friends 
of the college from time to time, and the library is well provided with 
treatises on theology. There is a file of the Baptist Chronicle and also 
partial files of several old Kentucky denominational and secular news- 
papers. For a long time there was no fund for the maintenance of the 
library, and in consequence it was entirely dependent for its growth on 
the benevolence of friends of the college. Quite recently this deficiency 
has been partially supplied, and the income of the Newton and Dudley 
funds, which is about $500 annually, is now used in the purchase of 
additions for the library and for the maintenance of a file of American 
and European periodicals in the E. M. Dudley reading room, which is 
a part of the library. The post of librarian is filled at present by the 
professor of history and political science. Dr. Arthur Yager, who also 
has an assistant librarian to aid him in the discharge of the clerical 
duties of the office. 

The museum contains nearly 7,000 specimens, representing the differ- 
ent fields of mineralogy, geology, anthropology, and natural history, all 
of which have been contributed at various times by generous friends. 

The college is also equipped in its laboratories with scientific appa- 
ratus valued at $2,000, 



154 HISTORY OP IIIGIIER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The gymnasium, which occupies a ]>art of this building, has an area 
of 50 by 70 feet and a height of 20. The equipment is excellent. 
Twelve feet from the tioor is a gallery and running track, and in the 
basement there are a swiniining pool, baths, and 124 lockers. Begolar 
exercise in the gymnasium is now required of all students. Within a 
few hundred yards of the gymnasium is the new athletic field and 
quarter-mile rimning track. 

In the addition to the above buildings should be mentioned also the 
Academy Building, standing about 150 feet to the west of Eecitation 
Hall, a small, severely ])lain brick building, in which is housed the 
preparatory department. This was the successor of the old Eittenhonse 
Academy Building, and was erected shortly after the building of Beci- 
tation Hall. 

Opposite the south side of the campus is another lot of 5 acres 
belonging to tlie college, find upon which the trustees erected in 1890 
a home for the president. This house is large, modern in type^ and is 
built of brick. It cost $7,000, and was lirst occupied by the late Dr. 
E. M. Dudley. 

COEDUCATION. 

The history of coeducation at Georgetown College is closely con- 
nected with that of the Georgetown Female Seminary. As early as 
1846 Professor Farnum, who came to Georgetown College with Presi- 
dent Giddings in 1839, on grounds hard by the college campus^ estab- 
lished a seminary for young ladies. This institution was conducted 
successfully by him until 1865, when fire destroyed the seminary build- 
ing. The school was abandoned for a time, but in 1869 was reorgan- 
ized, this time under the control of the governing body of the college — 
the trustees of the Kentucky Baptist Education Society. Prof. J. J. 
Eucker, of the chair of mathematics and physics in the college, became 
the principal of the seminary. A new building was erected, and for 
this and the 5 acres of recreation grounds surrounding the seminary 
the principal paid to the college an annual rental of $600. 

On June 10, 1885, the trustees of the college passed a resolution pro- 
viding for the admission of young ladies from the seminary to classes 
in the college, and providing further that the college work thus accom- 
plished by them should be fully recognized in the degrees conferred 
upon them in the seminary by authority of the board. The board was 
carefully feeling its way, testing public opinion, and had no reason to 
be discouraged at the results of its experiment. Professor Eucker 
himself was an ardent champion of coeducation in the college, and fire- 
quently urged the trend of modern higher education in that direction. 
There was but one more step needed. This was taken April 12, 1802, 
when the board appointed a committee to consider the question of 
making "a new adjustment of the existing relations of the college and 
seminary." President Dudley was the chairman of this committee^ 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 155 

and on June 7 following presented its report. The report was as 
follows : 

Your committee would recommend that in government and instruction Georgetown 
Female Seminary be turned over to the faculty of Georgetown College, and that so 
far as they may be prepared for the college classes, the young ladles shall be admitted 
to these classes and be taught by the college professors. 

We would recommend that upon all the yqung ladies who may complete a course 
of study leading up to any one of the degrees which the college confers, such degree 
shall be conferred, whether it be B. S., B. A., or M. A. Further, that to any young 
lady who may complete the studies a certificate of proficiency shall be given. 

We would recommend that the boarding department of the Female Seminary, 
together with the departments of art and music, be left in the hands of Prof. J. J. 
Rucker for another year, and subject entirely to his control. 

We would recommend that, not later than the Ist day of May, 1893, the president 
of the college, after consultation with the faculty, shall make a report to a called 
meeting of the trustees of the Kentucky Baptist Education Society of the practical 
working of this new plan of conducting the institutions jointly, and, if so recom- 
mended by the faculty of Georgetown College, the formal consolidation of the two 
institutions shall be promulged in the college catalogue of 1892-93, and the names 
of the young men and young ladies shall appear together as students of Georgetown 
College. If at the end of the session of 1892-93 it is desired to make a new arrange- 
ment for the music, art, and boarding departments of the seminary, there will be 
ample time for so doing. 

Coeducation in the college was now an accomplished fact, for the 
experiment met with unqualified success, and such was the report of 
the president before a special meeting of the board of trustees held 
February 13, 1893. In the college catalogue of 1892-93 the names of the 
men and women appear together for the first time and on an equal foot- 
ing in all respects. In the course of a year the departments of music 
and art were likewise absorbed by the college, and with the building of 
the new women's dormitory, Eucker Hall, in 1894, and the conversion of 
the seminary building into a dormitory for men, as described elsewhere, 
the work of consolidation was complete. 

OOUESES OF INSTRUCTION. 

The curriculum is now arranged upon the group system. There are 
three courses leading to the degree of bachelor of arts, as follows: The 
classical course, the modern language course, and the English historical 
course. Besides these there are two other courses leading to the degree 
of bachelor of science — the mathematical scientific course and the 
English scientific course; and two courses leading to the. degree of 
bachelor of letters — the belles-lettres musical course and the belles- 
lettres course. Of these seven courses, all except the last require four 
years' work; the last but three years. 

The last two courses are not so severe as the first five and are pro- 
vided for those who desire to devote their attention to musical studies, 
the modern languages, and a few other branches in the field of general 
culture. 



156 



HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 



The degree of master of arts is conferred upon those who complete 
one year's work of four recitations daily in addition to the full require- 
ments of any of the A. B. courses. 

The scheme of courses and degrees now offered at Georgetown Col- 
lege (1898) is as follows : 





Synopsis of courses and degrees. 






Courses. 


First year. 


Second year. 


Third year. 


Fourth year. 


Degree. 


Classical coarse. . 


Junior English, 
junior Latin, 
junior Greek, 
junior mathe- 
matics. 


Senior Latin, 
senior Greek, 
intermediate 
mathematics. 


Senior English, 
chemistry and 
biology, his- 
tory, physiol- 
ogy i. 


Psychology, etc., 
ethics and logic, 
physics, politi- 
cal science, 
Bible and evi- 
dences of Chris- 
tianity. 


A.B. 


Modern language 
coarse. 


Junior English, 
junior Latin, 
junior mathe- 
matics, junior 
French. 


Senior Latin, 
intermediate 
mathematics, 
senior French, 
physiology i. 


Senior English, 
chemistry and 
biology, his- 
tory, junior 
German. 


Psychology, etc., 
politicalscience, 
Bible and evi- 
dences of Chris- 
tianity, senior 
German, phys- 
ics ^. 


A.B. 


English, histor- 
ical coarse. 


Junior Latin, 
junior English, 
mathematics. 


Intermediate 
English, sen- 
ior Latin, in- 
termediate 
mathematics, 
history. 


Senior English, 
senior mathe- 
matics, politi- 
cal science, 
(Jhemistry J, 
physics i. 


Literary criti- 
cism, American 
history, psy- 
chology, ethics, 
etc., Bible and 
evidences of 
Christianity. 


A.B. 


Mathematical, 
scientific 
coarse. 


Junior English, 
junior mathe- 
matics, French 
or German, 
chemistry and 
biology. 


Intermediate 
English, in- 
termediate 
mathematics, 
French or Ger- 
man, chem- 
istry and biol- 

oygy. 


Senior English, 
senior mathe- 
matics, history, 
geology and 
physiology. 


Psychology, etc., 
politicalscience, 
physics and 
mechanics. 


B.S. 


English, scien- 
tific coarse. 


Junior English, 
junior mathe- 
matics, chem- 
istry and biol- 
ogy. 


Intermediate 
English, in- 
termediate 
mathematics, 
history, chem- 
istry and biol- 
ogy. 


Senior English, 
political science, 
physics and 
mechanics , 
geology and 
physiology. 


Literary criti- 
cism, American 
history, psy- 
chology, ethics, 
etc., Bible and 
evidences of 
Christianity. 


B.S. 


Belles lettres, 
musical coarse. 


Junior English, 
junior French 
or German, 
music. 


Junior mathe- 
matics, senior 
French or Ger- 
man, music. 


Senior English, 
chemistry and 
biology, music. 


History, political 
science, music. 


B.L. 


Belles lettres 


Junior English, 
junior mathe- 
matics, junior 
French or Ger- 
man. 


Intermediate 
English, in- 
termediate 
mathematics, 
history, sen- 
ior French or 
German. 


Senior English, 
political science, 
psychology, 
ethics, etc., 
physiology and 
geology. 




B.L. 


coarse. 






One year of work additional to anv of the A. B. conra 


es 






*i 









The present curriculum, given above, has only been in force daring 
the past three years. Prior to that time there were simply two general 
courses J one a classical course, leading to the degree of A. B.j the 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 157 

otlier a scientific course aud inferior to the first, which led to the 
degree of B. S. Each of these courses required four years of study. 
As indicating the scope of these courses, we find in an early catalogue 
the following statement:^ 

Any one passing satisfactory examinations in English, physical science, mathe- 
matics, history and political economy, and mental and moral philosophy is entitled 
to the degree of bachelor of sciences. One who, in addition to these, has accom- 
plished the Latin aud Greek courses (first, second, and third years), is entitled to 
the degree of bachelor of arts. * * * The student who, in addition to courses 
required for the A. B. degree, will accomplish the French and German languages, 
shall receive the degree of master of arts. 

Students aspiring to the A. M. degree were advised to take two 
additional years, making six in all. 

It was furtlier provided also that anyone who wished might elect 
such courses as he desired without reference to the completion of a 
course leading to a degree, and upon finishing the ftill course in any 
department would receive a certificate of ^^proficiency" in that depart- 
ment. This feature of the college work, together with the grouping of 
the studies by departments with a prescribed course in each depart- 
ment, dates from the beginning of President Manly's administration. 
Dr. Manly was a firm believer in the elective or free system, and sought 
to open the curriculum to those who could not contemplate a full 
college course. 

Among the recent improvements in the curriculum we note the rais- 
ing of the requirements for the degree of B. S., making them equivalent 
to those of the A. B. course. 

The recent expansion of the courses of study and the enlargement 
of the faculty account for the increased facilities of the college and the 
greater variety of options now afforded the student. The establish- 
ment of a department of history and political science in 1885 and a 
department of English language and literature in 1897 have greatly 
enriched the curriculum. Besides, there should be mentioned also the 
addition of a year's study in the Bible and Christian evidences to the 
president's chair. Excellent courses in French and German are now 
given, covering two years, of four hours per week, in each language. 
The trustees have as yet not created a modern-language department, 
and we find the rather unique combination of German with the chair of 
Greek and of French with the Latin chair. 

Besides the regular courses leading to the above-mentioned degrees, 
there are other departments of study which have recently been estab- 
lished in the college and have enlarged the elective opportunities of the 
student, viz : 

The School of Music, established in 1894, which is now in charge of a 
director and faculty of six, and in 1897-98 had an enrollment of 70 
students. 

^Catalogue of Georgetown College, 1889-90, page 21. 



158 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The Department of Military Science and Tactics, which was created 
in 1894 and is under the direction of Capt. P. M. B. Travis, of the 
Eleventh United States Infautry. Military drill is required three times 
a week of all students, except of seniors and others who have special 
and suflScient reasons for exemption. All students enrolled for military 
drill are required to wear a regulation cadet-gray uniform. 

The Normal Department, under the direction of a principal and an 
assistant. This department was created in the winter of 1895. Its 
object is to provide a course for those who desire to fit themselves for 
positions in the public schools of Kentucky, and also for those teachers 
who desire to perfect themselves in matters and methods of study. 
The normal course begins on January 24, and continues for sixteen 
weeks, with six working days each week. The studies include those 
that are required by law for county and State certificates, while some 
attention is given to pedagogy and laboratory work in the physical 
sciences. Tuition is free, save the matriculation fee of $5, and col- 
lege classes and the other activities of college life are freely opened to 
this class of students. Success has attended the introduction of this 
department. The first session (January, 1895) opened with a class of 
twenty two teachers. The number in 181)8 was fourteen. 

There is also an art department and a department of public speak- 
ing and reading, each in charge of one instructor, and the work in each 
is elective and the charges extra. 

There is also a practical business course, covering one year's work, 
and including studies in business arithmetic, commercial law, book- 
keeping, and stenography. 

THE ACADEMY. 

The academy is as old as the college and is the preparatory depart- 
ment of the latter. In fact, it is a part of the college, under the man- 
agement of the same trustees and the same faculty. It is a large and 
direct feeder, and a considerable portion of the college students have 
had a part, if not all, of their preparatory training here. The academy 
faculty includes a principal, an associate principal, and three assistants. 

The curriculum is divided into five grades, covering in all hye years, 
beginning in the first grade with arithmetic, mental and practical; 
elementary grammar, geography, history, reading, spelling, and pen- 
manship, and concluding in the fifth grade with the the following 
studies: Higher arithmetic and algebra, grammar and rhetoric, Latin 
(second year), Greek (second year), and physical geography. After 
this the academy graduates are ready for admission to college. 

AFFILIATED SCHOOLS. 

In 1896 the trustees of the Kentucky Baptist Education Society 
acquired Middleburg Academy, Middleburg, Casey County, Ky., and 
have since adjusted the course of study so as to fit students tfxt 
Georgetown College. 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 159 

Bardstown Male and Female Institute, of Bardstown, Ky., has 
within the past year also been recognized as an aflSliated school, and, 
as in the case of the students from the two academies previously men- 
tioned, its graduates are admitted to the college without examination. 

ADMISSIONS. 

The requirements for admission to the college are not severe, and in 
this particular there is room for improvement. However, it is but fair 
to say that this is typical of educational conditions in the South, where 
there is great need of building up the work of secondary education and 
a sharper and better differentiation as well as coordination of work 
between the fitting school and the college. 

In the last catalogue we find nothing on the subject of "admission 
to college," though in an earlier issue we do find these statements: 
"Candidates for admission to the junior Latin or Greek (freshman work 
in the classical course) must sustain an examination in the preparatory 
department. * * * For admission to any class in the college a fair 
acquaintance with the English grammar, geography, and arithmetic is 
required.'^ * * * 

EXCERPTS FROM THE COLLEGE LAWS. 

Attendance at the college chapel every morning at 9 o'clock is com- 
pulsory; likewise attendance upon the Sunday services of some one of 
the churches is required, and one of the formalities at the Monday 
chapel is the calling of the roll to determine whether or not this 
requirement has been met. 

Students mast obtain the approbation of the faculty in the choice of a boarding 
house. 

No student will be permitted to be absent from his rooms after 7 o'clock at night, 
without leave, except to attend church or the voluntary societies connected with 
the college. 

No student shall attend any exhibition of an immoral tendency or frequent any 
barroom or tippling house. 

No student will be permitted to enter upon the grounds or premises of other per- 
sons so as to molest or injure property, or to associate with idle or vicious company, 
or to engage in a frolic of a noisy, disorderly, or immoral nature. 

No student shall carry about him deadly weapons, or take any part in a duel, on 
pain of immediate expulsion. 

Parents and guardians who live at a distance are requested to appoint someone 
to act as fiscal guardian of their children and wards at the college. 

Ministerial students are instructed without charge for tuition. 

No young minister should think of leaving home for college until he has received 
a fair common-school education [a piece of excellent advice too often unheeded]. 

Such a student will not be retained any longer than he evinces true piety and 
encouraging improvement in his studies, «and, as tuition is gratis, a note of obliga- 
tion to refund, with interest, the amount of tuition received shall be taken each 
session, which shall be in force only when the deportment shall disappoint or where 
the ministry shall be abandoned or made subordinate to some secular pursuit. 

For Sunday and all public occasions the young ladies are required to wear uni- 
forms of substantial inexpensive material, suitable to the seasons, but for school 
purposes they are requested to wear simple clothing. 



IGO HISTOUY OF HKiHER EDrCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The object of this requirement is to prevent annecessary ostentation 
and display on the part of some who might be blessed with more abun- 
dant means than others of their classmates and perhaps with an admix- 
ture of bad taste. Such a bad ethical example would ott'end the dic- 
tates of common sense. No such requirement, however, is exacted of 
the men. 

THE I.ITEEARV SOCIETIES. 

In accordance with the traditions of the South, and of Kentucky in 
particular, a great deal of attention is i)aid by the students to the art 
of public speaking and debate. The college is proud of her three 
societies, the Tau Theta Kappa, the Ciceronian, and the Euepian, the 
first two for the men, the last for the women of the college. 

The Tau Theta Kappa and the Ciceronian are rival societies and 
each has a large and well-furnished hall in the new college building. 
Both were organized about the same time, in 1839, in rooms of the old 
Rittenhouse Academy building. In the newer academy building, 
erected in its place, quarters were provided for each of these societies, 
and here they remained until 1894, when they moved into the new college 
building. They have meetings once a week, and the programme, which 
is practically the same as that adhered to from the foundation of these 
societies, is as follows: Oration, declamation, debate, reading, criticism, 
and oracle. The societies are incorporated, and during the commence- 
ment season confer diplomas upon their graduating members. They 
own a small amount of personal property, the most important part of 
which is the library and the banner of the society. Each of them has 
a well-selected library of about 4,000 volumes, and these collections 
serve as important adjuncts to the college library, and in some respects 
are superior to the latter. These societies have now a membership of 
80. Each holds occasionally public exercises and once a year a public 
declamatory contest and in addition contributes three contestants to 
the primary oratorical contest in the spring, from whom (six in all) an 
orator is chosen to represent the college in the intercollegiate contest 
held in Lexington, Ky. 

The Euepian Society is similar in many particulars to the men's 
societies. It was organized in January, 1871, in the old Georgetown 
Female Seminary, its object being cultivation by debates, essays, reci- 
tations, selections, criticisms, etc., and a good deal of attention is Jiow 
given to literary studies of well-known authors. Meetings were held 
regularly in the chapel of the old seminary building until 1896, when 
the society moved into the quarters provided for it in the new Backer 
Hall. The society was incorporated June 11, 1895, under the laws of 
Kentucky and a charter granted, and since that time has, like the men's 
societies, conferred diplomas upon its graduates during commencement 
time. Their library now numbers about 350 volumes. 

These societies are on friendly terms with one another. Between the 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 161 

men's societies, however, there is always considerable rivalry for 
prestige. At the opening of the academic year there is active '^cam- 
paigning" for recruits among the new students by both societies and 
at times the contest waxes warm. This over, the best of relations 
usually prevail. There are no fraternities or secret societies at 
Georgetown. 

THE INTERCOLLEGIATE ORATORICAL ASSOCIATION OF KENTUCKY. 

The greatest event of the academic year, from the point of view of 
the student, is the intercollegiate oratorical contest. The association 
was organized in 1888 and now embraces five Kentucky colleges, as fol- 
lows : Georgetown, Centre College, State College, Kentucky University, 
and Central University. Each college sends one representative to this 
contest, which occurs on the first Friday in April. Lexington is the 
meeting ground, though the plan was formerly to alternate between 
the different institutions. The greatest enthusiasm is exhibited at 
these contests, comparing favorably with the display of enthusiasm 
shown over great athletic victories in many an Eastern college, and the 
winning orator is awarded a handsome medal, which is a source of 
lifelong pride. 

There have been eleven of these contests in all, Georgetown having 
won three ^ of them and holding second place, next to Centre College, 
the winner of four. 

There are other activities at Georgetown College, for the promotion 
of which there are various organizations. It will sufl&ce, perhaps, to 
mention the college Young Men's Christian Association, which, in addi- 
tion to the regular religious exercises in the college, also conducts a city 
mission work, and the athletic association, for the general direction of 
the various athletic sports and games, and which every student is 
expected to join, otherwise he is excluded from the privilege of engaging 
in athletics. 

COLLEGE PUBLICATIONS. 

The first college catalogue was published in 1846, and every year 
since then a catalogue has been issued with the exception of the first 
two years of the war — 1861-62 and 1862-63. At intervals of five years 
the college issues also a general catalogue containing complete lists of 
the trustees, professors, and graduates of Georgetown College. There 
are no annually published president's or trustees' reports or statements. 

In 1850 the Ciceronian Literary Society began the issue of the first 
student publication, called the Ciceronian Magazine, a monthly of 40 
pages, and the first of its kind in the West. This publication was 
continued for six years, when it was stopped for lack of support. In 



'The winners of these contests are as foUows: In the contest of 1891, J. Macklin 
Stevenson, '92; in the contest of 1895, James Madison Shelburne, '97; in the contest 
of 1897, Will P. Stuart, '97. 

2127— No. 25 11 



162 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

March, 1857, the Georgetown College Ma<»aziiie appeared as a suc- 
cessor, with the joint support of the two societies. 

After a few years it was abandoned, but revived again in 1886, 
continued for two years longer, and was then finally discontinued. 
Eecently, however (January, 1896), a new college journal has appeared 
under the title of the George tonian. This publication is conducted by 
the three literary societies in c()0{)ertition with the faculty, and is still in 
existence. In 1<S98 appeared the first colh^ge annual, Belle of the Blue, 
the joint product of the three literary societies and of the Y. M. C A. 

OFFICERS OF THE COLLEGE. 

Georgetown College has had since its foundation 11 presidents and 
90 professors and tutors on its rolls. Some of the latter gave the 
greater parts of their lives to faithful work in this institution, notably 
Professor Farnani, who served the college in the chair of natural 
science from 1839 to 1887; Prof. Danford Thomas, who occupied the 
chair of Greek and Latin from 1838 to 1882, and Prof. J. J. Bucker, 
who, as professor of mathematics and astronomy, began his career in 
Georgetown College in 1855, served as principal of the seminary ^m 
1869 until 1892, and is still in active service, his chair at present being 
mathematics and physics. 

The roster of the present faculty (June, 1898), together with their 
departments, is as follows: 

Augustus Cleveland Davidson, I). D., president^ (R. M. Dudley 
memorial chair), professor of psychology, ethics, logic, and Christian 
evidences 5 James Jefferson Eucker, LL. D. (the McCalla-Galloway 
professorship), professor of mathematics and physics; Arthur Yager, 
Ph. D.^ (the students' chair), professor of history and political science; 
John Foster Eastwood, Ph. D. (the Maria Atherton-Farnam chair of 
natural science), professor of chemistry and biology; Joseph Edward 
Harry, Ph. D., professor of Greek and German; John Calvin Metcalf, 
A. M., professor of English language and literature; David Edgar 
Fogle, A. M., professor of Latin and French; Capt. P. M. B. Travis, 
(West Point), (Eleventh United States Infantry), military science and 
tactics. 

Music department: Charles Edward Hills, director; Miss Elise 
Dorst, voice and physical culture; Miss Corneille Overstreet, piano 
and theory; Miss Willanna Smith, violin; Miss Jennie Garnett, piano; 
Miss Birdie Ewing, piano and organ. 

The academy: Stonewall Jackson Pulliam, A. M., principal; Miss 
Eowena Athelia Pollard, associate principal; Miss Eugenia Pulliam, 
assistant; Miss Margaret Hackley, assistant; Miss Sallie Ann Tarle- 
ton, assistant. 

Normal department: Alvus Lemuel Ehoton, principal; W. Marion 
Smith, assistant. 



Kesigued August, 1898. ^ At preseut acting as chairmau of the faculty. 



GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 163 

Art department: Miss Kate Wilson. 

Public speaking and reading: Miss Mary S. Hamilton. 

Officers: The president, superintendent of college property; Arthur 
Yager, librarian and secretary of faculty; James Kirtley Nunnelley, 
assistant librarian; J. E. Harry, director of gymnasium; Rev. W. B. 
Crampton, general agent. 

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 

The board of trustees consists of twenty-four members. Each mem- 
ber is elected for a term of four years, and one-fourth of the entire 
number retire at the end of each year and are eligible to reelection. 
The officers of the board are a president, a recording secretary, and 
a treasurer. Beside these, there are two important committees: (1) 
the executive committee of eight, made up of the three officers of 
the board, the president of the college, and four other trustees (the 
chairman of this committee is the president of the board, ex officio), 
and (2) the board of ministerial education, a committee of four under 
the chairmanship of the president of the college. 

During its entire history the college has been served by 108 diiier- 
ent trustees,^ and the board has had 8 presidents. The presidents of 
the board, with their terms of office, are as follows: (1) Silas M. Noel, 
Frankfort, Ky., 1829 to (unknown) ;2 Elder Thomas P.Dudley, Lexing- 
ton, Ky. (unknown) to 1838; (3) Eoger Quarles, esq.,^ 1838 to 1856; (4) 
R. M. Ewing, M. D.,^ 1856 to 1864; (5) Governor James F. Robinson, 
Georgetown, Ky., 1864 to 1881; (6) D. A. Chenault, esq., Richmond, 
Ky., 1881 to 1886; (7) William M. Pratt, D. D., Louisville, Ky., 1886 to 
1896; (8) John A. Lewis, M. D., Georgetown, Ky., 1896 to . 

Judge George V. Payne, A. B., of Georgetown, has faithfully and 
efficiently served as treasurer of the college since 1873, and is the 
present holder of that office. Upon him falls a large share of the 
responsibility for the investment and care of the college funds, and in 
turn he merits a considerable share of the credit for the success with 
which these trusts have been administered during the past twenty-six 
years. 

GRADUATES. 

The graduates of the college now number 537. Among these names 
we find all walks of life represented, and many who have distinguished 
themselves in the pulpit, press, and the bar, and have become eminent 
in the public service of the country. In the legislature, in Congress, 
in the judiciary, and in the diplomatic service are found alumni of 
Georgetown. The number of students enrolled during the history of 
the college is much larger than is indicated by the number of gradu- 



■ A list of the trustees will be found in the last (fourth) general catalogue of 
Georgetown College (1895), pp. 55-57. 
^ Records lost or incomplete. 



164 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

ates, as a large number left college before the senior year, but there is 
no means of knowing the exact number, as a considerable portion of 
the early records were accidentally destroyed by Are. 

The catalogue of 1897-98 shows a total enrollment of 357 students in 
college, academy, and normal department. Of these, 179 are in college, 
14 in the normal course, and the rest in the academy. Of the total 
number 225 are men and 132 are women. 

Kentucky is represented by 320 students, the remaining 37 being 
drawn from 14 other States. 

The academic year is divided into two terms. The first term begins 
on the first Tuesday in September, the second term on the fourth Tues- 
day in January, and closes with commencement day on the second 
Wednesday in June. 

COMMENCEMENT. 

The chief events of commencement week are the baccalaureate ser- 
mon by the president, in the college chapel, on the Sunday (at 10 a. m.) 
preceding the second Wednesday in June. This is followed in the 
evening by the sermon before the Young Men's Christian Association, 
usually preached by some distinguished alumnus. 

On Monday evening occurs the annual address before the literary 
societies. The address of 1898 was given by President B. L. Whitman, 
D. I)., of Columbian University, Washington, D. C. 

On Tuesday afternoon the board of trustees meets, and at a later 
hour the Woman's Association of Georgetown College (organized in 
1897). At 5 p. m., the same afternoon, the Kentucky Baptist Educa- 
tion Society meets for the election of trustees and other business. At 
night an address is delivered before the students' association. 

On Wednesday, commencement day, college degrees and honors are 
awarded at the morning exercises ; in the afternoon the literary societies 
confer diplomas upon their respective graduating members, and at 
night occurs the president's levee, with which the exercises of com- 
mencement week are always concluded. 

At Georgetown there is no class day, which forms so marked a fea- 
ture of the commencement festivities in many of our American colleges. 

THE OUTLOOK. 

The immediate outlook for Georgetown College is highly encourag- 
ing. In its past achievements and in the character of its graduates is 
found inspiration for the future. The increase in the attendance of 
students, the expansion of the courses of study, the recent growth in 
the endowment, the new buildings and enlarged faculty, and better 
facilities generally, all these are signs of progress. The college has 
more than held its own in comparison with the efforts of its contempo- 
raries and rivals. Kentucky is well endowed with institutions of learn- 
ing. Only 12 miles from Georgetown, at Lexington, are two vigorous 



. GEORGETOWN COLLEGE. 165 

competitors, Kentucky University and the State College, and within a 
range of 40 miles are two strong rivals in Centre College, at Danville, 
and Central University, at Richmond. Each of these, to be sure, has 
in a limited degree its peculiar constituency, and yet they are all 
laborers in the same field. 

Georgetown has many needs and is doing what it can to supply 
them. A general agent of the college, the Rev. W. B. Crumptoii, is 
kept constantly in the field, and his work is twofold : First, presenting 
the claims of the college to prospective students; and, second, securing 
financial aid for the work. The agent is also at present cooperating 
with another organization of the college, formed only two years ago, 
the Woman's Association of Georgetown College, in the effort to raise 
a fund of $50,000 from the women of Kentucky to create the woman's 
endowment. The object of this fund is " to help poor girls in securing 
an education." 

In conclusion, it would be only fitting to record the sentiment of the 
trustees expressive of the confident faith of these officers in their trust: 

To Him to whom it was consecrated by our fathers in the beginning, and whose 
blessing has ever attended it, we commend it for the future. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

J. H. Spencer, History of Kentucky Baptists. 2 volumes, 1885. See especially 
Vol. 1,599-761; 11,41. 

The Baptist Chronicle, 1830, passim. 

Collins's History of Kentucky, 2 volumes, 1874, II, 698. 

Basil Manly, jr., The Past and Future of Georgetowu College, a comrnencenient 
address delivered at the fiftieth anniversary of the college, .June 21, 1879, by tbe 
president. (Privately printed.) 

H. Marshall, History of Kentucky, 2 volumes, 1824. 

William B. Allen, History of Kentucky, 1872. 



Chapter V. 

OTHER MALE AND COEDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 



KENTUCKY MILITARY INSTITUTE, LYNDON. 

The foundation and a large part of the subsequent success of Ken- 
tucky Military Institute are due to Col. R. T. P. Allen, who graduated 
with honor at West Point in 1834, and served with credit in the Regu- 
lar Army of the United States until the end of the campaign of 1830-37 
against the Seminole Indians, when he retired to private life. In 1838, 
he became professor of mathematics and civil engineering in Alleghany 
College, Meadville, Pa., which position he resigned, in 1841, to accept a 
similar chair in Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ky., then under 
the presidency of Dr. Bascom, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of 
which Colonel Allen had, by that time, become a regular clergyman. 

While holding his chair in the university at Lexington Colonel Allen 
conceived the idea of founding a high-grade school, in which military 
training should be a prominent feature. Accordingly, having resigned 
his professorship, he in 1845, with the cooperation of citizens of the 
community, established the Kentucky Military Institute, which was 
located at Farmdale, 6 miles from Frankfort, Ky., on the site of old 
Franklin Springs, a noted health resort since the early history of the 
State. 

The school was opened in the fall of 1845, and 30 cadets were in 
attendance during its first session. During the second session the 
matriculation increased to 40, and in the course of this year, on Janu- 
ary 20, 1847, an act of incorporation for the enterprise was secured from 
the legislature of the State, according to the terms of which the insti- 
tution was placed under the direction and control of a board of visitors 
appointed by the governor of the State, who is, ex officio, inspector of 
the institute. The superintendent, faculty, and cadets are constituted 
a quasi military corps, the officers being commissioned under the seal 
of the Commonwealth and being resi)onsible to the board of visitors 
for the faithful performance of their prescribed duties. The institu- 
tion has always been really a private enterprise, its only relation to 
the State being that the latter furnishes its military equipment and 
assumes supervision over its military organization. 

166 



KENTUCKY MILITARY INSTITUTE. 167 

Colonel Allen was connected with the management of the school from 
its foundation until 1874, except that he severed his relation with it in 
1848 for a short time, and again from 1854 to 1865, during which time 
he was at first engaged in educational enterprises in Texas, and later 
served in the Confederate army with distinguished gallantry as a colonel 
of infantry. 

During the early history of the school Col. E. W. Morgan, also a 
graduate of West Point and an educator of reputation, was associated 
with Colonel Allen in the institution, being joint proprietor from 1851 
to 1854 and becoming sole proprietor in 1855. Colonel Morgan was a 
valuable coadjutor of Colonel Allen, and conducted the institution with 
success himself until the opening of the civil war in 1861, when most of 
the cadets left to join the armies, mainly that of the South, from which 
section they chiefly came, and the school was closed until 1865, at which 
time Colonel Morgan severed his connection with it. He subsequently 
became professor of engineering and architecture in Lehigh University, 
Pa. 

Two courses of good compass had been early inaugurated by the 
management of the institution; one, in which ancient languages was 
prominent, leading to the degree of A. B.; and the other, in which 
mathematics was the principal feature, leading to the degree of C. E. 
The school was quite successful during this early period of its history, 
its students rising in number to 150 in 1851 and numbering 154 just 
prior to the war. The first graduating class of 4 members was sent 
out in 1851, and for the next ten years from 8 to 21 were graduated 
each year, the total number of graduates up to 1861 inclusive being 
144. The alumni of the institution took a prominent part and secured 
a high position in the civil war, as it furnished in that struggle two 
major-generals, three brigadier generals, and a number of colonels and 
officers of lesser rank. Since its students were mainly from the South, 
the majority of them naturally espoused the cause of that section. 

In 1865 Colonel Allen again took charge of the institute, which soon 
had a larger attendance than ever before in its history, there being 166 
students in 1866-67 and 177 in 1867-68. The success of the school 
continued under Colonel Allen's management until 1874, when he 
decided to retire from the profession of teaching, in which he consid- 
ered he had Earned a well merited rest. He had certainly discharged 
with credit his duties as a minister of the gosj)el, as a soldier, and as 
an educator. 

He was succeeded in the superin tendency of the school by his son. 
Col. R. D. Allen, who had graduated from the institut * in 185L', and, 
after engaging in other educational enterprises, had, since 1866, been 
associated with liis father in tlie institute faculty. He remained as 
superintendent of the school until 1887, when, after an interval of a 
year, he was succeeded in the position by Col. I). F. Boyd, LL.D., a 
graduate of the University of Virginia and a teacher of many years' 



168 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

experience. Under these superintendents comuiercial and normal 
courses were added to the previous curriculum, and the institution was 
otherwise kept abreast of the demands of the time. It was upon the 
whole fairly i)rosperous, but on account of the competition of endowed 
schools and the financial stringency gradually became less. so until 
1893, when Colonel Boyd resigned and the school was suspended for a 
time. 

In 1896 Col. C. W. Fowler, recognizing that there was still-a field for 
such an institution in its distinctively military character and govern- 
ment and its endeavor as far as possible to suit the needs of each 
individual student, secured the removal of the institute — charter, equip- 
ment, and all — to Lyndon, 9 miles from Louisville, Ky., considered in 
many ways a more eligible location than the old one. 

Colonel Fowler is an alumnus of the institution, having been a mem- 
ber of the class of 1878, subsequent to which he had been for several 
years connected with its faculty. For the past six years he had been 
superintendent of the Kentucky Training School at Mount Sterling, 
Ky. He became the superintendent of the Kentucky Military Insti- 
tute on September 1, 189(), when it was opened in its new quarters. 

The new situation and external equipment of the school may per- 
haps be best described by the following quotation from its catalogue 
for 1897 : 

The buildings comprise the fine, old Ormsby mansion, a substantial brick struc- 
ture, besides two smaller frame .buildings and a gymnasium and drill hall; these 
buildings are situated in a beautiful blue-grass lawn of about 4 acres, shaded 
with towering forest trees and evergreen pines. * * * It is so perfectly adapted 
for school purposes that it could scarcely be improved upon if built to order. 

The dormitories connected with the institution furnish accommoda- 
tions for 80 studentsv 

Under the present management the former college courses have been 
retained and enlarged by the institution of a scientific course which 
substitutes modern for ancient languages and the addition of such new 
features as manual training. For those who are not candidates for a 
degree there is a practical course of three years in which science is 
emphasized, and a commercial course of two years. There is also a 
preparatory course of one year. 

It is aimed to have the educational methods used suited, as much as 
possible, to the needs of each cadet, and to this end it is expected to 
have the attendance limited to not more than 100 students, probably 
less. The matriculation so far has been fully as good as, or better than, 
it was durijig the corresponding period subsequent to the original 
foundation. Two degrees have been conferred each year under the new 
mana^^ement. The present faculty has 5 regular i)rofessors, 4 special 
lecturers, and 1 cadet assistant. 

The institute has been one of the leading military schools of the 
South. Fifteen States were at times, under the administration of the ' 



SOUTH KENTUCKY COLLEGE. 169 

elder Colonel Allen, represented in its matriculation, and its graduates 
and matriculates are to be found in every Southern and in many of 
the Central and Western States. Up to 1878 its total number of 
matriculates had been 3,049, and of graduates 242. Up to 1893, a 
period of forty-eight years, it had an average matriculation of about 
100 cadets, making its total enrollment to date about 5,000. Its grad- 
uates now number about 400 and have, many of them, taken an honor- 
able rank in other professions besides that of arms. Up to 1878, 50 of 
them were known to have become lawyers, 21 physicians, 11 teachers, 
9 civil engineers, and 5 clergymen. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Perriii, Battle, and Kniffen's History of Kentucky. 
A Short History of Franklin County, by C. E. James, Frankfort, 1876. 
Bio<jraphicaI Sketches and Information of Interest to Professors, Alumni, and ex- 
Cadets of the K. M. I., by Maj. R. H. Wildberger, Frankfort, 1878. 

SOUTH KENTUCKY COLLEaE, HOPKINSVILLE. 

This institution was intended primarily for the education of women 
only, and was conducted as an exclusively female college for a number 
of years. Its original charter was obtained from the State legislature 
in February, 1849, and places it under the management of nine trustees, 
who are empowered — 

To make all such rules and ordinances necessary for the government of said insti- 
tution as shall not be repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United States 
and of this State. 

The design of its founders was to make it undenominational, but 
positively Christian, and the Bible was from its beginning given a 
prominent place among its text-books 

Its incorporators and those mainly instrumental in its establishment 
were John M. Barnes, Henry J, Stites, Benjamin S. Campbell, John B. 
Knight, W. F. Bern hard, Eobert L. Waddell, Jacob Torian, Isaac H. 
Caldwell, and W. A. Edmonds. These trustees were identified with 
the Church of the Disciples, or Christian Church, and the college has 
since remained under the patronage of that denomination. 

The college was located by its charter in Hopkinsville, and was first 
opened tliere in the autum of 1849, with John M. Barnes as its first 
president. Mr. Barnes died in 1851 and was succeeded in the presi- 
dential chair of the institution by Enos Campbell, under whose admin- 
istration it became necessary to erect new buildings in order to 
accommodate the increased patronage. To obtain the necessary funds, 
agents appointed by the board of trustees made an appeal to the 
church and the friends of the college generally. The liberal response 
given to these efforts resulted in the raising of about $30,000, which 
was expended for additional grounds and a new building, the latter 
costing $25,000. The grounds constitute the present campus of 12 acres, 
situated on a beautiful elevation overlooking the town from the east 



170 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

and splendidly shaded by native forest trees. The new building was 
completed in 1858. 

The patronage of the institution continued to enlarge in its new 
quarters, and its prosperity was uninterrupted until the spring of 1862, 
when its work was suspended for several months by the military occu- 
pation of Hopkinsville incident to the civil war, its buildings being 
used during this interval by the Confederate troops as a hospital. At 
this time President Campbell severed his connection with the institution. 

The college was, however, reopened in September, 1862, under J. W. 
Goss as president. Mr. Goss was succeeded in 1870 by T. A. Cren- 
shaw, who remained at the head of the institution until 1876, when 
R. C. Cave became president and remained so until 1881, Under the 
direction of these executive officers the college steadily regained its 
former prosperity, its attendance being such as to make it more than 
self sustaining and to allow considerable improvements in its equip- 
ment. In 1876 the faculty was composed of five members and there was 
an enrollment of 115 students, which seems to have been about the 
average matriculation during this period of its history. 

Its students at this time rei)reseuted a number of the Southern and 
Western States, and its list of graduates was large. Many of these 
became successful teachers, and together with the other alumnte began 
to make the institution favorably known, particularly throughout the 
denomination under whose auspices it was being conducted. That 
body, however, especially the portion of it located in southern Kentucky, 
desired a college where its sous as well as its daughters could be edu- 
cated, and in recognition of this demand the trustees of South Ken- 
tucky College, at a meetiijg held on November 24, 1879, resolved to 
take steps to put that institution on a different and broader basis. 
The aim was to so enlarge the faculty and so extend the course of study 
and raise the standard of scholarship as to make them equivalent to 
those required in first class male colleges, and then make the institu- 
tion fully coeducational. Accordingly the necessary amendment to the 
charter was secured early in 1881, which provides "for the instruction of 
the students therein in the arts and sciences and in all necessary, use- 
ful, and ornamental branches of a thorough and liberal education such 
as are taught in the best colleges." 

At a meeting of the trustees, held on February 7, 1881, it was deter- 
mined, in order to make the course of instruction as broad as possible, 
not only to continue the former departments of music and art, and to 
conduct, in addition to a preparatory course of one year, a classical 
course of four years and a scientific course of three years, but also to 
add a normal course of two years, a commercial course of one year, an 
agricultural course of two years, a ladies' course of two years, and an 
elementary course in international, constitutional, and commercial law 
of one year. Certificates were to be conferred in all these courses, 
except the classical, scientific, and ladies' courses, in which the usual 
degrees of A. B., B. S., and M. E. L. were to be granted. 



SOUTH KENTUCKY COLLEGE. 171 

The college was opened under its amended cnarter as a coeducational 
institution on the first Monday in September, 1881. President Cave 
remained at its head under the new order of things. He was assisted 
in the work of instruction by a faculty which, besides additional instruct- 
ors in music, art, and domestic economy was, including the president, 
constituted as follows: R. 0. Gave, M. A., president and professor of 
the English language and literature, philosophy, and logic; S. R. Orum- 
baugh, M. A., O. E., LL. B., professor of mathematics, mechanics, and 
astronomy; M. L. Lipscomb, M. A., professor of Latin and Greek ; H. T. 
Suddarth, M. A., professor of pedagogics, commerce, and assistant in 
English; G. H. Fracker, M. A., professor of natural science and agricul- 
ture; R. T. Steinhagen, professor of music, modern languages, and his- 
tory; J. A. Young, M. D., professor of zoology, anatomy, and physiology; 
Hon. J. W. McPherson, professor of international, constitutional, and 
commercial law. 

The institution had at the time acquired the foundation of a good refer- 
ence library and had ample scientific apparatus for all ordinary uses. In 
1881-82 there were 121 students enrolled, 09 of whom were females, 
and, at the end of the year, there were five graduates in the scientific 
course, nine in the ladies' course, three in the normal course, and four 
in the commercial course. In the next year, for some reason, the matric- 
ulation declined to 89 altogether, with four graduates in the ladies' 
course and eight in the commercial course. At the end of this year 
President Cave resigned and was succeeded by B. C. Deweese, M. A., 
who, however, seems to have remained in the presidential office only a 
few months, being succeeded early in the next scholastic year by S. R, 
Orumbaugh, M. A., LL. D., by the beginning of whose administration 
the courses in law and agriculture had been dropped and the scientific 
course lengthened to four years. 

Soon after the assumption of his office by President Orumbaugh, con- 
siderable improvements were made in the college property in various 
ways, and its affairs were in an auspicious condition when, on February 
4, 1884, its prosperity was apparently blighted by a fire which destroyed 
its main building, with a loss of several thousand dollars abovethe sum 
for which the structure was insured. 

The exercises of the institution were suspended until the next Sep- 
tember, but its trustees met the next day after the fire and resolved to 
rebuild at once. Funds were raised, through the energy of President 
(Jrumbaugh and other friends of the college, and a new building, in every 
way handsomer and better adapted to its purposes than the old one, 
was ready for occupancy by the 1st of the following July. This build- 
ing, which is now in use, is a fine brick structure, three stories in height, 
with a front 108 feet wide, and two wings, one of them 120 feet and the 
other 90 feet deep. It afforded considerably larger accommodations 
than had before been enjoyed. 

At the opening of the next year the faculty of the institution was 



172 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATIOX IN KENTUCKY. 

eiilargecl and tho s(*ope of its instractioii considerably widened, a mili- 
tary department bein^ attached to it, a (^oarse in civil engineering and 
one leading to the degree of bachelor of letters instituted, and the 
preparatory course extended to three years. Its ])atronage also was 
soon much increased, there being 170 matriculates in 188«%^0, so that 
it seemed to be benefited rather than injured by the apparent calamity 
which had befallen it. President Grumbaugh remained in charge of 
the institution until 1887, there being 168 students the last year of his 
administration. He remained as a member of the faculty for some time 
after his resignation as president. 

Ilis successor in that positioM was James E. S(*obey, M. A., who had 
been vice-president of the faculty during the previous administration. 
President Scobey remained in ottice for three years, during which the 
average attendance had considerably decreased, but the number of 
students going forward to a degree considerably iiuTeased, the num- 
ber of degrees conferred during his administration being quite equal 
to if not more than all that had been granted before since 1881. In 
1800 President Scobey resigned and A. 0. Kuykendall, M. A., became 
his successor as executive head of the institution, a position which he 
also retained for three years, retiring from its duties in 1893, when 
Prof. J. W. Ilardy was elected to the position. Professor Kuykendall 
has since remained one of the [>rominent professors of the institution. 

Professor Hardy was not only president, but financial agent as well. 
An appeal being made at the opening of his administration to secure a 
better equipment and an endowment for the college, sufficient funds 
were soon raised to erect, at a cost of $10,000, McCarty Hall, a well- 
arranged and commodious dormitory with accommodations for 30 young 
men, besides a large society hall. Within the next two years some- 
thing over $10,000 was contributed for other ])urposes, $0,000 of which 
forms the beginning of the first endowment of the institution, for it 
had previously depended entirely on tuition fees for its support and 
advancement. During l^resident Hardy's administration the average 
annual matriculntion was about 160, a considerable advance over that 
of vseveral years previous. 

In 1897, upon Professor Hardy's resignation, Prof. S. S. Woolwine, for 
a number of years i)ast prominently connected with various educational 
enterprises in Tennessee, was elected president of the college. The 
single year Professor Woolwine has presided over the institution has 
witnessed the increase of its matriculation to 186, the largest since 
1881, and probably the largest in the history of the institution. These 
students were from seven different States; 98 of them were young men 
and 88 young women, which is a reversal of the ratio in the numbers 
of the two sexes during most years since coeducation was introduced. 
The present faculty is composed of ten members, one of whom — Prof. 
E. T. Steinhagen — has been a successful teacher in the institution for 
seventeen years or more. 



BETHEL COLLEGE. 173 

The average Dumber of graduates from the college in recent years 
has befen about 8, who have been about equally distributed among the 
three principal courses leading to the degrees of bachelor of arts, bach- 
elor of science, and bachelor of letters. A number of the graduates 
of the institution have attained success in the different learned pro- 
fessions, especially in that of teaching. 

The present conrse is divided into the departments of ancient lan- 
guages, mathematics, science, mental and moral philosophy, English, 
modern languages, normal instruction, Bible instruction, commercial 
instruction, and elocution and oratory. It is arranged in the three 
courses indicated above, the basis of each of which, respectively, is 
ancient languages, modern languages, and English. The first two 
extend through four years each and the last three years. Besides these, 
there is a teachers' course of two years, a commercial course of one year, 
and excellent opportunities are offered in music and art. Certificates 
are granted in these departments. There is also a preparatory course 
of one year. The degree of M. A. is conferred upon those who have 
completed the classical course and have spent one year in post-graduate 
work at the college or two years in literary work elsewhere. 

South Kentucky College has done a valuable educational work for 
many years practically without endowment. If its friends will only 
rally around it and furnish it the means lor which it is now appealing, 
its permanency will be assured and its usefulness greatly enlarged for 
the future. 

BIBLIOGHAPHY. 

This sketch is based mainly on a sketch of the college contained in the catalogue 
of 1881-82, the facts of which have been confirmed and enlarged by reference to 
other catalogues, to reports of the Commissioner of Education, and to Henderson's 
Centennial Exhibits, as well as by other facts furnished by President Darby and Dr. 
James A. Young, of Hopkinsville. Use has also been made of a sketch in A History 
of Christian County, by VV. H. Perriii, Chicago, 1882. 

BETHEL COLLEGE, BUSSELLVILLE. 

The want of an institution to supply the educational needs of the 
church in the southern and western portions of the State had long been 
felt b}' the Baptists of Kentucky, and the question of its establishment 
had been somewhat discussed, especially at the general association 
held in October, 1848. The preliminary steps for the actual organiza- 
tion of such an institution were, however, taken by Bethel Association 
at its meeting in Hopkinsville, Ky., in September, 1849, when Rev. 
Samuel Baker, 1). D., as chairman of the committee on education 
appointed at the previous session of that body, reported in favor of 
establishing, '^ at some eligible point within the bounds of the associa- 
tion and under its name, an academic institution, something inferior to 
a college or university and superior to the ordinary common and i)ri- 
mary schools," ^ the aim of the contemplated school at that time being 



' RusseUviUo Ledger for April 25, 1896. 



174 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

to prepare students for the colleges of the church and to furnish the 
elements of a good English education to others who had not the desire 
or opportunity to pursue an extended course of study. 

In response to this report, a resolution was adopted by the associa- 
tion that the churches should be requested to send delegates to a meet- 
ing appointed to be held at Keysburg, Ky., on November 14, 1849, in 
order that arrangements might be made to locate the school and to 
raise funds for its establishment. A committee to secure a charter 
for the proposed school and to look after other matters pertaining to 
its organization was also appointed. Rev. John P. Campbell, one of 
the most zealous promoters of the enterprise, was chairman of this 
committee, and was ably assisted in the advocacy of the undertaking 
by Rev. R. Anderson, Rev. Robert Williams, Rev. R. A. Nixon, and 
Rev. J. M. Pendleton, who, with him, maybe mentioned as among those 
mainly instrumental in i)ushing forward the educational movement. 
This committee, through its financial agent. Rev. W. I. Morton, raised 
$3,500 in subscriptions for the proposed school by the next meeting of 
the association at Russellville,' Ky., in 1850, when that body decided to 
locate the institution in Russellville, and appointed its first board of 
trustees, with Judge E. M. Tawing as chairman and Rev. J. M. Pendleton 
as secretary. 

The first official act of this board, and one fraught with importance 
to the school, was the appointment of N. Long as its financial agent, 
thus early associating with the enterprise a man who became one of its 
firmest friends and strongest supporters; one who was ever ready to 
promote its welfare without emolument to himself, which he always 
refused. His energetic efforts soon led to the palpable result of secur- 
ing, chiefiy in Logan County, about $8,000 in addition, to the amount 
already subscribed, and in March, 1851, he purchased for $3,300, as the 
seat of the institution, 40 acres of land adjoining Russellville, on which, 
by the authority of the board of trustees, in October, 1851, he con- 
tracted for the erection of the present main building of Bethel College, 
which was to cost when complete about $15,000. This building was 
erected, principally in 1852, on a substantial and commodious plan, 
under Mr. Long's personal supervision, but the funds already raised 
were only sutiicient, besides paying for the grounds, to put it under 
roof, at a cost of about $10,000, and not to complete or furnish it. 

So further help was needed to push the enterprise to a success. This 
help was found in the person of Rev. B. T. Blewett, A. M.,^ who, in June, 
1853, was elected as the first principal of the school and also as agent 
to collect funds and superintend the completion of the building. He 
came from (Georgetown College, then the educational center of the 
Baptist Church in Kentucky, where he had been principal of the pre- 
paratory department for six years, since taking his degree in 1847. He 



' Hopkins vi He and Keysbnrg were also competitors for the location. 
'^ Most accounts of tlie history of the college spell this name Blewitt but Blewett 
is nndoubtedly the correct spelling. 



BETHEL COLLEGE. 175 

was a worthy coadjutor of Mr. Long, both in self-sacrificing efforts and 
energy in behalf of the school and these two men maybe preeminently 
called the founders of Bethel High School, out of which subsequently 
grew Bethel College. 

BETHEL HIGH SCHOOL. 

Mr. Blewett at once gave his personal note for $0,000 to insure the 
early completion of the building erected by Mr. Long and took the 
field, already thought to be quite fully canvassed for that purpose and 
in which there was considerable competition from other church educa- 
tional enterprises, to raise the needed amount. By twelve months' 
work, laboring almost day and night, without allowing his ardor to be 
dampened or his energy checked by seemingly adverse circumstances, 
Mr. Blewett succeeded in having the building finished and furnished, 
at a cost of $8,000, being able by advancing much of this amount out 
of his own means, to have this accomplished by January 1, 1854. 

As a result of these efforts, Bethel High School was first opened on 
January 3, 1854, Mr. Blewett, with one assistant teacher, constituting 
its first faculty. The first assistant teacher was George L. Hayes. A 
charter was secured for the school on March 9, 1854, and during its first 
session 25 students were in attendance. The salary of the assistant, 
however, absorbed all the fees paid by these, and so the principal 
received nothing for his services, as indeed seems to have been the case 
for eighteen months after he accepted the position. 

Moreover, his own funds were now exhausted, and so affairs looked 
quite gloomy in the summer of 1854; but not despairing, he again took 
the field to solicit funds and students, and although he did not secure 
much of the former, the attendance was considerably increased the 
second term. The debt, however, pressed heavily upon the school, and 
Mr. Blewett was severely taxed for a time to keep it going. Meanwhile, 
its excellent corps of teachers, which was maintained notwithstanding 
the desperate condition of its affairs, was adding to its reputation and 
attracting a well-paying patronage, which soon relieved its pressing 
financial embarrassment. By September, 1855, it had three ' teachers 
besides the principal and an enrollment of 125 students, and its general 
prosperity began to attract a wider notice. 

The favorable consideration it was receiving at the hands of the 
public caused its friends to become more ambitious in their aims, and 
accordingly, under the instructions of Bethel Association, its trustees 
applied to the State legislature for a charter converting it into a col- 
lege. This instrument, which was secured on March 6, 1856, changed 
the name of the institution to Bethel College, and conferred upon it 
powers sufficient not only for the operation of a college, but of a uni- 
versity as well, if it should ever aspire higher. By the terms of its 



' These teachers were Fred B. Downs, A. Maasberg, Ph. D., and H. H. Skinner. A 
preparatory class was also in charge of Colby A. Smith, A. B. 



176 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

charter the coutrol of the iustitutiou was ])laced in the hands of "The 
Green Eiver Baptist Educational Society," where it remained for many 
years. 

BETHEL COLLEGE. 

The new college was opened in the autumn of 1856 and had, as its 
first faculty, in addition to President Blewett, Augustus Maasberg, 
Ph. D., professor of languages; C. 1). Lawrence, professor of math- 
ematics, and David Hardy, jr., principal of the preparatory department. 
In 1857 M. H. Lunimis was added as professor of chemistry. 

One hundred and fifty students were enrolled the first year, but the 
condition of the institution at the time is well shown by the following 
quotation, in which it is said Mr. Blewett had been made president of 
*'a college without endowment, library, apparatus, or any other appli- 
ance, except a good building, a good number of students, and a good 
working faculty.'" So the prospects under the new order of things 
were not very bright and President Blewett had almost, if not quite, 
as great a struggle to maintain the college as the high school during 
its first years, in both of which attempts it is said he would have sev- 
eral times given up in despair had it not been for the hopefulness and 
encouragement of his wife, who inspired him to renewed exertions. 

The reputation of the school had aroused a favorable public senti- 
ment in its behalf, but no one realized more fully than President 
Blewett that tuition fees alone could not be depended upon to sustain 
an efficient faculty and equip the institution with all the educational 
apparatus needed for successful work. He accordingly again made an 
appeal to the church in behalf of an endowment for the college, in 
which action he was efficiently supported by its trustees, that body 
resolving, in 1856, to endeavor to secure $15,000, and, in 1857, raising 
that amount to $30,000. 

The beginning of the good things to come occurred in this latter 
year, when H. Q. Ewing, then president of the board of trustees, gave 
to the institution an unconditional donation of $10,000 in cash and an 
additional one of $10,000 in real estate, conditioned upon $30,000 more 
being added to its fund from other sources. In the following year his 
father, Judge K. M. Ewing, the first president of the trustees of Bethel 
High School, contributed, under like conditions, $3,000 in money and 80 
acres of valuable land,^ situated near Chicago, 111. President Blewett 
succeeded in securing about $3,000 from other sources, so that by July 
4, 1859, the larger amount at which the trustees had aimed was more 
than obtained. Judge Ewing and his son also, about this time, 
donated a part of the library of Hon. Presley Ewing, containing about 
2,000 volumes, which formed the foundation of the present library of 
the institution. The proceeds of the gifts of the Ewings, by resolution 



'Barnard's American Journal of Education, vol. 5, p. 431. 

' This land was considered to be worth .f 4,000 when it was given, but half of it was 
sold m 1891 for ^44,000. 



BETHEL COLLEGE. 177 

of the board of trustees, adopted on June 14, 1859, were set apart to 
the chair of mental and moral philosophy, which is named in their 
honor. The funds secured by that time had placed the college on a 
more substantial basis, and one of its special aims began to be more 
definitely realized. One of its chief objects originally had been to 
educate more fully young men preparing for the Baptist ministry, and 
since its organization from 10 to 20 of these students had been in its 
classes, but in 1860, to meet the needs of these more fully, a professor- 
ship of biblical and pastoral theology was established. This depart- 
ment was soon suspended by the civil war, but was revived again, a 
special charter being secured for it on January 22, 1868, and was main- 
tained until 1877, when the location of the Southern Baptist Theo- 
logical Seminary in Louisville, Ky., made its maintenance no longer 
necessary or advisable. The occupant of this chair during the period 
of its existence was Eev. W. W. Gardner, D. D., who was a valuable 
laborer in behalf of the college during its early struggles. 

Under President Blewett's successful management the college, with 
its full and able faculty, continued eminently prosperous until May 1861, 
when, owing to the excitement due to the opening of the civil war, it was 
closed and remained so for something over two years, during which time 
its buildings were used for army hospital purposes for several months 
by the Confederate troops. At the time of its suspension there were 150 
students in attendance, and we are informed ^ that its cash endowment 
was then $40,000, while its property was valued at more than twice that 
amount. 

President Blewett resigned his office in the summer of 1861. He subse- 
quently taught successfully at other places in Kentucky and in Mis- 
souri, but was not again connected with the management of Bethel Col- 
lege. His services to that institution in its early days can hardly be 
overestimated. He, in connection with Mr. Long, mainly secured its 
funds and besides he had all the labor of its early organization. Spen- 
cer 2 well describes his elibrts in saying that — 

He raised the money, taught his regular classes, exercised discipline, brought his 
students into the college, planted the ornamental trees on the lawn with his own 
hands, and directed the minutia) of a thousand nameless transactions necessary to 
the conduct of a growing institution of learning. 

The college had sent out its first graduating class of two members in 
1857, one of whom was Eev. C. P. Shields, A. M., who was, until recently, 
for a number of years its professor of Latin and Greek. The class of 
1858 had 12 members, and there were altogether 22 alumni during the 
antebellum period of the institution's history, among whom, besides 
Professor Shields, were James H. Fuqua, A. M., and Leslie Waggener, 
A. M., LL. D,, since prominently connected with the corps of instruc- 
tion and administration of their alma mater and other institutions. 

I History of the Baptists of Kentucky, p. 727. ^ jj^ia^ p. 739. 

2127— No. 25 12 



178 HISTORY OF IIIOIIEU EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

J)urin^ the suspension of t\w. (foUe^e its old friend Mr. Long con- 
tinued bis valuable services to it by carefully husbanding its financial 
resources, so that it was more fortunate than most other institutions 
similarly situated in coming- out of the civil war not only with its funds 
unimpaired, but even increased, as these in 18(55 had become over 
$50,000. 

In September, 1863, the C()lle;i:e was reopened under Eev. George 
Hunt as president. Mr. Hunt successfully accomplished the diflficnlt 
undertaking of reorganizing tlie institution under very nnpropitious 
circumstances and of arousing something of the old-time interest in its 
behalf. He left it on a good working basis when he resigned in 1864, 
and was succeeded by J. W. Rust, A, 31. 

Professor liust is wotel in educational matters, i)articularly for his 
able management of tlie affairs of Bethel Female College, at Hopkins- 
ville, Ky., for many years, both before and after this time, bat his 
administration of l>ethel College, lasting about three and a h^lf years, 
was also a prosperous one in the history of that institution, which, soon 
after the beginning of his term of office, began to almost equal its best 
days prior to the civil war. Failing health, however, compelled Presi- 
dent Rust to resign on February 1, 18(>8. He was a man of practical 
judgment and of tireless energy, and did much to increase the attend- 
ance and reputation of the college. 

Upon Professor Rust's resignation Noah K. Davis, LL.D., the author 
of works in mental and moral philosophy which evidence profoand 
thought and scholarship, was elected to the presidency, a position 
which he held for about five years, during which several progressive 
events in the history of the college happened. In the fall of 1868 its 
curriculum was arranged substantially as at present in scope and in 
plan. This plan, generally known throughout the South as the Univer- 
sity of Virginia plan, consisted in the arrangement of the course of 
study into independent schools, which might bo pursued by anyone 
prepared to profit by them, there being no regular division of the stu- 
dents into college classes nor any fixed time for the completion of the 
curriculum, students being graduated when they completed the requi- 
site number of schools for the degree which they sought. The number 
of schools' established at this time was eight, of which six had to be 
completed for the student to obtain tlie degree of bachelor of arts. 
The high vStandard of scholarship required by this course has since 
been consistently maintained by the institution. 

Substantial additions were also made to the endowment and equip- 
ment during this period. In 1870 the chair of English was endowed 
by N. Long, the early benefactor of the college, and in the same year 
the chair of natural sciences was endowed by the Norton brothers, 



* These schools were Latin, Greek, English, natural science, philosophy, mathe- 
matics, the Bible, and llieology. The first six were required for the degree of A. B.^ 
the only one given at the time. 



BETHEL COLLEGE. 179 

G. W. Norton and W. F. Norton, of Louisville, Ky., and Ecstein Nor- 
ton, of New York City. These chairs have been named after the 
donors. In 1S72 a president's house was erected, at a cost of $7,000, 
the means for which were largely secured through Mr. Long, and in 
this year a fund of $8,000, given in 1870 to aid students for the min- 
istry, particularly, by Mr. James Enlow, of Christian County, Ky., 
first became available. The funds of the institution were then $85,000 
and its property at least that much more, while there were 110 students 
in the college classes proper. 

In 1873 President Davis resigned to accept the position he still holds, 
the chair of moral philosophy in the University of Virginia, and the 
executive affairs of the college were intrusted to Prof. Leslie Wag- 
gener, an alumnus of the college in the class of 1860 and connected with 
its faculty since 1866, having in 1870 become its professor of English 
language and literature, a department of education to which he was 
one of the first teachers of the country to devote his attention as a 
specialty. Professor Waggener conducted the affairs of the institution 
with usefulness and acceptability, as chairman of the faculty, until 1877 
when he was regularly elected president, a position held by him until 
1883. 

Among the changes and improvements occurring during his term of 
office may be mentioned the inauguration of the bachelor of science 
course in 1875, the degree being (M)nferred on candidates who had com- 
pleted successfully the schools of English, philosophy, mathematics, 
andnatural science; the usual time required to obtain this degree seems 
to have been at first three years, but the the course was soon strength- 
ened so as to require four years as required in the bachelor of arts 
course. A school of modern languages was added to the previous 
curriculum, and has since been made an important feature of the sci- 
entific course. 

In 1876-77 N. Long Hall, designed to provide a college home and 
board at reasonable rates for deserving students who chose to avail 
themselves of its advantages, was erected, at a cost of $20,000, mainly 
through the efforts of him in whose honor it is named and largely from 
funds contributed by him. It will furnish accommodations for about 
100 students and has been found a valuable adjunct to the work of the 
college. This was the last of Mr. Long's important personal benefac- 
tions to the institution, but he still continued to give to it valuable 
services, remaining as president of its board of trustees until his death 
in 1887, a position held by him since 1879, while he had been a member 
of that body for thirty years. Besides devoting largely of his time 
and means to Bethel College he had contributed liberally to George- 
town College, Kentucky; Richmond College, Virginia, and the Baptist 
Theological Seminary, in Louisville, Ky. 

In the last year of President Waggener's administration the college 
gymnasium, which had been erected in connection with N. Long Hall, 



180 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

was eciuipped witli the latest appliances for physical exercise, through 
the liberality of Capt. J. B. Briggs, of Eussellville. President Wag- 
geiier resigned in June, 1883, to accept the chair of English literature 
in the University of Texas, where he became chairman of the faculty, 
a position held by him until 1895, when he was elected president. He 
died in the discharge of its duties in 1896. 

The other members of the faculty of Bethel at the time of the resig- 
nation of President Waggener were James II. Fuqua, A. M., professor 
of ancient languages; John P. Fruit, A. M., professor of English and 
modern languages ; li. E. Binford, A.M., professor of mathematics ; Eev. 
W. S. liyland, D. D., professor of natural science, and J. 0. Vick, A. B., 
principal of the preparatory department. Professor Fuqua at that 
time assumed the duties of the chair of philosophy and became chair- 
man of tlie faculty. The executive affairs of the institution were man- 
aged by him in this capacity for the next four years, during which the 
patronage of the college was considerably increased. In 1887 Pro- 
fessor Fuqua asked to be relieved of executive duties and Rev. W. S. 
Ryland, D. D., became his successor as chairman of the faculty. Pro- 
fessor Fuqua still retained his connection with the institution and 
became at that time its professor of mathematics. 

Dr. Ryland, besides having been a member of the college faculty 
since 1880, had since his graduation at Richmond College, Virginia, and 
Rochester Theological Seminary, New York, taught in several other 
institutions in Mississippi and Kentucky, and had been president of 
the Baptist Female College at Lexington, Ky,, from 1877 to 1880. 
His training and temperament were such as to make him an excellent 
presiding officer for Bethel. After being chairman of the faculty for 
two years, he was, in 1889, regularly elected president, and continued 
to hold the office until June, 1898, thus completing a longer term of 
service than any other iucumbent of the position. 

The history of the institution during his administration was one of 
uniform growth and expansion in almost all directions. In 1887-88 
there were 127 students in the college, then a considerably larger num- 
ber than usual. These increased in 1890-91 to 180, in 1892-93 to 207, 
and in 1894-95 to 213, the largest number yet enrolled, the matricu- 
lation during this i)eriod more than once representing as many as eight 
of the Southern and Western States. The size of the graduating classes 
increased in a corresponding ratio. In 1891 there were 8 graduates; 
in 1893, 11 5 in 1890, 22. 

In 1890 a regular professorship) of modern languages was established 
and improvements, amounting to several thousand dollars, made upon 
the college property. In this year, also, in order to cure a legal defect 
in the charter, and also because the organization of the educational 
society, in whose charge the institution had originally been placed, had 
been allowed to become dissolved through neglect, an amendment to 
the charter was secured, making the board of trustees self-perpetaat- 



BETHEL COLLEGE. 181 

ing, but requiring that four-fifths of them must be members in good 
standing of some Baptist church. 

In 1892 a school of the Bible, for practical instruction in the Scrip- 
tures, was added to the curriculum, and a valuable and handsome 
addition was made to the equipment and educational facilities of the 
institution by the gift, for library purposes, from the heirs of K. Long 
and G. W. Korton, of the Southern Bank building, the original cost of 
which was $30,000, on condition that a fund of $5,000 for increasing 
the library should be raised, a condition speedily complied with, as 
about half the amount needed was subscribed at the commencement of 
that year, when the conditional donation of the building was announced. 
The donation of this building, which is conveniently located and well 
suited to its new purposes, was largely due to the efforts and influence 
of Capt. J. B. Briggs, of Bussellville, who thus became for a second 
time a contributor to the means of the institution. Among other 
important donors to the library and its funds have been Mrs. Olive 0. 
Walton, of Allensville, Ky.j Miss Mary Newton, of Daviess County, 
Ky., and Ecstein ISTorton, of New York City. 

In 1896 the course of instruction was again enlarged and the faculty 
increased by the creation of a new school of history and the election of 
a professor of history. In this year also the facilities in the scientific 
department were much improved by the enlargement of the chemical 
laboratory and the purchase of new apparatus, a fund for laboratory 
purposes being at that time contributed by the Norton Brothers, the 
former benefactors of the college. In 1897, while the former scope of 
instruction was maintained, the schools of instruction being Latin, 
Greek, mathematics, natural science, English, philosophy, modern lan- 
guages, history, and the Bible, the course of study was remodeled in 
such a way as to divide the students, according to progress, into the 
usual college classes and a new bachelor of letters course was instituted, 
in which English and modern languages take the place of Greek in 
the classical course, the former scientific course, in which the natural 
sciences and modern languages predominate, also being retained, thus 
making three regular degree courses, leading respectively to the degrees 
of bachelor of letters, bachelor of arts, and bachelor of science.^ At the 
same time^ the powers of the president of the college, in regard to the 
personnel of the faculty and the scholastic and disciplinary affairs of the 
institution generally, were much enlarged over what they had formerly 
been. 

During President Kyland's administration the endowment of the 
institution was somewhat expanded. Besides the gifts mentioned 
above for special purposes, in 1891 one-half of the real estate near 



^The degree of master is conferred in each of these courses upon an additional 
year's study. 

^ At this time also all honorary degrees were abolished and all honorary distinctions, 
except such as are usual in connection with the commencement exercises. 



1S2 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Chicii^ro, ^iviMi by Judge Kwiiijif in 185S, was sold for $44,000, the 
reinaindtT heiiig bold at a ji^reatly increased valae, wbile, in 1895, 
Dr. *)nbn II. Spencer, tlio autbor and a former stadent of the college, 
donated $(),(H)0 to its funds, and in reeent years Mr. William Price, of 
Lopm (bounty, Ky., has given 83,500 to be used to aid poor students 
who are candidates for the ministry in tbe Baptist Ghurcb. Tbe income 
from the I0nh>w fund, now amounting to about $8,500, and originally 
inten<led as part of an endowment for the theological department, has 
been used for the same purpose since that department wasdiscoiitiuued. 
The real estate and invested funds of the institution have now accumu- 
lated to about $iilO,(M)0. In addition to the improvements and growth, 
which have been noted, Dr. K^'land's services to the college were also 
valuabh^ in upholding and raising the general ttme and esprit de corps 
of the institution. 

Upon President Kyland's resignation, in June, 1898, Key. E.S. Alder- 
man, 1). D., was elected ])resident. Dr. Alderman is a graduate of 
Wake I'on^st Colh»ge, North Carolina (188,5), and of the full coarse in 
the Southern nai)tist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. (1886), 
having, since the hitter date, been the ])astor of several chnrches in 
North Carolina and Kentucky, lie should be well fitted to uphold the 
well-established reputation of Hethel. 

The matriculation of the college during the past two years has, 
owing to various circumstances, been considerably decreased, but there 
is no reason why, in the near future, it should not be larger than ever 
before. Under the new order of administration, established in 1897, 
several of the Ibrnier members of the faculty resigned and new pro- 
fessors, mainly young men, were elected in their places. Upon the 
election of President Alderman one of these. Prof. James H. Fuqoa, 
lor four years the chairman of the faculty and otherwise long and 
favorably known in connection with the history of the institntion, 
resumed his connection with it. ITnder the present arrangement the 
academic, or prei)aratory, department has been separated from the 
college proper, while the duties of the chair of modern languages and 
mathematics have been divided, and those of the chair of history dis- 
tributed among the other professors. The college faculty, as now con- 
stituted, is as follows: liev. Edward Sinclair Alderman, D. D,, president, 
and Ewing professor of idiilosophy; Sidney Ernest Bradshaw, A. fi., 
N. Longprofessorof English ; William EdwardFarrar, A.B., professorof 
Latin and Greek ; Edgar Ezekiel IJe Cou, M. S., professor of mathematics 
and German; William B. Wilson, M. S., !N^orton professor of natural 
sciences; James Henry Fuqua, Sr., A. M., professor of mathematics 
and French. 

One hundred and ninely-eight degrees, for work done in regular 
courses, have been granted by Bethel College since its resumption in 
1863. These, with the 22 degrees conferred before the civil war, make 
the total number to 1898, inclusive, 220, of which 39 have been bach- 
elors of science and 2 masters of arts. The others have been bachelors 



BEREA COLLEGE. 183 

of arts. Of the alumni a number have distinguished themselves in the 
learned professions, more largely in teaching and the ministry than in 
any others. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

A History of the Baptists of Kentucky, by J. H. Spencer, Cincinnati, 1885. 
The Baptist Encyclopedia, by William Cathcart, Philadelphia, 1884. 
Various newspaper sketches and other facts, furnished by President Ryland. 
Collins's and Smith's histories; The Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky; 
Henderson's Centennial Exhibits; Barnard's Journal of Education. 

BEREA COLLEGE, BEBEA. 

The chief founder of Berea College is Rev. John G. Fee, for it was 
largely through his influence and efforts that the school was first estab- 
lished, being, as it is, the direct outgrowth of the antislavery agita- 
tion in which he was engaged in eastern Kentucky. 

Mr. Fee is a native of Kentucky and was educated at Augusta Col- 
lege. He later studied theology at Lane Theological Seminary, and 
while there, after much deliberation, adopted the tenets of the aboli- 
tionists. He labored for two years in the Presbyterian ministry in 
eastern Kentucky, but at the end of that time withdrew from that 
church because he was not in accord with it on the slavery question. 
He then labored for eight years ^ in that section, organizing antislavery 
churches, and finally, in 1854, upon the invitation of Cassius M. Clay, 
the great Kentucky abolitionist, established Berea Church in the 
southern part of Madison County, Ky., around which as a center Berea 
College has since grown up. Mr. Fee became the pastor of Berea 
Church in 1855, a position from the active duties of which he has only 
recently retired, and still lives to watch over the interests of the insti- 
tution growing out of that church and of whose board of trustees he is 
yet a member. 

For many years during his early labors he was largely supported in 
his work by the American Missionary Association, and so this society 
may, in a sense, be called a co-founder of the school, although it has 
never had any direct share in the management of the institution. It, 
however, paid the larger part of Mr. Fee's salary for thirty-four years, 
and also that of other teachers connected with the school at different 
times, and, in many ways, encouraged the enterprise. 

The school out of which Berea College has since developed was 
established as a necessary means of sustaining Mr. Fee's antislavery 
agitation, and was first opened in the early part of 1855. Its first 
teachers were William E. Lincoln and Otis B. Waters, who came from 
Obeilin College, Ohio, of which institution Berea may, in a way, be 
considered an offshoot, since half or more of all its teachers up to the 
present time have been educated there. Mr. Waters remained at Berea 



^Mr. Fee began preaching in Lewis and Bracken counties in 1845. lie first 
preached at Berea in 1853, the year before his establishment of the church there. 



184 HI8T0RY OF HIGHKR EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

for two years and Mr. Lincoln a short while longer, and, in the early part 
of 1858, the third teacher, also from Oberlin, Kev. J. A. E. Rogers, 
arrived. 

Professor Rogers may be called the first principal of the school, and 
was destined to have more to do with shaping its future than perhaps 
any other one man except Mr. Fee. He opened a school in a small, 
rude building prepared for it soon after his arrival, with his wife as an 
assistant teacher. There were at first only 15 pupils, but before the 
end of the term the energy and enthusiasm of the new principal had 
brought the enrollment up to 90, and at the commencement held at 
that time subscriptions were raised to build an addition to the school- 
house. 

During the next term, beginning in September, 1858, Professor 
Rogers was assisted by Mr. and Mrs. elohn G. Hanson, and the reputa- 
tion of the school, notwithstanding its distinctively antislavery char- 
acter and sentiments, attracted the patronage even of slaveholding 
parents. A considerable number of these, however, withdrew their 
children at the end of the session on account of the expression of a 
sentiment, in connection with a discussion in one of the school literary 
societies, in favor of the admission of colored students should they 
apply. The school, however, continued under the same teachers until 
closed, as we shall see, by the excitement due to the opening events of 
the civil war, especially the John Brown raid. 

Meanwhile steps had been taken to enlarge the scope of the enter- 
prise, and, on September 7, 1858, a number of the friends of the school 
met at the residence of Mr, Fee to organize a college board of trustees 
and prepare a constitution for the incorporation of an institution of 
that grade. A constitution was then drawn up by a committee of 
which Professor Rogers was chairman, which, after considerable dis- 
cussion among the friends of the undertaking, was finally adox>ted, 
substantially in its original form, in July, J 859. The general character 
of this instrument and the nature of the institution it proposed to call 
into existence may be seen from the following clauses; 

This college shall be under an influence strictly Christian, and, as such, opposed 
to sectarianism, slaveholding, caste, and every other wrong institution or practice.^ 

The object of this college shall Ix^ to furnish the facilities for a thorough educa- 
tion to all persons of good moral character, at the least possible expense to the same, 
and all the inducements and facilities for manual labor which can reasonably be 
supplied by the board of trustees shall bo offered to the students. - 

At the time of the adoption of the constitution a board of trustees, 
composed of Eev. John G. Fee, liev. J. S. Davis, liev. George Oandee, 
John Burnham, John Smith, William Stapp, Jacob Emrick, T. J. Een- 
fro, John G. Hanson, and Eev. J. A, R. Rogers, was organized and steps 
taken to secure, under the general statutes of the State, a charter for 
the proposed college. Four of the trustees had already purchased, at 



Prudential Committee History, p. 18. ^j^i^^ 



BEREA COLLEGE. 185 

their own risk, for $1,800, as a desirable site for the proposed institu- 
tion, a tract of land containing more than 100 acres, about 45 acres of 
which, beautifully situated and shaded with forest oaks, constitute the 
campus upou which the present buildings of the college are located. 
Mr. Fee had gone east to secure funds to pay for this property, and 
otherwise inaugurate the work. The Joiin Brown raid occurred just at 
this time and caused the enterprise to be abandoned for some time. 

The scho')l had already aroused considerable opposition in the State, 
on account of its pronounced antislavery sentiments and its attitude 
on the race question, aTid its friends, especially Mr. Fee, had suffered 
harsh treatment on several occasions from the rougher elements of 
the community, led by those opposed to abolitionism. So the John 
Brown raid, which really frightened the South generally as to the 
dangers of slave insurrections, led to an organized effort to suppress 
the institution. A large county convention held in Richmond, Ky., 
appointed a committee of sixty-five men, many of them wealthy and 
honorable, to see that it was removed from the State, which "was 
accomplished with as much dignity and decorum as is consistent with 
such an enterprise.'" On December 23, 1859, this committee notified 
Professor Rogers and ten others, including Mr. Fee, that they must 
leave the State in ten days. As the governor, when appealed to, informed 
them that, owing to the state of public opinion, he could not guarantee 
them protection, they thought it best to leave the State temporarily, 
and accordingly departed with their families, numbering about forty 
persons. So the school was closed for the time being, without having 
been fully inaugurated as a college. 

In 1865 the friends of the institution returned, the board of trustees 
was reorganized, a charter for a college obtained under a general law 
of the State, and it was reopened as Berea College, the teachers at 
that time being Professor Rogers and wife, together with W. W. 
Wheeler and wife. Soon 75 or more students were in attendance, but 
when in the early part of 1866 3 colored youths applied for admission 
and were, in accordance with the terms of the college constitution, 
received, on this account half of the other students left. The places 
of these were, however, soon more than supplied, mainly by additional 
colored pupils, who, with other students, came in such large numbers 
in 1866-67 that temporary buildings had to be constructed for their 
accommodation. Within three years the scihool was more than twice 
as large as before, having in 1869 301 students and 7 teachers. Up to 
this time, as no students of advanced grade were in attendance, only 
normal and college preparatory classes were maintained, and Professor 
Rogers, who remained at the head of the institution, retained the title 
of principal. 

In July, 1868, E. H. Fairchild, an alumnus of Oberlin and a man of 
ripe scholarship and varied educational experience, was called to the 



' Si^eoial Roport of Bureau of Education for 1886 on New Orleans Exposition, p. 230. 



180 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

presidency of the institution. He assarned the duties of the position 
in April, 18G9, in which year a regular college class of 5 members was 
first organized, and the school may be said to have started on its career 
as a real college. President Fairchild remained at its head for twenty 
years, during which he labored assiduously and successfully in its 
behalf. Professor liogers long remained a prominent member of its 
faculty and is still a valued friend and trustee of the institution. 
John G. Hanson is another of its early teachers and promoters who, 
with INIr. Fee and Professor Eogers, has had an important share in its 
later success and prosperity. 

The institution soon made marked progress under President Fair- 
child's able management. In the first year of his administration How- 
ard Hall, a commodious frame dormitory for young men, was erected 
by the Freedmen's Bureau at a cost of $18,000, and in 1870-71 Ladies' 
Hall, a large and elegant brick building with all the modern improve- 
ments, costing, with its equipments, $50,000, was added for the accom- 
modation of young ladies, the policy of Berea, like that of her foster 
mother, Oberlin, having been coeducational from the beginning. 

The aim of the institution has been especially to reach two classes of 
students, which its record and location put it in a particularly favor- 
able position to attract. These are the poorer white people of the 
eastern part of the State and the colored element of the other portion. 
It was Berea's strategic position, thus on the border of what are com 
monly known as the mountain and blue-grass sections of the State, 
that first suggested it to Mr. Fee, through General Clay, as a favorable 
point for the promulgation of his antislavery ideas and has since given 
its college a particularly fine opportunity to reach the classes just men- 
tioned. The institution has also, especially in recent years, attracted 
many students from the Northern States. As the advantages of many 
of its students have been very limited, the college has been compelled 
to sustain all departments of instruction from primary to collegiate. 
Besides regular classical and literary college courses, it has maintained 
a normal course, for one of its special offices has been to prepare teach- 
ers for the public schools of the State, especially the colored public 
schools, where well-qualified teachers have been much needed. It also, 
according to the terms of its original constitution, endeavors to place 
its advantages within the reach of as many as possible by making its 
tuition fees and rates for board quite moderate and by furnishing all 
the opportunities it can for students to support themselves by manual 
labor. At least for a considerable portion of its history its affairs have 
been so managed that less than $100 a year would pay all a student's 
expenses except clothing, and this small amount might be considerably 
reduced by laboring in shop or kitchen. 

Largely because of the poverty of its students, who are not able to 
remain to complete their courses, the attendance upon its college 
classes has not been large, but the matriculation in other departments 
has as a rule been excellent, often more than could be well accommo- 



BEREA COLLEGE. 187 

dated by the means at command. The attendance had regularly 
increased since 1869, until in 1881-82 there were 15 teachers and 402 
students, 12 States of the Union liaving been represented as early as 
1872. 

The course of instruction, as originally outlined in 1869, included a 
classical course of four years, a ladies' course of three years, and a 
normal course of two years, besides preparatory, academic, intermedi- 
ate, and primary departments. In 1873 the ladies' course was extended 
to four years, and a special normal course of three years was instituted. 
In that year the institution sent out its first graduating class of 4 
members. 

As, according to its policy, its own income from tuition was very 
small, the college was, during its early years, largely, it is even yet par- 
tially, supported by annual contributions from friends, mainly in the 
Korth. It soon, however, began to acquire something in the way of 
permanent endowment. By 1876 this amounted to $24,000,^ and at 
that time its grounds and buildings were valued at $100,000, and its 
library contained 1,000 volumes. In 1881-82 the endowment was 
increased by about $50,000, $30,000 of which was given by 0. F. Dike, 
of Illinois, and 0. F. Hammond, of New York. In this year also the 
complement of scientific apparatus having been improved, the pre- 
vious ladies' course was changed into a scientific one leading to a 
regular degree. 

The growth of the institution continued steadily during the remainder 
of President Fairchild's administration, which terminated with his 
death on October 2, 1889. In 1883-84 new buildings for the lower 
departments and a new frame chapel, the latter costing $9,000, were 
added to the college equipment, and in 1887 Lincoln Hall, a large and 
superb new brick recitation building, costing about $32,000, was erected 
through the liberality of lioswell Smith, of New York City, assisted by 
S. D. Warren, of Boston, Mass. The college then had nine buildings, 
worth $112,000, its endowment approximated $100,000, its library con- 
tained over 4,000 volume^?, its faculty 18 members, and its students 
represented 19 States. Its annual deficit^ had, however, grown with 
its expansion, and was then $8,000 a year. 

Its students had not only increased in numbers, but more of them 
were in the higher departments. The average ratio of the white to 
colored students during this period of the institution's history was 
about 1 to 2. Since 1873 from 3 to 4 graduates had been sent out each 
year, and at the time of President Fairchild's death there were 44 
alumni, 28 in the classical and 16 in the scientific course, 31 of whom 
were white and 13 colored, the former having been able, as a rule, to 
remain in college longer and so complete their course in a larger ratio. 



' Only $19,000 of this, however, was then productive. 

3 The amount its expenses exceeded its income, which had to be secured in contri- 
butions each year. 



188 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Of the graduates up to this time, two-tifths had chosen teaching as a 
profession, and nearly as many had entered the ministry. President 
Fairchild left the institution with a greatly enlarged equipment, and 
had gathered for it an endowment, estimated at $100,000, not nil of 
which, however, was yet productive. This endowment had been mainly 
given by Northern persons who had become interested in the institution, 
only a few thousand dollars of it having come from Kentucky. 

In 1890, Rev. William B. Stewart, D. D., became Mr. Fairchild's suc- 
cessor in the presidency of the institution. During President Stewart's 
administration, extending through two years, a Bible department for 
prospective candidates for the ministry, which has since been discon 
tinned, was instituted, and a course leading to the degree of Bachelor of 
Philosophy was added to the previous college courses leading to the 
degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. A system of 
elective studies was also introduced into the collegiate department, 
especially in the classical and philosophical courses. 

In 1892, President Stewart resigned and the presidency of the college, 
which had been tendered to Rev. William G. Frost, Ph. D., D. D., just 
prior to President Fairchild's death but had then been declined for 
personal reasons, was again offered to him and was accepted at this 
time, the new president entering upon his duties in the summer of that 
year. Dr. Frost is a graduate of Oberlin in the class of 1876; he after- 
wards studied for some time at Harvard and other institutions in this 
country, and then abroad. He had already become known as a popular 
and vigorous teacher, the author of scholarly text-books, an earnest and 
effective preacher, and a lyceum lecturer of considerable repute. 

Under his administration, notwithstanding the general financial dis- 
tress throughout the country, the work of the college has steadily pro- 
gressed. The matriculation increased 40 per cent during the first year 
of his term of office, in which a course leading to the degree of Bachelor 
of Letters was substituted for the previous scientific one and a newly 
organized normal course, designed to bring the institution into closer 
touch with the public schools of the State, was established, while a new 
"Model Home" was erected for training in domestic industry. In 
1894-95, a fine new manual training building was erected, largely by 
the labor of the students themselves. 1 n this there are the usual machine 
shops for the working of wood and metal while a printing office is attached 
and arrangements have been made for the introduction of other forms 
of productive industry. The completion of this building marked the 
addition of about $50,000 to the college equipment during the previous 
thirteen years, and made the educational plant of the institution consist 
of eleven buildings, estimated to be worth $130,000. 

In the last three years several small buildings have been erected to 
accommodate the increased attendance, among them a dormitory, fur- 
nishing rooms for about 20 young men, given by A. P. Kichols, of 
Haverhill, Mass. A new department of horticulture and biology. 



BEREA COLLEGE. 189 

including forestry, has also been created, the aim being to make this 
an important feature, and thus, as President Frost expresses it, "bring 
down the great arm of science to help the poor." ^ Within the present 
summer a new building for the practical scientific departments of the 
institution has been partially completed. The complement of apparatus 
in these departments is now quite good, while the college- library has 
increased to about 13,000 volumes, and bookbinding has been added 
to the list of productive industries. All these make the educational 
facilities offered at Berea among the best to be found in the State. 

The college has not for several years been aided by the American 
Missionary Association or any other benevolent society, but has 
depended on the income from its endowment, the small amount received 
from student fees, and the contributions of those interested in its 
work. With the growing wants of the institution, the amount annually 
required from this last source has of late been about $12,000. To meet 
this constantly recurring deficit, which is likely to increase rather than 
diminish, the friends of the institution have lately endeavored to 
increase its endowment by $200,000. The practical beginning of this 
movement was made at the commencement of June, 1895, when Dr. 
D. K. Pearsons, of Chicago, 111., pledged himself to give $50,000 to the 
college funds if an additional $150,000 should be raised. An earnest 
effort was at once inaugurated to fulfill the conditions of this generous 
donation, the students of the college themselves contributing several 
thousand dollars for this purpose. The effort has since been zealously 
prosecuted and, despite the stringency of financial affairs, seems likely 
to be soon crowned with success, as by the middle of the present 
summer $85,000 of the conditional amount had been subscribed. 

The annual matriculation of the institution has continued to increase 
during President Frost's administration, reaching 597 in all depart- 
ments in 1896-97, and approximating 700 in the year just closed. 
Among the students of late have been a number from various Northern 
States, as many as 12 States of that section having recently contributed 
matriculates. In 1896-97 21 States of the Union were represented by 
the whole student body. For a number of years past the ratio of white 
to colored students has been constantly increasing, until now the former 
are considerably in the majority in the institution. 

Berea has maintained a high standard of scholarship, which, com- 
bined with the limited means of most of her students, has made her 
college classes small and her number of graduates each year few. The 
usual number of graduates annually since 1873 has been three or four, 
except in the last two years, during which there have been about twelve 
graduated each year. The number of alumni at present approximates 
100. Of these several have distinguished themselves in teaching, jour- 
nalism, and the ministry, as alst) in political and business life. 

The course of instruction in the collegiate department is divided into 

1 Personal letter of March 19, 1898. 



190 HISTORY OF HIGHER KDUC^ATION IN KENTUCKY. 

the departments of English, history, political 8(;ience, i)hilosophy, x>eda- 
gogics, evidences of Christianity, i)hysics and astronomy, chemistry 
and mineralogy, biology, geology, mathematics, Latin language and 
literature, Greek language and literature, German, and Bible and 
Christian religion. The usual combinations of these subjects lead to 
the three degree courses, of four years each, already indicated, consid- 
erable latitude being allowed in the shaping of one's course by the choice 
of elective studies, which may be substituted for others usual in each 
course. There are also an academic or preparatory department, with 
a four years' course of instruction ; a normal department, with a three 
years' course, with model primary, intermediate, and grammar schools, 
extending through six years, attached; a department of industry, 
including manual training, printing, horticulture, and domestfc science; 
a department of music, drawing, and painting, and a business school. 
A diploma is conferred for the successful completion of the courses in 
the normal department and the department of music, while a certificate 
is granted in like manner in the business school. 

The faculty of the collegiate, academic, and normal departments was, 
in June, 1898, constituted as follows: Rev. William Goodell Frost, Ph.D., 
president, professor of mental and moral philosophy, and lecturer on 
education; llev. John Gregg Fee, A.M., lecturer on evidences of Chris- 
tianity and Biblical literature, emeritus; Le Vant Dodge, A. M., pro- 
fessor of political science and acting professor of mathematics, registrar; 
Eev. Bruce Samuel Hunting, A. IM., principal of preparatory depart- 
ment and professor of Latin; Alwin Ethelstiui Todd, A. M., professor 
of natural sciences, librarian; Silas Cheever Mason, M. S., acting pro- 
fessor of horticulture and biology; Kev. Henry Mixter Penniman, pro- 
fessor of Christian evidences; Miss Josephine A. liobinson, A. B., 
principal of the ladies' department and instructor in mathematics; 
Miss Katharine Gilbert, A. M., instructor in English, German, and 
French; Ernest Green Dodge, A. M., acting professor of Greek and 
instructor in mathematics; Edward Brice Evans, A. B., instructor in 
history and Latin; Mrs. Eliza H. Yocum, A. M., instructor in methods 
of teaching and dean of the normal department. This faculty has 
been much strengthened during the present summer by the addition of 
George T. Fairchild, LL. 1)., who is an educator of repute, recently 
connected with the Kansas State Agricultural College, and is, at Berea, 
to occupy the chair of English, and also to become vice-president of the 
college. Besides the faculty just enumerated, the adjunct departments 
of music and industry and the model and commercial schools employ 
L5 other teachers and instructors, making the total educational corps 
to include 28 teachers. 

The plan upon which Berea is conducted in regard to the races is 
not indorsed by a very large proportion of the citizens of the State in 
which it is located, but these have, as a rule, long ago ceased to exer- 
cise even antipathy toward the institution, which, on its part, proceeds 



LYNNLAND INSTITUTE. 191 

upon what it considers its own special mission without any spirit of 
condemnation for those who think and do differently. There is no 
doubt that the institution has done a great educational work for 
classes in Kentucky especially who, at least until the present, would 
otherwise have been much neglected and among whom there is yet 
much to be done. It has acccomplished much in the way of furnishing 
well-equipped teachers for the colored schools throughout the South, 
and its departments of manual training and jiroductive industry, upon 
which it is now putting emphasis, are calculated especially to do much 
for the colored race in the future. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Berea College, au interesting history, published by the approval of the prudential 
committee (of the board of trustees), Cincinnati, 1883. 

Special report of the United States Bureau of Education on educational exhibits 
and conventions at the New Orleans Exposition, Washington, 1886, contains a 
sketch of the college by President Fairchild. 

The sketch of the college has been based mainly on the above two authorities, 
but use has also been made of Collins's and Perrin, Battle and Knitien's histories, Hen- 
dereon's Centennial Exhibits, and Barnard's .Journal of Edncatio'n, as well as the 
other sources of information, the use of which is taken for granted. 

LYNNLAND MALE AND FEMALE INSTITUTE, GLENDALE. 

This institution, although bearing the name of institute, is entitled 
to a place in this monograph by reason of its work being of a grade 
equal to that of many other schools of the State which bear more pre- 
tentious titles. The school arose from a local demand for higher edu- 
cation and had its origin in an association of well to do farmers of the 
vicinity of Glendale, Hardin County, who about the early part of 186G 
organized themselves into a stock company for the promotion of edu- 
cation in their midst and subscribed a sufficient amount to purchase an 
eligible location of something over 100 acres adjacent to the Louisville 
and Nashville liailroad and to erect on it a large and imposing build- 
ing. This structure is situated iu the midst of a beautiful campus of 
10 acres, shaded with native oaks, and cost about $2S,000, including its 
equipment, which embraced quite a good complement, for the time, of 
chemical and philosophical apparatus. Among those who may be 
mentioned as mainly instrumental in promoting the enterprise were 
T. J. Jeffries, William Sprigg, Samuel Sprigg, Henry Sprigg, and J. H. 
Gaither, who composed its first board of trusteed. 

The institution was first opened, under the name of Lynnland Insti- 
tute, in the autumn of 18G6, and had Rev. Mr. Colson as its first princi- 
pal. Tbe views of its projectors soon enlarged, and in 1867 they secured 
a charter for the institute, conferring upon it all the usual collegiate 
powers and privileges. It had been originally intended primarily to 
meet a Iocs eda ional want in the neighborhood in which it was 
Bitaated an s maintained somewhat of a local character, 

althani^ fl ng many students from other parts of the 




192 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY, 

State and elsewhere. It has never been put on a distinctively denom- 
inational basis, but has since its foundation been conducted in a general 
way under the auspices of Salem Baptist Association. 

In the fall of 180S (Jen. W. F. Perry, who has been prominent in 
educational circles in Alabama and Kentucky, both before and since, 
took Rev. Mr. Colson's place as executive head of the institution and 
thus became its first president under its college charter which then 
went into operation. President Perry had associated with him in the 
various departments a faculty of six teachers, under whom a coarse of 
instruction embracing preparatory, academic, and collegiate depart- 
ments was instituted. Jn order to properly prepare its own students 
for the work of its higher classes, and to meet the needs of the com- 
munity in which it is located, the institute has always found it neces- 
sary to maintain a preparatory department and even, for part of the 
time during its history, a primary department. Regular college courses 
leading to the degrees of bachelor of arts and bachelor of science were 
conducted during President Perry's administration. This lasted eleven 
years, and during that time the reputation of the school throughout 
the State grew to be considerable. 

Its annual matriculation during this period varied from about 75 to 
160, and its graduates numbered about 75, some of whom have become 
prominent in the various professions, especially that of teaching. The 
institution was coeducational from the beginning, being thus among 
the first schools of the State to try this educational experiment. Its 
standard of scholarship was always high, but it was not a financial 
success at the time, and so went into the hands of a receiver in 1879, 
at which time General Perry resigned its presidency. 

It was then closed for several years and its building was partiaUy 
used as a residence. In 1889 its proi)erty, which had been acquired by 
one of its former trustees, was purchased by Professors E. W. Elrod 
and E. W. White, who for several years had as co-principals been 
successfully conducting Liberty College, at Glasgow, Ky., then an exclu- 
sive female college. In like manner in the autumn of that year Lynn- 
land was reopened by them as an institution for young ladies only, 
although still under the siune charter and bearing the same title. 

The course of instruction under the new order of things included 
departments of music and art, as w^ell as of English history, mental and 
moral philosophy, mathematics, Latin, modern languages, and natural 
science, different combinations of which led, as formerly, to the degree 
of bachelor of arts and bachelor of science. Five other teachers were 
associated with the principals in the work of teaching, and during the 
first year of their administration 54 pupils were in attendance, two of 
whom were graduated at the end of the year. In the following year 
the attendance increased so that additional boarding accommodations 
had to be i>rovided, while the graduating class had three members. 
During the next session an additional building \vas erected, so that 50 



CENTRAL UNIVERSITY. 193 

boarders could be accommodated, and about $2,000 was spent in enlarg- 
ing and modernizing tlie scientific apparatus of the institution. For 
the next three years the annual matriculation was about 60, and 11 
students were graduated. The standard of scholarship and the repu- 
tation of the institution were good in comparison with similar institu- 
tions throughout the State, but, for a second time, owing it seems to 
the panic of 1893, it was not a financial success, and in 1895 had to 
be relinquished by Professors Elrod and White, who have since been 
connected with Georgetown College, Kentucky. The property was then 
purchased by Prof. W. B. Gwynn, who took charge in 1895 and has 
since conducted the institution, haying changed it back to its original 
coeducational basis, as is shown by its present title. At the opening 
of his administration considerable improvements were made in the 
buildings and equipment of the institute generally, and during the first 
year 63 students were matriculated. The faculty at the time and since 
has been composed of six teachers. The attendance has recently risen 
to 80. During the three years, respectively, Professors G. H. Watts, 
Jacob Fisher, and Thomas A. Binford have been vice-presidents. The 
course of instruction has been retained substantially as it was formerly, 
and the graduates for this period number 7. The institution seems to 
be making good and substantial progress and to have excellent pros- 
pects for the future. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The facts of the earlier history of the institute have been furnished by President 
Perry. Its later history has been compiled almost entirely from catalogues. 

CENTRAL TJNIVBBSITY, RICHMOND. 

Central University is composed of a college of philosophy, letters, and 
science, a college of law, and a preparatory school located in Richmond, 
Ky., a college of medicine and a college of dentistry located in Louis- 
ville, Ky., and three preparatory and training schools located in other 
parts of the State. As the principal executive office of the institution 
is situated in Richmond, that place is considered more especially as the 
seat of the university. It is, in organization, one of the youngest can- 
didates for public favor among the institutions for higher education in 
Kentucky, but in a comparatively short while has won a right to stand 
beside the older colleges of the State in rank and influence. It is also, 
in the extensive use of the term, at least, more nearly a real university 
than any other institution in the State, having more coordinate depart- 
ments than any other school has or has had, except Kentucky University 
for a short period in its early history. 

Central University was established under the auspices and is now, 
in a sense, under the control of the Kentucky synod of the Southern 
Presbyterian Church, and is historically the outgrowth of the educa- 
tional spirit of the Presbyterians of Kentucky, which was shown in the 
original foundation of Transylvania Seminary and later of Kentucky 
2127— No. 26 13 



194 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY, 

Academy and then of Centre College, of the last of wbich, as its name 
implies, Central University is both a continaation and a sister institu- 
tion, standing in the same relation to the Sonthern Presbyterian Church 
as the older college does to tlio original denominational organization in 
the State. 

The foundation of the university is the result of two simultaneous 
movements, the participants in each of which recognized independ- 
ently of each other the need of such an institution to serve the object 
they had in view. The first of these was a church movement, origi- 
nating within the State synod of the Southern Presbyterian Church. 
It began after the conference held at Lexington in November, 1870, 
between representatives of that bcnly and of Kentucky synod of the 
Presbyterian Church, ordinarily called in contradistinction the I^orth- 
em Presbyterian Church, in regard to the question of the adjustment 
of the property rights of the two bodies in Centre College, had proved 
barren of results in reaching any agreement which would give the 
synod of the Southern church any share in the management of that 
institution. The Southern synod accordingly determined to establish 
a college of similar compass under its own control, and at its next 
meeting in November, 1871, resolutions were passed upon motion of 
Dr. Stuart Robinson, of Louisville, looking toward the immediate 
endowment and equipment of such an institution. The synod at first 
only aimed to establish a denominational college of similar rank and 
scope with Centre, but under the intluence of the other movement just 
referred to, which occurred at the same time, was induced to enlarge its 
plans. 

This second movement arose from the conviction of a number of 
cultured men that there was a need in the State of a broad and com- 
prehensive university which, while not put on a sectarian basis, should 
be conducted under Christian auspices. This feeling was voiced by an 
enthusiastic convention, composed mainly of Centre College alumni, 
held in Lexington on May 7 and 8, 1872, which organized itself into a 
permanent alumni association, and memorialized synod, about to meet 
in the same place, in reference to the immediate establishment of such 
an institution under its patronage, promising an earnest cooperation in 
the design, enthusiasm in behalf of which was shown by the prompt 
subscription by the members of the convention of $50,000 toward an 
endowment fund. The memorial of the convention shows its spirit by 
the following statement, among others: 

It is the sense of this convent! ou that steps be taken to at once establish on a 
broad and liberal basis an institntion of the highest order under the anspices of 
the synod of Kentucky, and thus carry out tlie earnest wishes of the fatheis as 
demonstrated by the establishment of Centre College, now lost to this charch.' 

It was also proposed that the new institution should be condaoted 
under the joint control of the synod and the association. 



1 Catalogue of 1894-95, p. 4. 



CENTRAL UNIVERSITr, 195 

This plan was generously responded to by the synod, and on May 8 
a joint committee was appointed by the two bodies to prepare a plan 
and charter carrying out this combined system of government for the 
projected institution, to take measures to secure for it a desirable 
location, and to arrange for and prosecute its endowment, which it was 
proposed should not be less than $150,000 before the university should 
be opened, while it was aimed to make it at least $500,000. 

Among those who may be mentioned beside Dr. liobinson as taking 
a prominent part in pushing forward the enterprise, either as members 
of the association or the synod, were Rev. Daniel Breck, D. D., Eev. 
E. Douglas, D. D., Eev. J. Y. Logan, D. D., Eev. L. H. Blanton, D. D., 
Hon. T. W. Bullitt, Ool. Bennett H. Young, and Joseph Chambers, esq. 

The enthusiasm for the undertaking on the part of the two cooper- 
ating organizations was vigorous from the beginning, as shown by the 
liberal subscriptions made by their members for its endowpent, which 
with that secured by the committee soon exceeded $100,000. A charter, 
which had been drawn up by the committee, was also adopted by both 
bodies, and was approved by the State legislature on March 3, 1873. 
This instrument provided for the inauguration, with full powers, of all 
the departments of a university, arranging for the opening of a college 
of philosophy, letters, and science, on the model of the best univer- 
sities, in conjunction with which as many as six preparatory, or fitting, 
schools might be established in different portions of the State, and 
also stating that the institution shall provide for the establishment, '^as 
soon as it may be done with advantage, of a department of law and a 
department of medicine. It shall also afford every facility for the 
establishment by the synod of Kentucky of a department of theology, 
either of itself or in conjunction with any of its co-synods or its 
assembly." ^ 

The university in its origin was thus only denominational in the 
sense that its proposed theological department was to be controlled as 
just indicated, and the power of appointing its professor of ethics was 
to be vested in the synod of Kentucky. The donors of. its endow- 
ment, who, under the name of the Alumni Association of General 
University, were to elect their successors from among the alumni of 
the institution, as these came forth, or from such of its liberal bene- 
factors as they might select, really owned and directed it, as by them 
was appointed a board of five trustees, elected for t6n years, who 
looked after its funds, and a board of seven curators, one elected each 
year, to whom the direct management of its affairs in other respects 
was intrusted. This oversight, peculiar to the institution, gave all the 
safeguards that are to be found in ecclesiastical supervision and control, 
and at the same time guarded against the tendencies to sectarianism 
incident to such direction under its ordinary forms. 

By an act of April 17, 1884, the old board of trustees and curators 

1 Section 7 of charter of 1S73. 



196 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

was (lone away witli and the governing body of the institution was 
made to consist of a chancellor and fifteen curators, two-thirds of the 
latter being required to be members of the alamni association and 
three of them being elected each year by the synod. This has made the 
institution somewhat more denominational, but not materially so, as 
the essential principle of the former arrangement, which is calculated 
to insj)ire confidence and arouse favor on the part of the public gen- 
erally, has been retained. At the same time the additional beneficial 
effect has followed of causing the synod to take more interest in the 
institution and to further its progress more materially, as has been 
shown by the gifts since received from that source to the endowment. 

The internal organization of the institution is also somewhat peculiar. 
It is composed of independent colleges, with a president at the head of 
each who directs its special work. The chief executive oflBcer of the 
whole university is a chancellor, who, under the general direction and 
control of the curators, is charged with the general supervision of its 
affairs, both financial and educational, and thus imparts unity of aim 
and purpose to the entire organization. One of the chief functions of 
the chancellor is to look after the enlargement of the endowment of the 
institution. 

The first preliminary step looking toward the opening of the uni- 
versity took place on April 29, 1873, when its incorx>orators met in 
Louisville and effected a permanent organization, after which it was 
arranged to settle the question of the location of the institution through 
a vote of the alumni association and others who had subscribed to its 
funds. In this way it was first located, on May 13 of that year, at 
Anchorage, near Louisville, and a temporary organization of the insti- 
tution took place at Louisville on May 29 following. This selection 
was afterwards revoked by the same body that made it, and new bids 
having been solicited, on November 11, 1873, it was permanently organ- 
ized at Eichmoud, which place was finally decided upon as its perma- 
nent seat. That town had offered, as an inducement to secure the 
institution, $101,355,^ which, together with the subscriptions already 
secured, made a total of $220,000 provided at that time to furnish an 
equipment and endowment for the institution. 

This was regarded as only the beginning of the endowment proposed, 
but was considered sufficient to justify the inauguration of the enter- 
prise, waiting for the future to develop more fully the aims in view. 
Accordingly, the board of curators, at a meeting held in Bichmond on 
December 30, 1873, unanimously resolved to open the colleges of phi- 
losophy, letters and science, and of law, and a first-class preparatory 
school in the following September. An appropriation was made for 
purchasing a suitable campus, and $30,000 was set apart for the con- 
struction of the main college building; spacious and beautiful grounds 



1 Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 246r. Bardstown and Paris were alao 
strong competitors for the location. 



CENTRAL UNIVERSITY. 197 

adjoining tlie town and lying in a square nearly one-fourth of a mile to 
the side were soon secured, and a large and handsome brick building 
four stories in height, and containing a commodious chapel, a library, 
laboratories, and lecture rooms, erected. 

In this fine new structure the university was opened on September 
22, 1874. Rev. Stuart Robinson, D. D., had been made its chancel- 
lor at first, and Rev. R. L. Breck, D. D., vice-chancellor and active 
endowment agent; but Dr. Robinson soon retired from the chancellor- 
ship, the duties of which from the beginning seem to have been dis- 
charged by Dr. Breck. The first president of the college of philosophy, 
letters, and science was Rev. J. W. Pratt, D. D., the faculty of this 
department, as announced in its first annual catalogue, being consti- 
tuted as follows: Rev. J. W. Pratt, D. D., president and professor of 
the English language and literature and oratory; Rev. L. G. Barbour, 
A. M., professor of pure and applied mathematics and astronomy; W. 
G. Richardson, A, M., professor of Latin and French; Rev. J. Y. 
Logan, A. M., professor of logic and biblical literature and the synod's 
professor of ethics; Rev. R. L. Breck, D. D.,^ professor of psychology 
and political science; J. Alston Cabell, C. E., M. E., B. S., professor of 
physics; Hugh A. Moran, A. B., lecturer on history and mythology; 
W. M. Willson, A. M., professor of Greek; A. K. Gordon, B. P., 
adjunct professor of mathematics, and B. Harrison Waddell, A. M., 
professor of German and adjunct professor of ancient languages. 

The law college had a faculty of threo professors, with C. F. Burn- 
ham, LL. D., as president. Just prior to the opening of these depart- 
ments the medical college of the university was organized in Louisville, 
under the name of the Hospital College of Medicine, and its first pre- 
liminary term opened there on September 7, 1874. It had a faculty of 
nine professors and several assistants, its first president being E. D. 
Foree, M. D., and its first dean William Boiling, M. D. This depart- 
ment and the college of dentistry, which has since been added as a new 
department to the university, have been located in Louisville, particu- 
larly on account of the superior clinical advantages ofitered by a large 
city. The history of these colleges will be reserved for a subsequent 
portion of this article, our attention being confined for the present to 
the general history of the university, and particularly of those depart- 
ments of it located at Richmond. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE RICHMOND DEPARTMENTS. . 

During the first session of the college of philosophy, letters, and 
science, 117 students were in attendance, 36 of whom were in the colle- 
giate department. A regular college course was inaugurated from the 
beginning. It contained the nine departments of Latin, Greek, ethics, 
evidences of Christianity and logic, metaphysics and political economy, 

*Dr. Breck at tbia time held a cliair as well as discharged the duties of the chan- 
ceUorship^ an arraugement not now in operation. 



198 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

matbematics, Eiiglish language and literature, physics and chemistry, 
mineralogy and geology, and modern languages, the completion of the 
last five of which led to the degree of bachelor of science, while all 
but the last were required for the degree of bachelor of arts. The 
college had at its opening a good supply of scientific apparatus and a 
library of nearly 1,000 volunies. Its annual matriculation during the 
early years of its history was fairly well sustained, being usually about 
100, and its first graduating class of five bachelors of arts and one 
bachelor of science was sent out in 1877. 

Owing to the relation, already mentioned, in which the chancellor 
stands to the institution, a 1 argc part of the responsibility of its manage- 
ment naturally falls on him, and upon him in a great measure depends 
its success. A large share of the subsequent prosperity of Central 
University has been due to the earnest, self-sacrificing efforts of its 
first active chancellor. Dr. Breck, who, although comparatively young, 
had become a recognized leader of his church in Kentucky, and was a 
man of strong convictions and unwavering courage. He threw himself 
with all the enthusiasm of his nature into the work of organizing and 
equipping the institution, and to him are its foundations largely due. 
''To his zeal, eflBciency, energy, and weight, more than to any other 
man's, Central University is indebted for its establishment."^ He even 
sacrificed his health in its service and on that account was soon com- 
pelled to sever his connection with it. 

The institution then for a time experienced dark days. Owing to the 
general financial stringency of the period of its foundation, trouble had 
been experienced in collecting the subscriptions to its funds, and its 
affairs otherwise looked so gloomy that Dr. Pratt resigned the presi- 
dency of the college of letters, and its law college, which had opened 
propitiously, was compelled to suspend for lack of sufficient support. 
Many friends of the university had begun to despa,ir of its success, when, 
in looking for a desirable chancellor, the attention of the board of 
curators was drawn to the qualifications of a man comparatively young 
but known as an efficient pastor, possessing energy, ability, and varied 
scholarship, as well as enthusiasm in the cause of education. 

This man, Rev. L. H. Blanton, D. D., was selected in 1880 as Dr. 
Breck's successor in the chancellorship of the university, and with his 
accession to office in the summer of that year a new era dawned 
upon the institution. Dr. Blanton, being a man of great executive 
ability, with an intuitive knowledge of men, and broad and liberal 
views of college admiuistrati'on, besides being prudent in financial mat- 
ters and practical in his business plans, has built wisely niK>n the 
foundations laid by Dr. Breck. His energy and hopefulness soon so 
dispelled the atmosphere of doubt and discouragement hanging over 
the institution that men of liberal means began to pour their contriba- 
tions into its endowment fund and in a short time its prominence and 



1 Green's Historic Families of Keu tacky, p. 214. 



CENTRAL UNIVERSITY. 199 

future prosperity were completely assured. All of his efforts to udvaucd 
the interests of the university were ably assisted by Eev. J. V, Logan^ 
D. D., who had formerly been the synod's professor of ethics in its 
faculty, but had been elected to the presidency of its college of philoso- 
phy, letters, and science at the time of Dr. Blanton's accession to its 
chancellorship. These ofiBcers have since retained their respective 
positions and have efficiently cooperated in the successful management 
of the institution in whose foundation they had both taken an active 
interest. 

During the first year of the new administration the number of stu- 
dents considerably increased and about $40,000 was added to the 
endowment; during the second year the new endowment fund, which 
synod proposed to make $100,000, was raised to half that amount, 
while the matriculation was enlarged from 109, in the preceding year, 
to 149. The history of the institution has since been one of improve- 
ment and enlargement in many directions. 

Although the completion of the endowment proposed by synod 
had to be suspended in 1883, on account of the general financial strin- 
gency, the movement has since continued and much more than the 
amount then had in view has been obtained. In the early part of 1886, 
within sixty days, contributions aggregating about $100,000 were made 
by a few generous friends of the institution in Kentucky, while in 1890 
$30,000 more was received, and in 1895 $10,000. These gifts, together 
with the additions that had been made to its general equipment, made 
the total value of the property and funds of the university in April, 
1896, approximate $325,000. As will be noticed elsewhere, recent 
enlargements of the equipment have since taken place. A new plan of 
endowment has also recently been adopted, as a beginning of which one 
subscription of $8,500 has already been made. 

Among the larger contributors to the different funds of the univer- 
sity since 1880 have been Mr. and Mrs. S. P. Walters, $30,000^ Hon. 
fl. W.McBrayer, $30,000; Mr. Orville Ford, $20,000; Hon. D. O. Col- 
lins, $12,000; Mr. A. J. Alexander, $30,000; Mrs. Mary R. Kinkead, 
$10,000; Mrs. John McClintock, $5,000; Mrs. Mary J. Lyons, $5,000; 
Col. Bennett H. Young, $10,000; Mr. William T. Grant, $10,000, and 
Hon. W. N. Haldeman, $10,000. The Walters professorship of applied 
mathematics, the McBrayer professorship of the Bible and Christian 
evidences, the Ford professorship of English and modern languages, 
the Alexander professorship of philosophy, the Mary R. Kinkead 
memorial, the McClintock memorial, and the Lyons lectureship have 
been named in honor of those who mainly or wholly endowed them. 

The different contributions which have been mentioned have mainly 
become part of the productive endowment, but from this and other 
sources during this period material additions have been made both to 
the buildings and educational apparatus of the university. A plan 
was inaugurated in connection with the celebration of the centennial^ 



' This centennial was celebrated at Ilarrodsburg in October^ 1883. 



200 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

of the establishment of Presbyterianism in Kentucky by the synod of 
the Southern Presbyterian Church, in accordance with which the ladies 
of that church in the State raised a fund from which was constructed 
^n the university campus, as a fitting memorial of that event, Memo- 
rial Hall. This building, which will furnish accommodations for over 
50 young men, and cost, with its furniture, $20,000, was completed in 
September, 1883, and is intended to furnish to deserving students a 
comfortable college home at a very moderate cost. In that year also 
the institution received by bequest a valuable contribution to its equip- 
ment in the form of the library of the late Eev. E. W. Landis, D. D., 
of Danville, Ky., which contained about 3,000 volumes. In 1890 a 
handsome new building was erected for the preparatory department, 
in connection with which a hall was equipped with the best modem 
gymnastic apparatus. In 1892 the complement of apparatus in physics 
and chemistry was materially increased, and in 1898 Mr. 0. 0. Cooper, 
of Dayton, Ky., presented to the university museum a valuable collec- 
tion of typical fossils. The previous means provided for physical 
training had not proven sufficient to meet the enlarged needs of the 
institution, and during the present summer, through the liberality of 
two generous ladies of Eichmond, a fine new gymnasium is being con- 
structed, which will furnish splendid facilities in that line for some 
time to come. 

With the growth of its endowment and equipment a similar expan- 
sion has taken place in the scope and character of the work done by 
the institution, new departments and new courses of instruction hav- 
ing been added from time to time, and so its position as a true univer- 
sity more fully attained. In 1887 a college of dentistry was estab- 
lished in Louisville as a new department, and in 1891 a provisional 
class in theology was instituted, and tbe collection of an endowment 
begun looking toward the opening of a college of theology. This latter 
department will not, however, now i)robably be added to the university, 
as its need was supplied by the establishment of Louisville Presby- 
terian Theological Seminary in 1893, in the foundation of which the 
officers and friends of the university took a prominent part. Between 
1891 and 1896 three new preparatory schools were attached to the 
institution in different parts of the State, and in 1897 a new college of 
law was opened in Richmond. These, as well as the college of den- 
tistry, will be noticed later, as we shall confine our attention for the 
I)reseut to improvements which have been made in the curriculum of 
the college of philosophy, letters, and science. 

The previous additions to the endowment allowed two new members 
to be added to the faculty in 1882, when a beginning was made in 
raising the standard of scholarship, which has gone on until it has 
reached the level of that of the older institutions of the State. In 
1884 the scientific course was strengthened and brought up to a level 
with the classical course by having all the departments of instmetion 



CENTRAL UNIVEBSITY. 201 

added to the former, except Latin and Greek, while part of the depart- 
ment of natural science was made optional in the latter. In 1886 
large contributions to the endowment enabled the faculty to widen the 
curriculum and introduce a system of partial electives into the junior 
and senior classes, which enabled the student to shape his course more 
in accordance with his special needs and tastes. The increase of the 
endowment having continued, new departments of instruction were 
instituted and two new members added to the faculty, one in 1891 and 
another in 1892, the department of natural science having been pre- 
viously subdivided and its work more specialized, while in 1891 a new 
course leading to the degree of bachelor of letters was established. 
It substitutes modern languages, English, and history for the Greek 
and part of the mathematics and science of the bachelor of arts 
course. This gives the institution three regular degree courses,^ in each 
of which the master's degree may be obtained by an additional year of 
regular study at the university and the preparation of an acceptable 
thesis in some special field of research. 

In 1893 a new department of military science and tactics, regarded, 
aside from the useful information it imparts, as a valuable auxiliary to 
physical development and to discipline, completed the present curricu- 
lum, which is composed of the departments of Latin, Greek, mathe- 
matics, physics and astronomy, English language and literature, mod- 
ern languages, philosophy, history and political science, chemistry, 
biology and geology, commercial science, the Bible and Christian evi- 
dences, and military science and tactics. The preparatory department 
attached to the college haa a course of four years, especially designed 
to fit students for one of the college courses. 

The annual matriculation of the university has kept pace well with 
its progress in other respects. The number of students in attendance 
upon the college of philosophy uniformly increased until 217 were mem- 
bers of its various classes in 1891-92. The average matriculation for 
the past six years in this department has approximated 200, as many 
as nine states having recently been represented at one time, and has 
not been reduced as much as that of several other institutions of simi- 
lar grade in the State. The matriculation of all the departments of 
the university as a whole has steadily risen during this period, reach- 
ing a total of 807 in 1895-96, of 859 in 1896-97, and of 978 in 1897-98. 

The proportion of students in the higher classes of the college of 
philosophy has, in late years, been very materially increased and the 
size of the graduating classes in that department has accordingly 
enlarged. From 6 to 15 graduates have been sent out by the college 
every year since 1880, until in 1897-98 the graduating class numbered 
25 regular degree students, the largest in the history of the institution. 

^ Diplomas are conferred in each department, the requisite number of these lead- 
ing to a degree. Special students are also allowed to take courses for which they 
have the proper preparation. 



202 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IS KENTUCKY. 

There have been alto<;ether in the different degree coorses of the col- 
lege 224 graduates, of whom l.'U have taken the degree of A. B., 09 
that of H. S., and 21 that of B. L. Many of these have entered the 
different learned profensions, e8i>ecially the ministry and teaching, and 
in the comparatively short x>6riod since the foundation of the institu- 
tion have won an honorable position in their chosen fields of labor. 

The board of curators in tSOG, in accordance with the ideas now 
largely prevailing in Kentucky, opened the privileges of the institution 
t() young ladies from Madison County,* about 12 of whom were in 
atten<lan(;e in 1896-07 and about 15 in 1897-98. On March 10, 1898, 
having deemed the experiment a success, the board, by resolution, 
threw the doors of the eolh^ge fully open to young women upon the 
same terms as to young men, thus making the institution fidly 
coeducational. 

The following constitute the corps of administration and instruction 
in the college of philosophy, letters, and science, an assistant in each 
of the dei)artment8 of elocution, the classics, chemistry, history, and 
mathematics not being enumerated: L. H. Blantou, D. D., chancellor; 
J. V. Logan, D. D,, LL. J)., president, synod's professor of ethics and 
evidences, and professor of psychology and logic; L. G. Barbour, D. D., 
LL. 1)., i)rofe8Hor of history and Bible; J. T. Akers, Ph. D., Ford pro- 
fessor of English language and literature, and professor of modern 
languages; 0. G. Crooks, M. A., Walters professor of mathematics; 
liobert M. Parks, Ph. 1)., professor of chemistry; A. Wilkes Smith, 
D, D. S., M. D., professor of physiology; Gordon Paxton, M, A., pro- 
fessor of Latin; Lieut. S. P. Vestal, D. S. A., professor of military 
science and tactics; Edwin L. Green, Ph. D., professor of Greek; J. H. 
Chandler, B. L., adjunct professor of English. 

COLLEGE OF LAW. 

As already noted, this new department, or rather an old department 
revived, was attached to the university in 1897. It is located in Bich- 
niond and is operated in conjunction with the college of philosophy, 
letters, and science, to whose classes its matriculates have access with- 
out additional expense. The college was opened on October 1, 1897, 
and had 12 students during its first year. It has an able faculty of 
three members, with William Chenault, LL. D., as its executive head. 
Professor Chenault was for a number of years a professor in the law 
department of the University of Louisville, as well as dean of the 
institution, and is known as one of the leading teachers of law in the 
South and West. 

The methods of instruction in the college are by recitation, lecture, 
and case study, combined with frequent quizzes and reviews in the 
dilVerent Sttudies of the course, the whole being illustrated and 
enforced by a moot court, which meets regularly. It is aimed to give 

^ The county in which KiohmoDil is situated. 



CENTRAL UNIVERSITY. 203 

the student both a theoretical and practical knowledge of the law and 
to fit him directly for practice. The course of instruction extends over 
two years and embraces all the subjects usually pursued in the best 
law schools of the country. It leads to the degree of bachelor of laws. 
A number of lectures upon special topics are given, in addition to the 
regular course, by distinguished members of the Kentucky bar. The 
following constitute the regular members of the present faculty: Wil- 
liam Chenault, LL. D., president, professor of elementary law, pleading, 
commercial law, real property, and criminal law; J. V. Logan, LL, D., 
professor of political science and civics; K. W. Miller, A. B., LL. B,, 
' professor of contracts, torts, evidence, equity and corporations. 

UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOLS. 

One of the most prominent features in the history of the development 
of the university during the past seven years has been the establish- 
ment, in conjunction with it, of three new high schools in different por- 
tions of the State, which have proven important auxiliaries to its work. 
Its charter, as before mentioned, provides for the foundation of six such 
schools, but only one, the preparatory school at Kichmond, instituted 
at the opening of the university, had been established up to 1891. In 
that year a second one, known as Jackson Collegiate Institute, was 
opened at Jackson, while in 1892 a third, named Hardin Collegiate 
Institute, was established at Elizabethtown, and in 1896 a fourth, 
called Middlesboro University School, at Middlesboro. 

These schools are not intended merely as preparatory schools to the 
university, but are also to furnish a good well rounded English educa- 
tion to such as can pursue their education no further, and especially to 
furnish well-trained teachers for the public schools of the State. So, 
in addition to a regular high- school course of four years extending to 
the junior year of the college of philosophy of the university, they each 
have special commercial and normal courses and the usual ornamental 
departments. The schools at Jackson and Middlesboro especially are 
so situated in the eastern part of the State as to be able to perform 
an important public service in furnishing teachers for a section hitherto 
much neglected educationally, a work upon which the older of these 
schools particularly has already entered with great success. 

The worth of this institution was especially recognized in 1897 by 
the liberal gift, in addition to her previous annual contribution to its 
support, of $5,000 by Mrs. S. P. Lees, of New York City, a native of 
Kentucky, for a new building, while Mrs. N. F. McCoimick, of Chicago, 
111., generously added $5,000 to establish a department of manual train- 
ing. Both donations were made on the condition of an equal amount 
for the same purpose being raised within the State, which was done, and 
a splendid new building, with an excellent equipment for manual train- 
ing, was opened in September, 1897. In honor of these donations the 
school has since been called the S. P. Lees Collegiate Institute, and the 



204 HISTORY OF HKJIIER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

department of manual training the N. F. McCormick School of Manual 
Training. Hardin Collegiate Institute and Middlesboro TTniveraitiy 
School also have excellent buildings and general eqaipment, all three 
of the schools having dormitories for students. All are also coedaca- 
tional. The S. P. Lees Collegiate Institute has had since its foundation 
an annual average matriculation of about 200 students. Its present 
faculty contains 8 teachers. The corresponding figures for Hardin Col- 
legiate Institute are 00 and 5, and for IVIiddlesboro (Jniversity School 
75 and 5. Their res])ective principals are J. M. Moore^ A. M.; Bice Mil- 
ler, A. B., and James li. Sterrett, B. S. 

4 

THE MEDICAL DEPAUTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY — THK HOSPITAIi 

(COLLEGE OF MEDIOINE — LOUISVILLE. 

We have seen that this department of the university was opened in 
Louisville in the same year the college of x)hilosophy was organized in 
Eiehmond. The medical department was from the first located at its 
present situation, on Chestnut street, opposite the city hospital, and 
was called the Hospital College of Medicine. The preliminary session 
of the institution was opened on September 7, 1874, and its first faculty 
was composed of the following regular professors, besides whom there 
were five assistants and demonstrators: B. 1>. Force, LL. D., M. D.; 
Frank 0. Wilson, A. B., M. 1).; William H. Boiling, M. D.; John T. 
Williams, A. M., M, D.; James M. HoUoway, A, M., M. D,; William 
Bailey, A. M., M. D.; John J, Speed, A. M., M. D.; John A.Larrabee, 
M. D., and Dudley S. Eeynolds, A. M., M. D. Dr. Foree was president 
of the faculty and Dr. Boiling its dean. 

The building provided for the institution at its opening was quite a 
comfortable and convenient one, while the course of instruction was the 
two years' course then usual in medical colleges. A modem tone was, 
however, given to this course at the end of the first session by the 
abandonment of the time-honored thesis as a requisite for graduation 
and the substitution of written examinations, in which a high general 
average was required. The beginnings of a fine museum collection 
were at once laid, and clinical exercises and laboratory instruction were 
from the first made a prominent part of the regular curriculum. 

One hundred and three students, representing 22 States of the Union 
and 2 foreign countries, many of whom were advanced students from 
other institutions, were in attendance the first session, and at its close 
the degree of M. D. was conferred upon 57 of these. The classes of 
the institution throughout its history until the last few years have 
been comparatively small, varying in number from 49 to 153 up to 1894, 
but they have for the most i)art been composed of young men of good 
preliminary education, and the college, by reason of its requirements, 
has taken and maintained a high rank among similar institutions, in 
the South and West particularly. 

Its methods have been progressive in every way. Since 1879 espe- 



CENTRAL UNIVERSITY. 205 

cially a strict compliance with its graduation requirements of the com- 
pletion of a two years' lecture course of similar scope to its own, with 
one year's preliminary study, has been enforced by it, and since then 
it has been among the foremost medical schools of the South in raising 
its standard. Under the old system of appointments to positions on 
the resident staff of the city hospital of Louisville by competitive 
examination, the institution from the very first held its own — in fact, 
more than did so — in competition with the older medical colleges of the 
city, often holding all four of the appointments then offered by the 
hospital. 

The equipment of the institution has always been kept up with the 
demands of modern medical education. In 1878 the McOlure cabinet 
of rare and valuable specimens was purchased for it and added to its 
museum, which was thus made quite ample. Its cabinet of materia 
medica was at that time also quite complete, and its dissecting room was 
early made one of the finest in the West. At the beginning of the 
session of 1881-82 a laboratory for the study of general pathology and 
hygiene was equipped, and a laboratory for investigation in bacte- 
riology was also inaugurated as a part of the regular curriculum, the 
latter being presided over by the professor of pathology and hygiene, 
assisted by competent demonstrators. 

At the conclusion of the session of 1881-82 it was considered, for 
various reasons, more desirable to have a considerable portion of the 
annual session in the spring and summer and, accordingly, the next 
session was opened at the beginning of the next year, a practice which 
has since been retained, the sessions beginning on January 1 of each 
year. After this change a fall polyclinical course for advanced students 
and practitioners of medicine was maintained for a number of years, 
but has lately been discontinued. 

For the session of 1887 a standard preliminary educational qualifica- 
tion, embracing the branches of a good English education was exacted 
of all matriculants. While this had the effect of keeping the attend- 
ance comparatively small for a considerable time, it finally resulted in 
the gradual increase in numbers of students possessed of all the neces- 
sary educational training to fit them for an intelligent comprehension of 
the technology of medicine. 

The college has shared in all the organized movements of the profes- 
sion to advance the standard of medical education throughout the 
country. It took part in the convention of medical colleges in Phila- 
delphia in 1870, and was active in its interest in the organization of 
the Association of American Medical College* in Chicago in 1877. It 
was represented at the revival of that association in Nashville in 1890 
and at its full reorganization in Washington in 1891. At both of these 
last two conventions it earnestly supported the establishment in all the 
institutions of the country of a graded course of instruction extending 
through three annual sessions of not less than six months each as a 



206 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

requirement for graduation. As au evidence of its own i)Osition in 
this matter, the Hospital College in 1800 inaugurated such a course, 
with fall re(iuirements for its session of 1801, being the first medical 
college in the South to do so, its preliminary educational requirements 
being at the same time also advanced. The institution has since taken 
a i)rominent part in the councils of the Association and has conformed 
fully to the latter's advanced requirements in all respects, instituting 
in 1805, lor new students entering at that time, the standard course of 
four annual sessions, which must include at least two sessions in dis- 
section and in chenncal instruction, and at least one course of instruc- 
tion iu the laboratories of chemistry, histology, pathology, bacteriology, 
and surgery. 

The equipment of the college, both in the way of buildings and 
apparatus of all kinds, has also been kept up to the demands of the times. 
In 1886, in order to meet enlarged needs and to make more elaborate 
arrangements for laboratory and clinical instruction, new buildings 
were erected and the conveniences of the institution greatly amplified. 
It was at this time that quarters were prepared for the new College of 
Dentistry, which was inaugurated in conjunction with the Hospital 
College in January, 1887. The accommodations then prepared were, 
however, soon insufficient for the two institutions, and so, in 1893, a fine 
new modern four-story brick and stone building was constructed for 
them, which was formally opened on January 2, 1894. It is one of the 
most complete and ample of its kind in the country and furnished 
enlarged facilities in every way for the medical college, having com- 
modious laboratories of histology, microscopy, and practical surgery, in 
addition to those already possessed by the institution, besides affording 
excellent quarters for lecture and recitation rooms, as well as for the 
library and museum. It also oftbred greater opportunities for clinical 
instruction, as the dispensary connected with the college was at that 
time greatly enlarged and its service more thoroughly systematized. 

In 1806, in order to further increase the facilities for clinical instme* 
tion and to furnish students hospital experience and training, a fine 
new hospital, a three-story brick and stone structure of handsome 
design, known as the Gray Street Infirmary, was erected, ai^oining the 
college. It was opened January 1, 1807, and contains four wards, two 
for white and two for colored patients, male and female, with numerous 
private rooms for special and surgical cases, and is built after the most 
approved methods of hospital construction, with all the modem 
appointments. With all its ap[)liances it furnishes clinical advantages 
probably unsurpassed by any similar institution in this country. 

Tlie annual matriculation of the college has largely increased in 
recent years and is now among the largest in the South, its avera^ 
for the past four years having been considerably over 200 regular stu- 
dents, besides a number of others taking special courses. About 30 per 
cent of its students come from the States of Kentucky, Indiitfia^ IllinoiSi 



CENTRAL UNIVERSITY. 207 

and Tennessee. The remainder are from the South and West, hirgely, 
although there are a great many from the Eastern States and some from 
foreign countries. Several times in recent years more States and coun- 
tries have been represented by its matriculates than at its opening. Its 
graduating classes have also gradually increased in size, until that of 
1898 numbered 135, the largest in the history of the institution. The 
total number of graduates to 1898, inclusive, is 996, among whom are 
many prominent practitioners in all branches of the medical profession 
in different parts of the country. 

The methods of instruction in the institution embrace the blending 
of didactic lectures, laboratory work, quizzes, dissections, demonstra- 
tions, and careful clinical teaching by the professors and the chiefs of 
the different clinics. The present curriculum includes the departments 
of anatomy, physiology and hygiene, materia medica and therapeutics, 
chemistry, principles and practice of medicine, surgery, diseases of the 
chest, obstetrics, gynecology and abdominal surgery, diseases of chil- 
dren, ophthalmology and otology, diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and 
throat, diseases of the skin, genitourinary diseases, and medical juris- 
prudence. 

The following are the present regular professors of the college, in 
addition to whom its faculty contains twenty-three clinical professors, 
lecturers, and demonstrators in the various departments: John A. 
Larrabee, M. D., president, professor of obstetrics and diseases of chil- 
dren; Dudley S. Keynolds, A. M., M. D., professor of ophthalmology, 
otology, and medi.cal jurisprudence; Frank O. Wilson, A. B., M. D., 
professor of diseases of the chest and physical diagnosis; Samuel G. 
Dabney, M. D., professor of physiology and hygiene 5 Philip F. Barbour, 
A. B., M. D., professor of medical chemistry and toxicology; Thomas 
Hunt Stucky, M. D., Ph. D., professor of principles and iiractice of 
medicine and clinical medicine; John Edwin Hays, A. M., M. D., pro- 
fessor of anatomy and dermatology; H, Horace Grant, A. M., M. D., 
professor of the principles and practice of surgery and clinical surgery; 
Lewis S. McMurtry, A. M., M. D., professor of gynecology; P. Kichard 
Taylor, M. D., dean, professor of materia medica and therapeutics. 

The following have been the executive officers of the institution since 
its foundation : Presidents— E. D. Force, LL. D., M. D., 1874-1882; Wil- 
liam Bailey, A. M., M. D., 1882-1885; William H. Boiling, M. D.,1885- 
1891; Dudley S. Eeynolds, A. M., M. D., 1891-1893; John A. Larrabee, 
M. D., 1893 to present. Deans— William H. Boiling, M. D., 1874-1885; 
J. Lewis Howe, Ph. D., M. D., F. C. S., 1885-1894; P. Richard Taylor, 
M. D., 1894 to present. 

THE DENTAL DEPARTMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY — LOUISVILLE 

COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY, LOUISVILLE. 

The establishment of this department of Central University at Louis- 
ville in 1887 has already been mentioned. The new college was organ- 
ized in 1886, but, holding its sessions at the same time as those of the 



208 HISTORY OF UIGHER EDUCATION IN KBNTUCKT. 

IIoAX)ital ("olloge of Medicine, was not opened nntil Janiiary 20, 1887. 
It o<*eapie<l the building erected for the two colleges in 1886, bat had 
entirely separate lecture rooms, laboratories, halls, and inflnnary from 
the me<lical college, as it has since had in the later bnilding of 1893. 
The tAvo departments, liowever, to the advantage of both professors 
and students, being thus contiguous, are operated in close conjuuctioni 
several members of their faculties being identical, and the students of 
each having access to the courses of the other without additional 
expense, and being able to take an extra degree in one after complet- 
ing the course in the other, with the saving of at least a year's time. 

The original faculty of the College of Dentistry was composed of the 
following regular professors in addition to three demonstrators: A. 
Wilkes Smith, M. 1)., 1). 1). S., professor of oral and dental surgery and 
operative <lentistry; Charles G. Kdwards, D. I). S., professor of pros- 
thetic and clinical <lentistry; A. M. Cartledge, M. D., professor of 
surgery; Dudley 8. Keynolds, A. M., M. D., professor of pathology and 
hygiene; Frank C. Wilson, A. B., M. 1)., professor of the principles and 
practice of medicine; Samuel G. Dabuey, M. D., professor of physiology 
and histology; «John A. Larrabee, M. D., professor of materia medica 
and thera])eutics; Cornelius Skinner, M. D., professor of anatomy; J. 
Lewis Howe, Ph. D., M. D., F. C. fc\, professor of medical chemistry 
and toxicology. 

Dr. Smith was the i)resident of this faculty and Dr. Howe its dean. 

The course of instruction originally inaugurated was the usual two 
years' lecture course for sessions of five months then in vogue through- 
out this country. Seventeen students, a considerable proportion of 
whom had pursued dental studies in other institutions, were in attend- 
ance tlic first session, and at its close the degree of doctor of dentistry 
was (conferred on II candidates. The matriculation increased to 22 
the second year, 45 the third year, and 72 the fourth year, while there 
were 4 graduates in 1888, 13 in 1889, 12 in 1890, and 26 in 1891. The 
students had n]> to this time represented altogether as many as twenty 
States of the Union and two foreign countries. 

The college has always taken a decided stand in favor of the 
advancement of dental education throughout the country. It became 
at the end of its first session a member of the National Association of 
Dental Faculties, and has since continued an earnest particii>ant in the 
promotion of the objects of that organization. In 1890, in conformity 
with the requirements of that body, it advanced its standard of grad- 
uation so as to require the completion of three annual sessions of not 
less than six months each, in two of which dissection must have been 
pursued. A preliminary entrance requirement embracing the elements 
of a good English education was also established. 

The longer period required for graduation and the general financial 
distress reduced the matriculation somewhat for a short while after 
1890, but the attendance soon again enlarged, and it was foand neoes- 



CENTRAL UNIVERSITY. 209 

sary, in conjunction with the erection of the new bnilding for the med- 
ical college in 1893, to prepare new accommodations for the college of 
dentistry. The additional quarters prepared for the latter in the new 
building, opened on January 2, 1894, were second to none of any simi- 
lar institution, at least in the South or West, in size, beauty, and con- 
venience, and furnished a complete modern equipment in the way of 
didactic and clinical lecture amphitheaters, chemical and dental labora- 
tories, dissecting rooms, infirmary, and other necessary departments. 

The growth of the institution was, however, so rapid that additional 
accommodations were necessary, and in 1896 a commodious and hand- 
some new infirmary and hospital, containing a spacious clinical amphi- 
theater and provided with every modern convenience for operations 
in both general and oral surgery, was erected in the rear of the main 
building. The attendance of the session of 1897 was so large as to 
even task the capacity of the new buildings at once, and additional 
provision had to be made in the way of operative clinic rooms for the 
session of 1898. 

The increase in matriculation during the past seven years has been 
very pronounced. The average annual attendance during that time 
has been 125, and in 1898 172 regular students were in attendance 
upon the various classes of the college. As in the case of the medical 
college, about 30 per cent of the matriculates of the College of Den- 
tistry come from the States of Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Illi- 
nois, but the remainder represent all the other States of the Union and 
several foreign countries. At one time in recent years as many as 
twenty six States of the United States and two other countries have 
been represented by its students. The enlargement of the graduating 
class has also corresponded well with that of the general student body, 
the number of graduates having increased from 6 in 1893 to 49 in 
1898. The total number of alumni to 1898 inclusive is 259. 

The aim of the course of instruction of the institution is to thoroughly 
equip the student with that knowledge, both theoretical and practical, 
which will enable him to practice his profession with eminent success. 
To this end he is required not only to pursue those studies directly 
pertaining to dentistry, but other collateral branches, especially of 
medicine, which will broaden his knowledge and furnish him a better 
scientific foundation. He takes the same course of elementary instruc- 
tion as the medical student, the graded course in anatomy, physiology, 
chemistry, materia medica and therapeutics, histology, pathology, and 
bacteriology, and in the principles of medicine, surgery, and hygiene. 
The close conjunction in which the College of Dentistry and the 
Hospital College of Medicine are operated especially facilitates this 
broad plan. 

In the dental college, as in the medical, the scientific and practical 
go hand in hand, lectures and clinics being always combined ; a knowl- 
edge of the course pursued is also exacted by frequent quizzes and 
2127— No. 25 14 



210 HISTORY OF HKHIEU EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

practical tests of various kinds. The course of instruction in the col- 
lege of dentistry, besides tlie departments already mentioned, includes 
those of operative dentistry, oral surgery, and dental pathology, pros- 
thetic dentistry and crown and bridge work, orthodontia, technics and 
anaBsthesin, and dental Jurisprudence. 

The following are the regular professors of the present faculty, which 
body also includes thirteen lecturers, assistants, and clinical instruct- 
ors: A. Wilkes Smith, D. D. S,, M. I)., emeritus professor of oral and 
dental surgery; Henry Bryant Tileston, D. D. S., president, professor of 
operative dentistry, dental materia medica and therapeutics, and dental 
histology; Edward M. Kettig, M. D., D. D. S., professor of oral surgery 
and dental pathology; Winfield Scott Smith, D. D. S., professor of 
prosthetic dentistry, crown and bridge work; William Edward Grant, 
D. D. S., professor of orthodontia, technics, and auiesthesia; Samuel G. 
Dabney, M. 1)., professor of physiology and hygiene; John Edwin 
Hayes, A. M., M. 1)., professor of anatomy; H. Horace Grant, A. M^ 
M. D., professor of surgery; P. Eichard Taylor, M. D., dean, professor 
of materia medica and therapeutics; Philip F. Barbour. A. B,, M, D., 
professor of chemistry and metallurgy. 

The executive officers of the college since its foundation have been 
as follows: Presidents, A. Wilkes Smith, M. D., 1). D. S., 1887-1892. 
Francis Peabody, D. D. S., 1892-1897. H. B. Tileston, D. D. S., 1897 to 
present. Deans: J. Lewis Howe, Ph. D., M, D., F. 0. S., 1887-1894. 
P. Eichard Taylor, M. D., 1894 to present. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Historic Families of Kentucky, by Thomas Marshall Green, Cincinnati, 1889. 
Collinses and Smith's History, Home and School (Vol. Ill), Henderson's CeDten- 
nial Exhibit. 

CLINTON COLLEGE, CLINTON. 

Clinton College proposes to furnish a good, substantial education for 
young men and young women at as moderate expense as possible. 
The institution is Baptist in management, being conducted under the 
patronage of West Union Baptist Association. Its original establish* 
ment is due to the lack of facilities for higher education in the western 
part of Kentucky, at the time of its foundation, when good schools 
were few and the public school system, in the inefficient form in which 
it then existed, was entirely inadequate to the educational demands of 
a section fast becoming thickly populated. 

The one who first realized most sensibly the need of the college and 
first agitated the question of its establishment, which he took an active 
part in bringing about, was liev. Willis White, ordinarily called in his 
portion of the State, Father White, who may, more than anyone elsOi 
be called the father of the institution. 

Mr. White was a highly respected Baptist clergyman, who had 
entered the ministry of his church in western Kentucky in 1834 and 



CLINTON COLLEGE. 211 

had labored in that capacity many years witb great acceptability. 
Just subsequent to the civil war he became county superintendent of 
public schools of Hickman County, and it was while in the discharge 
of the duties of that office that he realized more fully than ever how 
wholly insufficient were the schools of that section to supply the needs 
of its people. About 1871 he began to agitate the subject of founding 
an institution, which would at least partially meet pressing educational 
demands, and to travel and solicit funds for its equipment. 

In this way the money was secured for the erection of the first build- 
ing of Clinton Female College, which was begun in 1873. The beauti- 
ful campus of 8 acres upon which this building is located was donated 
to the institution by Mr. Kobert Moore. The funds raised by Father 
White were not large, and the cost of the first building, which was not 
completed for some time after it was begun, was about $7,000. 

As its original name implies, the school was at first exclusively for 
young ladies. It was organized under the general corporation laws of 
the State and is controlled by a board of seven trustees, each of whom 
is required to be a member in good and regular standing of some Bap- 
tist church. The college is empowered by its charter to confer the 
usual college degrees, but has chosen, until quite recently, to grant 
diplomas, but not regular degrees. Its original curriculum embraced 
all grades of instruction from primary to collegiate, the latter being 
intended at first to give only a good English education. The classics 
and other departments were soon added, so that its course was before 
long quite equal to that of many other institutions in the State, which 
grant regular collegiate degrees. Its curriculum was early divided 
into classical and scientific courses. 

The school was first opened in September, 1874, before its own build- 
ing was ready for occupancy, and wa^ conducted for a time in the Bap- 
tist Church ^ in Clinton. It had only 15 pupils at the beginning. Its 
original faculty was Prof. T. N. Wells and Miss Amanda M. Hicks. 
Some assistance was given in the teaching of the first session by the 
wife and daughter of Professor Wells. The institution soon occupied 
its own building, although still somewhat incomplete, and before the end 
of the year had an enrollment of 45 students. The attendance had 
increased to 60 matriculates in 1875-76, when there were three regular 
teachers and the property of the college was estimated to be worth 
$15,000, while its equipment of scientific apparatus was good. 

In the autumn of 1876 young men were for the first time admitted as 
students, and the institution has since remained fully coeducational, 
having dropped the word female from its name. In 1879 a course espe- 
cially designed for teachers and also one in commercial science were 
added to the previous curriculum and the enrollment for the year rose 

1 This is according to the catalogue of 1894-95. The sketch by Rev. Mr. Bailey 
says it was opened in its own uii finished building and that by Miss Hicks says its 
building was complete at the opening. 



212 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

to 150. Professor Wells contiiiaed as president of the college for six 
years, daring which the institatioii sent out 12 graduates, 5 in the 
scientific and 7 in tbe classical (course, the first class, that of 1878, haying 
been composed of two graduates in the scientific coarse. 

Upon the resignation of Professor Wells, in 1880, he was sacceeded 
in the presidency of the college by Miss Uicks, who had been connected 
with the institution from its inception. She held the position for four- 
teen years, and is the one who largely built up the college to what it is 
to-day. Her success is conceded by all to«be due to her own strong and 
forceful personality, as she had to struggle heroically against the lack 
of endowment and against prejudice. The school, under her able man- 
agement, gradually exi)anded in its equipment, faculty, and conrses, 
as well as in the number of its students, until it soon began to compare 
favorably with other institutions of higher education in the State. 

Miss Hicks was a graduate of the Oswego (N. Y.) Normal School 
and a teacher of fine talents. The faculty she gathered about her were 
also well trained and efficient instructors. In 1881-82 there were 6 
teachers and an attendance of 200 students, which is perhaps the 
largest matriculation the college has ever had, but a much larger pro- 
portion of its students have in recent years been members of its higher 
classes. Tbc work had so outgrown itself in 1883 that an addition had 
to be made to the main building. 

The American Baptist Educational Society cooi)erated with Miss 
Hicks in her work, and about 1889 appointed an ngent to endeavor to 
secure an endowment for the college. Not much success seems to have 
been obtained for this laudable purpose, but enough means were real- 
ized to complete in 1890 a boarding cottage with accommodations for 
40 young ladies, while an additional member had been added to the 
faculty. Upon the completion of the young ladies' boarding cottage 
Miss S. A. Fairfield became associated with Miss Hicks in the manage- 
ment of the institution, and so remained until the end of the latter's 
administration. 

Deacon Joseph Cook, of Cambridge, Mass., who had given $5,000 for 
the building of the boarding cottage and who died in the winter of 1891, 
was induced, through Miss Hicks's influence and that of a lifelong 
friend of hers living in Cambridge, to bequeath to the college a sam 
amounting to between $25,000 and $35,000, the larger portion of which 
has been paid over to the institution and is now invested as a perma- 
nent endowment. In 1892 the college received a considerable collec- 
tion of valuable books from the library of the Rev. Mr. Leonard| a 
Baptist minister of Ohio, lately deceased. 

In May, 1894, Miss Hicks found it necessary for personal reasons to 
sever her connection with the institution to which in difPerent capad- . 
ties she had devoted twenty years of self-sacrificing labor. Besides the 
additions to its equipment and the foundation of its endowment which 
have been mentioned, she had accumulated for it a library of 1,200 vol* 



CLINTON COLLEGE. 213 

nmes, and, above all, had established for it a high standard of scholar- 
ship and imparted to it throughout a high moral tone. The graduating 
class at times during the last years of her administration contained as 
many as 12 members, and the total number of graduates for the period 
was about 50, 

Upon Miss Hicks's retirement Rev. E. K. Chandler, D. D., of Ehode 
Island, who had been for twenty years the pastor of various Baptist 
churches in the East — the last seven years of the time at Cambridge, 
Mass. — was elected as her successor in the presidency of the college. 
At the beginning of his administration considerable improvements 
were made in the grounds aud buildings of the institution and material 
additions to its scientific apparatus also took place. In 1895 Prof. 
J. N. Robinson, an alumnus of Bethel College, Kentucky, and a teacher 
with a number of years of successful experience, was associated with 
President Chandler in tbe faculty as its business manager and financial 
agent. 

President Chandler resigned in 1896, since which time there have 
been several changes in the presidency of the institution. Rev. A. S. 
Petty, D. D., first became president, but only retained the office for a 
few months, when he was succeeded by Rev. G. W. Riley, who held 
the position until the present summer, when A. F. Williams, A. M., 
was elected president. Professor Williams has been for several years 
the vice president of Bethel College, Russellville, Ky., and by his 
training should be well fitted to make a success of his present position. 

The students of Clinton come mainly from western Kentucky, north- 
western Tennessee, and southeastern Missouri. The average matricu- 
lation annually for the past few years has been about 150. The number 
of graduates each year of late has averaged about 6. The total number 
of graduates since the first class was sent out in 1878 is about 90, who 
are about equally divided between the sexes. Of these graduates 
several have become successful teachers and lawyers, while others 
occupy prominent Baptist pulpits. To meet local needs the college still 
maintains all grades of instruction from primary to a collegiate course 
of four years. Its preparatory department has a course extending 
through three years, while the regular classical and scientific college 
courses^ extend through four years each. It has also a department of 
music and a teachers' training course, to prepare for teaching in the 
public schools. The present faculty has seven members. 

' The schools of instruction leading to these courses are Latin and Greek, modern 
languages, English, history, mathematics, mental and moral philosophy, aud 
natural science, in each of which a diploma is granted. In the scientific course cer- 
tain portions of the schools of natural science and modern languages are substituted 
for Greek iu the classical course. 



214 HISTOBY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

BIBL10<mAl>HY. 

Facts f nrnished ])y President Chandler have formed the basis of this sketch, 
particularly for its early histt )ry . The facts thus obtained have been supplemented 
by information obtaincHl from catalogues, from a short sketch in the Clinton Dem- 
ocrat, by Rev. B. U. Bailey, one in the Baptist Gleaner, by Miss A. M. EUcks, and 
from Henderson's Centennial Exhibit. 

LIBERTY COLLEGE, GLASGOW. 

Liberty College is tlu» ()iit^n)\vlh of the interest and enterprise man- 
' ifcHttMl ill tho cause of higher <Hlueation l)y the citizens of Glasgow, 
Ky., and of th(» Uaptists of Liberty Associaticm, from which body it 
receives its iiaino. The one principally instrumental in its founda- 
tion is Uov. N. (t. T(»rry, still a iiieinber of its boai*d of regents, who 
was for a nuiiiluu* of years in (rhargo of Allen Lodge Female College, 
a UK*al institution situated at (41asgow, of which in a sense Liberty 
College may In^considered a dev(»lopment. While engaged in con- 
ducting it, Mr. Terry, about IS7:?, eoiiceiveil the idea that the scope 
and character of the educational work then being done in the com- 
munity could Imi enlarged by having Liberty Association of the 
Baptist C 'lunch found, under its own control, a higher and better 
institution. Accordingly he drew up a preamble and set of resolu- 
tions looking toward that end, which he was instrumental in having 
the association adopt at its next regular annual meeting. 

Among other generous promoters and wann friends of the enter- 
prise in Glasgow and (»ls(»wliere may be mentioned ex-Gk)vemor P. H. 
Leslie, Major Che(»k, lion. S. E. Jones, and Rev. Basil Manly, D. D., 
then i)resid(»ntof (Tcorgetown C-ollege, Kentucky. Dr. Manly drafted 
the charier for the proposed institution, and it was largely through 
his influence that it was i)assed by the State legislature in 1873. 
According to this instruni(^nt, the college was to be managed by a 
board of 10 regent s or trustees, elected, two each year after the first year, 
by the association after which it was named. It was also granted all 
the usual collegiate powers and privileges. 

After its legal basis was thus secured it was decided to locate the 
institution in that town within the bounds of the association which 
should offer the greatest inducements. Accordingly a contest of 
liberality arose, in which Smith's Grove, Cave Citj^ and Glasgow yar- 
ticipated, the lattei' securing the college by furnishing a subscription 
of about *12,()0(). Additional funds were soon raised, an admirable 
site i>urc]iased, and a handsop.ie brick building, partly two stories 
and partly thi'ee stoi'ies in luMght, with a front of 140 feet and a depth 
of 80 f(iet, erected at a cost of about §25,000. This structure, which 
was completed in 1875, is well adapted for its uses and contains, in 
additi(m to its excellent rooms for educational purposes, accommoda- 
tions for 40 boarding pupils. The institution was at first designed 
only for young ladies and was conducted for many years as an ezcla- 



J3 


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M 


% 

t 
t 

\. 

m 





216 HIST 'UY OF HKfllEH EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

College at Pierco City, Mo., in order to accept the position. An tm- 
fortunato ticcidont caused the death of Dr. Bent before the end of 
his second year, and in 1803 Rev. J. M. Bruce, A. M., then pastor 
of the Baptist Church at Glasgow, was induced to take charge of the 

college. 

3[r. Bruce, after Mr. Terry and Dr. Gardner, may be considered in 
a sense a thii*d founder of the institution, for he rescued it a sec- 
ond time fn>ni financial difficulties. Some of the pledges secured 
by Dr. Ganluer could not be collected, and the resulting defi- 
ciency, together with some other necessary indebtedness, had accn- 
mulati'd to about 3^4,0(K). Through the efforts of President Bruce this 
amount was raised and enough more to make considerable improve- 
ments in the (M)llege pi*oi)erty, so that at his resignation in 1895 the 
institution was left free fi*om debt and prepared for greater useful- 
ness in tlie future. A primary department was attached to the insti- 
tution during tliis administration and, in 1893-94, the number of stu- 
dents rose to 217, the largest in the history of the college. The faculty 
at that time numbered 7 membei*s. 

In the summer of 18i»5, II. J. Greenwell, A. M., an alumnus of 
Georgetown College, Kentucky, wlio htui had many years' successful 
exi>ei'ienee at tlio head of educational enterprises at Bardstown and 
other placi\s in Kentucky, became president of the college, which he 
has since efliciently conducted. Under his administration the insti* 
tution has steadily incM'eased its matriculation, which was at first 
considerably reduced by the general financial stringency. The pres- 
ent faculty contains six membei's, with George J. Burnett, A. B., as 
vice-president. Arrangements are in progress during the present 
summer to materially improve the college grounds and buildings and 
to add several new teachers to the faculty, a large commercial depart- 
ment being among the new features contemplated. The present regu- 
lar college course in literature and science, together with depart- 
ments of music and art and a normal course for training teachers, is 
to be maintained, and improved as the times demand. 

A gradual movement toward what may be called popularizing the 
inst itution and making its advantages more accessible to the i>atron- 
izing association as a whole and to the public generally had been per- 
ceptible in its history for several years at the time of the accession of 
President Greenwell. During JM\ Bent's administration business and 
norinal courses had been added to its curriculum, and, under Mr. 
Bruce, it had opened its doors to young men as day pupils. As the 
logical result of this movement, at the beginning of the present admin- 
istration all departments of the college were fully opened to young 
men, separate boarding departments having been provided for the 
two sexes, and the institution became fully coeducational, thus join- 
ing in the general coeducational movement apparent in the educa- 
tional history of Kentucky in recent years. 



OGDEN COLLEGE. 217 

The total nnmbor of graduates of Liberty College, according to the 
best information at hand, which is approximately correct, is 82, of 
whom 79 are young ladies and 3 young men; a number of these adorn 
various stations in different walks of life. 

BIBLIOORAPHT, 

This sketch is based entirely on correspondence and catalogues. 

OGDEN COLLEGE, BOWLING GBEEN. 

Ogden College owes its existence to the wise beneficence of Maj. 
Robert W. Ogden, who by his will, dated December 7, 1870, left the 
sum of $50,000, "or so much thereof as may be necessaiy," to be used 
"in tlie purchase of suitable grounds and the erection thereon of appro- 
priate buildings in or near the town of Bowling Green, Ky., to be dedi- 
cated and devoted to the education therein of males or females, young 
men or young women, as my executor or executors may elect. "^ By 
further provisions of the will the proposed institution was to be called 
Ogden College, if a male school should be decided upon, or Ogden 
Seminary if a female school. It was also made the residuary legatee 
of his estate, the income on the amount thus idealized, which was esti- 
mated at the time of his death to be something over $60,000,^ was "to 
form a fund out of which to pay, as far as it will go, the tuition fees 
of any of the young men [or young women] of Warren County or the 
State of Kentucky who may choose to avail themselves of this fund."* 
Preference was also expressed for a male college, although the decision 
of that matter was left entirely to his executors, Judge William V. 
Loving and his son, Hon. H. V. Loving, of Louisville, Ky., who, under 
the name of regents, were t*o have full genel*al control over the insti- 
tution, the more immediate government of which was to be intrusted 
to a board of five trustees, appointed by the regents. 

Major Ogden died on November 10, 1873. Hon. H. V. Loving, the 
only one of his executors to accept the trust, decided in favor of a 
male college, accoi^iing to the preference expressed in the will, and in 
September, 1874, selected as the first board of trustees for the institu- 
tion Hon. Robert Rodes, Hon. H. T. Clark, Judge H. K. Thomas, 
Col. W. E. Holson, and Hon. D. W. Wright. Mr. Bodes became 
president and Mr. Wright secretary and treasurer. This board for a 
number of j'^ears looked after the interests of the infant institution 
faithfully and efficiently, and it was through their labors that much of 
the impetus which has made it what it now is was imparted. Mr. 
Wright especially, who still retains the same official position, has given 
much time and attention to the success of the enterprise. 

Some time was necessarily occupied in settling up the estate, but, 

^ Records of the Warren County court. 

' Collinses History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 246. Somewhat more than this amount 
was, it appears, realized from the residuary estate. 



218 HISTORY OP HiGHlfiR EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

hy resolution of the boanl of trustees adopted on June 12, 1877, it 
was (l(*eided to oi)on the college for students on the first Monday of the 
following Sopt.enilK»r, and on July 16, 1877, tlie first faculty was elected, 
<*oniiM)8ed of Rev. J. W. Wighttnan, D. D., president, and M. H. 
Cnnnpand John P. T^'otsakos, professors. A charter was later secured 
for the institution, which iK'arsthe dat« of March 8, 1878, and confei's 
all the usual collegiate |K)wer8and privileges. 

The amount of the residuary funds which could be depended npon 
at the time of the oixMiing of the college or that have been realized 
sin(*e wen.^ not and have not Ihhmi sufiicient to support a large faculty 
or proiK'rly train a hirge iiuml)er of students. Hence the policy of the 
trus1;<'es Iwis l)een to limit the number of students to such as can be 
pi*oiM'rly (*are<l for by the institution, while at the same time giving as 
mu(»]i fnH* tuition as it« means will justif3^ The number of students 
U} 1m» receiv(»(l was limit e<l to KK) by a i*esolution of the board adopted 
on August IS, 1877. Tuition was pnictii^ally free from the beginning 
to students from Kentucky, and esiH»cially from Wan-en County, these 
iHMug only iv([uired to pay a small imMdentalfee ^ each term, which was 
often i*emitte<l entirely in the ciise of deserving students of limited 
means. Students from otluM* States were required to pay in addition 
the eomparati vely snmll tuition fee of $30 a year. Until quite reoently 
asmanytis (M) students have always been admitted free of tuition. 
Upon this basis the matriculation of the institution has neoeaBarily 
remained local to a large extent, as the local attendance has always 
been <iuit.e e<iual to the eapai^ity of the college under its r^^ular 
ineome, and tlie tuition of nonresident students, few in numbers as 
they have been, could not be depended upcm for an enlai*gement of 
the institution, either in the way of furnishing additional teaching 
force* or better general equipment. 

The first session of the college was opened on September 3, 1877, the 
property having been leased for its use which had been lately occu- 
pied by Wari'en College, an institution inaugurated at Bowling Green, 
in 1872, under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal Church South 
and (luite prosperous for a time, but which had recently been forced 
to suspend on account of lack of sufficient financial support. The 
course of instruction in the new institution, as originally outlined, 
consisted of a preparatory course of two yeai's and a college course of 
four years. By reason of many students dropping out and others tak- 
ing their places 128 matriculates were in attendance the first year, 
nearly all of them pursuing preparatory work. College classes were 
more fully organized at the beginning of the next session, when 
William A. Obenchain, A. M., was added to the previous faculty as 

professor of mathematics. 

___^___^.^____^_^_^^_^^^^__^_^_^_ ^_^_______^__^— ^— ^-^— ^^ ■ ' — t-^^p—^i^— ~^»» 

» This fee in 1877 was $5 a year. In 1878 it was made $6 a year and in 1880 $10 
a year, which it has since remained. 



OGDEN COLLEGE. 219 

In 1878 the means of the institution were further increased by its 
becoming the residuary legatee of the estate of Maj. John E. Robin- 
son, of Bowling Green. This bequest, amounting to about $25,000, 
was given for the endowment of a professorahip. Subsequent litiga- 
tion over the will, however, only left to the college about half that 
amount, the income from which has been set apart to the chair of 
natural science, which, in accordance with the terms of the bequest, 
is styled the John E. Robinson chair of natural science. In 1880 the 
desirable grounds and buildings hitherto used by the institution, 
which are beautifully situated in the suburbs of Bowling Green, well 
adapted to college purposes, and estimated to be worth about $25,000, 
were purchased by its trustees. The already handsome campus of 
about 10 acres was further beautified. The buildings were also con- 
siderably improved internally, the accommodations enlarged, and the 
equipment of the college otherwise much enhanced, among the other 
additions being a good complement of mathematical, chemical, and 
physical apparatus. 

The average attendance during the first three years of its history 
remained about the same. In 1880, however, the course of study was 
more thoroughly systematized, being divided into the eight schools of 
ancient languages, mathematics, natural science, philosophy, civil en- 
gineering, modern languages, English language and literature, and 
commercial science, and a more rigid test of scholarship having been 
applied, the number of students in 1880-81 was reduced to 87, which 
has since remained about the usual average annual matriculation. 
At the end of this session the firat graduating class of three members, 
upon whom the degree of bachelor of arts was conferred, was sent out 
by the college. 

In August, 1883, Dr. Wightman resigned the presidency of the col- 
lege, which he had done much to start on its career of usefulness, and 
was shortly afterwards succeeded by Prof. William A. Obenchain, who 
has since efficiently discharged the duties of the position. At the 
same time a bachelor of science course, strong especially in mathe- 
matics and modern languages, was added to the previous course of 
bachelor of arts, thus allowing a partial specialization of studies. 
This principle was still further extended, in 1885, by the addition of 
a bachelor of philosophy course, which has as its distinctive basis 
English, modern languages, and history, the last subject, including 
political economy, constituting a new school in the curriculum, which 
then became substantially what it has since remained. 

Local conditions have been such that the college has always found 
it necessary, as is the case with most other institutions of higher edu- 
cation in the State, to have attached to it a preparatory department, 
in order that its students may be properly trained for its collegiate 
classes. The course in this department extends through two years and 



220 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

necessarily takes up a ^reat deal of the time and attention of the 
faculty. The standard of the collegiate department has, however, not 
only been maintained from the first, but has been from time to time 
improved, as in 1881), when more rigid requirements for entrance 
were instituted by reason of tlie improved condition of the graded 
school system of Howling Green, from which a large proportion of its 
students naturally come. 

In 1895 it was found that under the practically free tuition system 
wliich had been in use the college had been conducted on a scale too 
liberal for its own resources. Its future growth and expansion were 
in danger, as the income from its endowment fund had decreased 
considerably, owing to the general decline in the rate of interest. 
Two courses of action then confronted its trustees — either to curtail 
its work and lower its grivde or to limit the number of free scholarships, 
only awarding those to deserving young men in need of aid, and 
requiring all others to pay a moderate tuition fee in addition to the 
regular incidental fee, required of all students, and the special labora- 
tory fees, required in the scientific departments. The board wisely 
adopted the second of these plans, fixing the number of free scholar- 
ships at 40, and the rate of tuition in the collegiate department at $40, 
and in the preparatory department, $25 a year. The experience of 
the institution has since abundantly confirmed the wisdom of this 
choice, as the attendance has not been diminished, at least materially, 
and with the additional income thus secuixMi another member has been 
added to the faculty. The college has been able to maintain its former 
good standard of scholarship and to increase rather than diminish its 
usefulness, and an avenue for further enlargement in the future has 
been provided. 

The courses of instruction are uniformly well arranged and thor- 
ough as far as they go, and its equipments and facilities for in- 
struction in its chosen line of work have been kept up with the 
demands of modern education. It has a well-selected library of mis- 
cellaneous books and works of reference, and has a well-appointed 
equipment for illustration and practical instruction in the different 
brandies of science. The college has not striven for numbers, either 
in attendance or in the graduates it has sent forth. Its average 
annual matriculation during the twenty-one years of its existence has 
been about 95, and during that time it has had only 41 graduates. 
Those of its graduates who have i)ursued advanced courses of study 
in Eastern universities or in professional schools have as a rule taken 
a high standing and acquitted themselves with honor, while the suc- 
cess of all, in business life and in the various professions, will com- 
pare favorably with that of the alumni of other institutions in the 
State during the same period. The majority of its present board of 
trustees are graduates of the institution. 

The grounds and buildings of the institution are estimated to be 



UNION COLLEGE. 221 

worth about $40,000, while its productive funds now approximate 
$120,000. Its present faculty is constituted as follows: William A. 
Obenchain, A. M. , president and professor of mathematics and political 
science; William F. Perry, A. M., professor of English language and 
literature, elocution, and history; John B. Preston, M. A., professor 
of ancient languages and French; S. R. McKee, Ph. D., John E. Rob- 
inson professor of natural science; Henry K. McGoodwin, B. S., 
instructor in history. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Collins 's History of Kentucky. 
Records of the Warren County Court. 
Minutes of the Board of Trustees. 

UNION COLLEGE, BARBOURVILLE. 

Union College is the adopted college of Kentucky Conference of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, standing in the same relation to 
that body that Kentucky Wesleyan College does to Kentucky Confer- 
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The former, there- 
fore, although one of the most recently organized institutions of 
higher education in Kentucky, is, as well as the latter, as old in con- 
ception and spirit as Bethel Academy and has an equal right to 
trace its lineage from that source down through Augusta College and 
the period of Methodist control of Transylvania University. 

The establishment of Union College is largely due to the foresight 
and energy of Rev. Daniel Stevenson, D. D., who was in many ways 
prominent in educational matters in Kentucky, being influential in 
the establishment of Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1859, and State 
superintendent of public instruction from 1863 to 1867. . Dr. Steven- 
son had, with a considerable number of others, withdrawn from the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South at the close of the civil war and 
united with the comparatively small number of members left in Ken- 
tucky at that time of the older branch of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in the United States, commonly called in contradistinction 
the Northern Methodist Church, from which organization the separa- 
tion of the Southern church had taken place in 1844-45. 

In the change of church relations the larger part of the church 
property and at least all of the important educational institutions had 
bc^en left in the hands of the Southern Church, and so the Methodist 
Episcopal Church found itself without any representative college. 
Dr. Stevenson, considering, as expressed substantially in his own 
words, ^ the promotion of the cause of education as a duty and priv- 
ilege of the church next to preaching the gospel, and as a necessity 
to the permanent progress of any religious movement, saw the impera- 
tive need of establishing schools for his denomination as well asbuild- 



^ In a personal letter of January 30, 1896. 



222 HISTORY OP HIGHEE EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

ing churches and parsonages. Accordingly steps were taken by him 
and others looking toward the accomplishment of this purpose, and in 
1866 a charter was obtained from the State legislature for a board of 
education of Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
This board, according to its charter, is composed of 10 members, 2 of 
whom are elected each year by the conference, and has control of a 
number of educational institutions belonging to its church in Ken- 
tucky, of which Union College is tlie only one of collegiate grade. It 
also possesses all the usual powers and privileges of a college board 
of trustees. 

Nothing was done by this board of education for several years after 
its organization, owing to the lack of funds, the means of the church, 
during this period, being absorbed in more direct and pressing church 
undertakings; but in 1879, under their supervision, Dr. Stevenson 
leased the old Augusta College building, thus returning to an old edu- 
cational center of his church, and opened, in the autumn of that year, 
the Augusta Collegiate Institute. This step, however, since the 
Augusta property, by reason of its legal status, could never be per- 
manently acquired, was only considered preparatory to an enlarged 
educational enterprise elsewhere when a propitious opening should 
occur. The collegiate institute was conducted at Augusta for eight 
years, where it did an excellent educational work under Dr. Steven- 
son's efficient management. 

Meanwhile the desired opportunity to secure a suitable equipment 
and a good location was found when the property of Union College 
was sold in 1886. This institution had been incorporated in 1879 and 
a building erected for it at Barbourville in 1880 by a joint stock com- 
pany. Mainly through the influence of Mr. A. H. Harritt, $7,470 had 
been spent for grounds and a partially completed building, in which 
a school had been opened in the autumn of 1880. The property, how- . 
ever, had soon become involved in litigation, and the school had been 
closed for some time when its property was sold, by order of court, on 
October 25, 1886. It was at that time purchased and held for the con- 
ference by Dr. Stevenson, with the financial assistance of Mr. Green 
Elliot and Mrs. M. P. Dowis, of Barbourville, Dr. Stevenson having 
secured authority for this action from the conference at its meeting 
in Lexington in the preceding September. 

The year 1886, in which this purchase took place, is considered the 
foundation date of Union College under its present organization. In 
December, 1886, a school was opened in its building, under the care of 
the conference, with George IT. Dains, A. M., as principal. Professor 
Dains had been associated with Dr. Stevenson in the faculty of 
Augusta Collegiate Institute. He had fuU charge of Union CoUege 
until June, 1887, and also for part of the scholastic year 1887-88, Rev. 
J. D. H. Corwine being principal for the other part of that year. The 
other teachers during this time were Mr. Francis Gk)etz and IdflB 



UNION COLLEGE. 223 

Emma B. Wykes, while some assistance was rendered by Professor 
Dains's mother. 

In September, 1887, Dr. Stevenson was appointed president and 
financial agent of the college by the board of education, who then 
took direct charge of the institution. Dr. Stevenson accepted the 
position, resigning the presidency of Augusta Collegiate Institute in 
order to do so, but devoted himself for the first year to raising the 
money to pay for the property and make needed improvements. He 
proceeded with his characteristic energy, always going ahead, whether 
the circumstances appeared favorable or unfavorable, and was able, 
by the next session of the conference in Louisville, to present to the 
board of education a deed for the property, having secured funds 
not only sufficient to pay for it, but also to complete the building, 
make some necessary repairs and improvements, and supply needed 
furniture. The one who was the chief contributor toward purchasing 
the property, and who has since been largely instrumental in supply- 
ing the pressing needs of the college by meeting deficiencies in its cur- 
rent expenses, and has besides laid the foundation of its endowment, 
is Mrs. Fanny Speed, of Louisville. The completed college building 
contains a chapel capable of seating from 300 to 350 persons; also four 
large recitation rooms, a room for a library, and one for the literary 
societies, besides several other smaller rooms. It is situated in the 
center of a campus of 3 acres, beautifully adorned by shade trees. 

In the autumn of 1888 Dr. Stevenson assumed the active duties of 
the presidency of the college, which he continued to discharge with 
great acceptability until his death in 1897. The institution had found 
it necessary, in order to meet local needs, to establish, besides its collegi- 
ate department, not only a preparatory department, but also primary 
and intermediate departments, and has not yet been able to discontinue 
these. It has also continued upon its former coeducational basis. It 
had been a college in name, but an academy in fact, prior to the 
presidency of Dr. Stevenson, but under his management, although 
the lower departments were still retained, its collegiate department 
was soon developed into what its name implied. Its course, which 
had been previously very much strengthened, had a whole year's 
requirements, chiefly in Latin, Greek, and mathematics, added in 
1894-95 and was in that year brought up to the requirements of the 
university senate of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

This body, which is somewhat unique in character and already an 
important educational factor, while likely to be more so in the future, 
is worthy of some description in this connection. It was provided for 
by the general conference of 1892, and has for its object the unifica- 
tion of the colleges of Methodism by placing them in federal relations 
to each other and bringing them all under the direct supervision of 
the church in respect to their scholastic requirements. It is composed 
x»f practical educators, whose duty it is to determine the minimum 



224 HISTORY OF HICJHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

amount of actual academic work ueccsnary for the baccalaureate degree 
in the educational institutions of the church. Reports are made by it 
quadrennially to the l)oard of education of the church at large. This 
l)ody is authorized to deterniino the institutions which meet these 
requirements and ai*e therefore entitled to be designated "as colleges 
in the oflicial list of the educational institutions of the church." The 
senate h(dd its firet meeting and made its finst report in November, 
1893. The standard then formulated lias since resulted, under its dili- 
gent application by the board of education, in the raising of the 
courses of more than forty colleges of the church. 

The faculty of Union College during Dr. Stevenson's administration 
cont^iined from -i to (> teachers, and besides those who are still members 
the following were at different times c(mnected with it during this 
perio<l: Professor Dains, Miss Wykes, Miss Nettie Gray, W. E. Shaw, 
A. 15., Miss Mesleyana Gardiner, Miss May E. Bowmer, Miss Maude 
England, Fred. C. Recter, A. B., and A. II. Harrop, A. B. 

In 1803 the institution sent out its first graduating class of two 
memlx»rs, one of whom was l^rofessor Faulkner, its present president. 
The college only maintains one regular course — the classical one, which, 
since it has been brought up to the requirements of the university 
senate, is not l)ehind similar courses in other cx)lleges of the State, 
particularly in the amount of Latin and Greek it requires for the 
degree of A. B. It also confers the degree of A. M. upon the satis- 
factory completion of a course equivalent to a year's residence at the 
institution subsequent to taking the bachelor's degree and the presen- 
tation of an acceptable thesis. One of the objects of its establishment 
was the proper training of candidates for the ministry. A number 
of these have been members of its regular classes from the first. Some 
professional training has been furnished to these each year since 1895 
by a special course of lectures on theological topics, and during the 
present summer a reguhir professor of theology has been added to 
the college faculty. The institution also maintains the ornamental 
branches of instruction usually pui'sued in female colleges. 

Dr. Stevenson died on January 2, 1897, and the executive duties of 
the institution devolved temporarily upon Rev. J. P. Faulkner, A. M., 
a member, as already noted, of its first graduating class, and later one 
of its professors. On March 23 following he was regularly elected as 
its president by the board of education. Professor Faulkner had been 
associated with Dr. Stevenson, either as student or teacher, almost from 
the establishment of the college, and it was the latter's desire that he 
should succeed to the presidential office and carry forward the work 
of the institution along the linos already plannied — ^an undertaking 
in which it seems likely from the beginning ^ which he has made he 



1 During his administration, besides the addition of the new department of the- 
ology, the former matriculation of the college has been almost doalded, a new 
member has been added to the faculty, and a new boarding department for yonng 
o/lioc •'T^^-n.ed. 



UNION COLLEGE. 225 

will achieve success. After Dr. Stevenson's death his library was 
donated to the college, and makes, with previous donations, mainly 
given by Mrs. Speed, something over 1,000 volumes as the foundation 
of a future collection. The college has also made a beginning in 
securing an endowment, its funds for that purpose now being about 
$8,000, all but about $2,200 of which has been contributed by Mrs. 
Speed. 

The institution has a wide field of usefulness before it, occupying as 
it does a region in the southeastern part of the State in which institu- 
tions of higher education are very few in number. Its character for 
intellectual and moral influence has been constantly rising, as it has 
been better in tone and grade than in the size of its matriculation. 
Its average annual attendance since its foundation has been about 
118 students in all departments. Its graduates up to 1898, inclusive, 
number 17, among whom are all the members of its present collegiate 
faculty, while others have entered the professions of law, medicine, 
and theology. 

The faculty of the college, in addition to two teachers connected 
with the primary and intermediate departments, has the following reg- 
ular professors: Rev. James P. Faulkner, A. M., president and pro- 
fessor of mental and moral science and mathematics ; George Harmon 
Wilson, A. B., vice-president, professor of Greek, political economy, 
and civics; Sarah Elizabeth Lock, A. B., professor of literature and 
history; George Ewin Hancock, A. B., professor of Latin and sciences; 
Rev. J. E. Thomas, A. B., B. D., professor of theology. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Mnch of the material nsed in this sketch was obtained through correspondence 
with Dr. Stevenson. Much has also been obtained from the usual sources of 
information, and something from the minutes of Kentucky Conference for 1895. 

2127— No. 25 15 



Chapter VI. 

FEMALE COLLEGES. 



LORETTO LITERARY AXD BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION, MARION COUNTY. 

This is tho official title of what is ordinarily called Ijoretto Academ}', 
a school which enjoys the honor of being the first institution for the 
higher education of women established in the Mississippi Valley, with 
a continuous historj^^ to tho i)resent time. This honor it shares to some 
extent with Nazareth Academy, founded soon after. The long and 
useful career of both these schools entitles them to treatment iti this 
monograph, although, if judged strictly according to the greater part 
of their present curricula, they would be classed among secondary 
institutions. 

The humble beginning of tho present Loretto is to be found in a 
little school opened on Hardins Creek, Marion County, by Miss Anne 
Rhodes, early in 1812. Within a few months she was joined by Misses 
Christine Stuart and Anna Ilavern. Misses Mary Rhodes and Nellie 
Morgan were soon added to their number, these five becoming the 
nucleus of a Catholic sisterhood,^ a religious order for the education 
of young ladies. The school was meant to provide for the education 
of the rising generation in what was then the wilderness of Kentucky, 
and its foundation was encouraged by Bishop Flaget, the first bishop 
of the West, including Kentucky. He was ably assisted by Rev. 
Charles Nerinckx,^ a Belgian priest lately attached to the diocese and 
greatly interested in the education of the people. Both were seeking 
for some permanent establishment by which the work of education 
might bo inaugurated and perpetuated, and were greatly pleased with 
the proposition of the young ladies mentioned above to found a sis- 
terhood one of whose special objects should be the moral and intel- 
lectual training of the young. The original members pf the organi- 
zation applied to Father Nerinckx for a few rules to be a guide to 
their daily lives. These he gave them, and he is thus considered the 
founder of the order. 

^ The name of the sisterhood is Sisters of Loretto, or The Friends of Mary at the 
Foot of the Cross. 

^Father Nerinckx came to Kentucky in 180."), and died in 1824. For lus biog- 
raphy see bibliography at the end of the sketch of St. Mary's College. 

226 



LORETTO INSTITUTION. 227 

The three oldest members were clothed with the religious habit and 
veil of their sisterhood on April 25, 1812, in St. Charles Church, Marion 
County. The first home of the order, located about 6 miles from the 
present mother house, was a rude log cabin, a deal table and wooden 
benches constituting the furniture, hard work and poverty the endow- 
ment. The original teachers supported themselves from such small 
fees as could be paid by the more well-to-do farmers of the neighbor- 
hood, and the establishment has since been supported entirely by tui- 
tion fees, whicli have always been very moderate. The sisterhood is 
governed by mother superiors, who are elected by the members, accord- 
ing to rule, every three and every six years. Sister Anne Rhodes 
became the first mother superior, but as no one is publicly distin- 
guished above another in the order no other names have been handed 
down to us as especially prominent in the administration of its affairs. 

By 1(S10 the sisterhood had grown to 26 members, and branch houses 
began to be established, fir.^t in Kentucky and then in other States, 
especially in the West. The sisterhood has since become one of the 
most successful organizations engaged in female education in the 
country, having now 45 branches in Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Col- 
orado, New Mexico, Texas, and other Southern and Western States. 
Teachers are provided for all these by a normal school at Loretto, 
which all young members are required to attend in order to cultivate 
under experienced teachers any special talent thej'^ may have. The 
superior of the order appoints the faculties for the various schools 
wherever they may be located. In 1896 there were 65 young ladies in 
the novitiate department, who must all spend five years in preparation 
in the normal school before entering upon the work of teaching, the 
residence and occupation of each being assigned by the superior. 

In the original school the curriculum was gradually extended and 
equipments added, according to the progress of the times and the 
means of the order. On December 29, 1829,^ a charter was secured 
from the legislature granting the usual corporate and literary powers. 
The institution is managed by the sisterhood, all its teachei's being 
members of the order, but is by its charter under the general super- 
vision of a board of trustees, composed of a moderator and six mem- 
bers, who are a self -perpetuating body. 

In 1888, having outgrown its quartera, a fine building was erected, 
which presented quite a contrast to the old log house of early days. 
Besides this spacious and handsome academy, there is now at the 
mother house a substantial array of brick buildings, constituting quite 
a village, and located in the midst of a large farm, partly planted in 
orchards and gardens and partly used for raising grain and other food 
products. 

The academy building has all the modern improvements, and the 
school has a library, museum, and other equipments needed for suc- 



' Acts of 1829-30, pp. 27-30. 



228 HISTORY OF HIGHER KDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

cessful teaching. Music, art, and the different languages and litera- 
tures have l)eeii prominent departments of its course, which extends 
from a primary department to work of collegiate grade. It has always 
maintained a large and exi)erionced corps of teachers, and has had a 
good patronage, especially fi'om the South and West, ranking, as it 
does, as one of the leading educrational institutions of its church in 
the Southwest. Its pupils have come mainly from Kentucky, Mis- 
souri, Illinois, Alabama, Tennessee, Colorado, Kansas, and Montana, 
and among its graduates have been a numl)er who have held repu- 
table i)ositions in art, literature, journalism, and as teachers. 

BIBLIOliRAPUY. 

Maes*s Life of Nerinckx. 
Acts of the State legislature. 
Correspondence and catalogues. 

NAZARETH LITERARY AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION, NELSON COUNTY. 

This school, like Loretto, is ordinarily known simply as Nazareth 
Academy. It was almost contemporary with Loretto in its founda- 
tion, and has enjoyed to some ext.ent a greater and wider celebrity. 
It was for manj' years one of the most famous schools in its section, 
and has since held an honorable position among educational institu- 
tions for women in Kentucky, although, as has been already noted, 
much of its work would now be classed as secondary. 

The establishment of Nazareth was due to the efforts of three ladies, 
whose number was soon increased to five, to assist Bishop Flaget, 
lately appointed (in 1808) the pioneer bishop of the West, in educat- 
ing the children of the sturdy farmers who lived around the first 
episcopal residence, then a log cabin, located at St. Thomas, amidst 
the picturesque knobs of Nelson County, about 9 miles from Bards- 
town. These ladies, eager to devote themselves to this good work, 
came to make their residence at St. Thomas on December 1, 1812. 
Soon additions were made to their ranks, and having been organized 
into a community of Sisters of Charity,^ they founded the school of 
Nazareth in August, 1814. Although Bishop Flaget originated the 
plan of its organization, yet upon I^ishop David, his coadjutor, fell 
the greater part of the care of watching over the foundation and look- 
ing after the interests of the little community, and the latter is there- 
fore looked upon as its real founder. 

The original home of the sisterhood was a log cabin, built by the 
seminary students of St. Thomas, under the direction of Bishop David, 
and the new religious organization was (composed at first of only five 
earnest souls. The principal object of the order, as in the case of that 
of the Sisterhood of Loretto, is the instruction of young girls, but the 
S-isters of Charity also have charge of orplian asylums, hospitals, and 
similar institutions. 



^ The name of the organization is The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. 



NAZARETH ACADEMY. 229 

The most prominent of the early members of the order were Mother 
Catherine Spalding, Sister Ellen O'Connell, and Sister Harriet Gardi- 
ner. Mother Catherine Spalding was a cousin of Archbishop Spald- 
ing, the seventh archbishop of Baltimore, and was chosen the first 
mother superior of the order, a position which she held for twentj^- 
four years. She was the pivot upon which the affairs of the growing 
sisterhood turned for many years, and was noted for her clear convic- 
tions of duty and her faithful performance of its demands. Sister 
Ellen O'Connell was the first directress of studies, a position which 
she held for thirty-five years, dating from the first opening of the 
school at St. Thomas. She imparted to the course from the begin- 
ning that thoroughness and strength which soon made Nazareth 
prominent and attracted pupils from a distance. Sister Scholastica 
O'Connor was the first music teacher in the school. 

The original school at St. Thomas- was both a day school and board- 
ing school, but in 1822 the academy was moved to its present loca- 
tion, 7 miles distant from its original one, the new site being called 
Nazareth and the day school at that time being discontinued. On 
December 29, 1829,^ the school was chartered under its official title, 
as given above, and was granted the usual scholastic powers and 
privileges. Under this charter the institution is managed by the 
members of the community, under the general supervision, in certain 
respects, of a board of seven trustees, of whom the Bishop of Louis- 
ville is moderator. 

The funds at the time of the removal to Nazareth were barely 
sufficient to purchase the farm on which the buildings now stand. 
The school has since had no further endowment, but has devoted the 
income derived from tuition, as this increased, to improvement and 
expansion, improved buildings and other means of instruction having 
been gradually added as means have come in. Within six years after 
the change of location $20,000 was spent in improving the place, and 
in 1844 there were 120 boarders, whereas there had been only 30 the 
last year at St. Thomas. The succeeding years have found spacious, 
handsome, and well-arranged buildings added, until Nazareth has 
become one of the most extensive and best-equipped boarding schools 
in the country. A large farm is attached to the school to furnish 
recreation grounds and to aid in supplying the table. A view of 
the school as it was in 1822 and as it now is, would well display not 
only the growth of this institution, but also, in a general way, the 
expansion of higher education in Kentucky during this time. 

Not only has the parent school been maintained at Nazareth, but as 
many as sixty-seven branch schools have been established in Ken- 
tucky and other States of the South and West. Teachers are fur- 
nished for all these schools by a normal school conducted at Nazareth, 
where these teachers are carefully trained for their work. 

Besides those already named, among others eminently instrumental 

^ Acts of 1889-30, pp. 24-27. 



230 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

iu building up Nazareth, may be niontioned Mother Frances Gardiner, 
who came with her sister to St. Thomas in 1819, and was, after the 
retirement of Motlier Catherine Spalding, for thirty-five years the 
mother superior of tlie community. She ha<l a great talent for admin- 
istration, and for this long period successfully managed the affairs of 
the institution. Even more noted is Mother Columba Carroll, who 
was Sister Kllen O'Connell's successor as directress of studies, holding 
that position for thirty-fiv^e years, and was, after Mother Frances 
Gardiner's retirement, for more than ten years mother superior. 
Mother Columba possessed extraordinary zeal and tact in ruling the 
sisterhood. Among those who have presided over the community in 
recent yeai's are Mother Cleophas Mills, the present mother superior 
of the order, who was also at the head of its affairs from 1885 to 1891, 
and Mother Helena Tormey, who was mother superior from 1891 to 
1897. Sisters Columba Tarleton and Emily Elder are noted as having 
been very highly accomplished teachers. 

The course of instruction at Nazareth extends through seven years, 
ranging from primary work to that of collegiate grade and having such 
modern features as normal and business departments. A large and 
well-trained faculty has always been maintained, and a library, 
museum, and laboratories furnish good facilities for teaching. The 
patronage of the school has been quite large, the attendance having 
been frequently over two hundred in a year, and has come from Ken- 
tucky and the Southern States generally, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ten- 
nessee, Texas, and Alabama having been and still being well repre- 
sented. The average number of graduates in recent years has been 
about twelve, and the total number of alumnae is something over six 
hundred. The latter are quite widely distributed throughout the 
Union, and many of them occupy prominent positions in teaching and 
other professions, especially in the West. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Spalding's Early Catholic Missions. 

Acts of the State legislature. 

Reprint of an article in the Catholic World (New York) for January, 1898. 

Catalogues and correspondence. 

SCIENCE HILL SCHOOL, SHELBYVILLE. 

This school, although its work is now avowedly largely secondary, 
is worthy of consideration on account of the especially prominent 
position it has occupied for a long time in the educational annals, not 
only of Kentucky, but of the South and West generally, and the dis- 
tinguished services rendered to the cause of education by Mrs. Julia 
Tevis, its founder and so long its principal. It also still holds an 
honored rank among the State's educational institutions and does 
much teaching of a grade even superior to that done by many schools 
bearing more pretentious titles. 



SCIENCE HILL SCHOOL. 231 

Science Hill had its beginning in a private school, opened in Shelby- 
ville, March 25, 1825, by Mrs. Julia A. Tevis and her husband, Rev. 
John Tevis, of Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. It is quite proper that Mrs. Tevis's name should he men- 
tioned first in this connection, for although her husband was asso- 
ciated with her for some time in conducting the school and rendered 
efficient services in its behalf, yet the main burden of the enterprise, 
even from its inception, was borne by Mrs. Tevis, and to her is to be 
attributed the largest share of its success. She also conducted it alone 
for many years after Mr. Tevis's death. It has been well said that 
"few institutions were so entirely the work of one mind and hand."^ 
At the time of its establishment it was only antedated in Kentucky 
as a female school by Loretto and Nazareth, and was, with one excep- 
tion,^ the first Protestant institution for girls which has had a con- 
tinuous history founded in the Mississippi Valley. The school has 
always .been and still is purely an individual enterprise, for, although 
nominally placed under care of Kentucky Conference as early as 1829, 
the conference has never had any part in its management, nor has 
it ever contributed anything to its support. Naturally the enterprise 
was welcomed and encouraged by the citizens of Shelbyville, but 
they have never given anything for either its equipment or endow- 
ment. 

The number of students enrolled in the school was at first quite 
small, there being only 20 the first term, of whom 4 were boarders, 
and only 43 were in attendance in the first part of 1827. In its early 
days it encountered a prejudice against the higher education of 
women, then quite prevalent in Kentucky, which it gradually over- 
came. Soon, however, its reputation was established and its rooms 
were crowded with students, the South generally, as well as Kentucky, 
becoming its special patron and friend. It was not long before its 
matriculation was only limited by the accommodations it could fur- 
nish. Its enrollment, whose names represented each year almost 
every State in the South and West, soon reached 200, and, between 
1850 and 1860, frequently was as much as 300. From 1840 to 1866 
the reputation of Science Hill may be said to have been second to 
that of no female college in the South. Mr. Tevis died in 1861, but 
his wife continued to conduct the institution successfully for many 
years afterwards. Not only were its operations not suspended by the 
civil war, but even its attendance seems not to have been materially 
reduced, there being in 1804-65, over 200 students in its halls, 
although business, generally, in the South was quite fully interrupted. 



'Anniversary sermon, p. 21. 

'^ This exception is given in Sixty Years in the School Room, p. 356, as the school 
established a few years before Science Hill by Rev. Mr. Fall at Nashville, Tenn. 
The reference is probably to Nashville Female Academy, founded in 1817 (see 
Merriam's Higher Education in Tennesse, p. 245). 



232 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

The school's original material equipment was a private dwelling 
of rather limited capacity, and as more suitable buildings, furniture, 
and apparatus had to be supplied from the profits of the enterprise, 
they were only gradually acquired. The income was, however, soon 
sufficient to supply enlarged accommodations and better facilities 
for instruction. After a time the buildings had to be improved 
and extended during every vacation to provide for the increased 
number of students, until the equipment became ample in compari- 
son with other similar institutions. The last important building 
erected under the old management was a large chapel which was 
opened in 1800. The course offered during this early i)eriod of the 
school's history was the common one in vogue in female colleges in 
the South, the English branches constituting its basis, and making 
with music and art what was then considered sufficient for a girl's 
equipment for life. Science Hill added to these more of natural 
science than was usual among schools for women. 

Mrs. Tevis remained in the school and, for the most part, guided its 
fortunes until just prior to her death in 1880. Dr. B. P. Tevis had 
for some time previous been associated with her in its management, 
when, on March 25, 1871), the fifty-fourth anniversary of its founda- 
tion, the proprietorship of the enterprise was transferred to W. T. 
Poynter, D. I)., a memter of the Kentucky Conference. Mrs. Tevis 
died April 21, 1880, full of years, labors, and honors, having influ- 
enced for good by her work almost every section of the South and 
West, where, in almost every city, village, and hamlet, the graduates 
of Science Hill are to be found. She was noted for her liberality, 
having given free education, amounting to thousands of dollars, to 
many poor deserving students, and otherwise so conducted her school 
that it may truly be said to have been "a blessing to thousands of 
pupils, to the church, and to the country."^ She was also a great and 
original teacher and has been rarely equaled for dignified and finished 
style of instruction. No record has been kept of the number of 
alumrae during her administration, but this ^ may safely be said to 
have been larger than that of most private schools in the country, or 
of most other Southern schools for girls. 

When Dr. Poynter took charge of the school he changed the char- 
acter of its work in such a way as to make it distinctively a secondary 
school in the fullest sense of that term, its requirements being made 
to conform with those lately laid down by the Committee of Ten. He 
also secured for it during the first year of his administration a charter, 
something it had never possessed before, conferring upon it the usual 
scholastic powers and privileges. It is now called an English and 
classical school for girls and has become known especially as a pre- 

* Anniversary sennon, p. 27. 

^ It is known that more than 2,000 pupils had been educated in the school in Mr. 
Tevis's lifetime and more than 3,000 up to 1875, 



LOGAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 233 

paratory school to Wellesley College, where its graduates have main- 
tained an excellent standing. Much of its work is still, however, of a 
high grade in comparison to that of other female schools in Kentucky, 
and the diplomas it grants represent better work than that done in 
many so-called colleges. The attendance of late years has not 
teen so large as formerly, but continues good considering the multi- 
plicity of schools and the financial distress of recent years. It 
includes, in many instances, the daughters and even granddaughters 
of former graduates of the institution. The library, scientific appa- 
ratus, and other means of instruction have been enlarged and other- 
wise kept up to the requirements of modern education, and, as a rule, 
only graduates of the best Eastern colleges have been employed as 
teachers. Dr. Poynter died July 30, 1896, in the midst of a career of 
usefulness. He had kept up the reputation of Science Hill for doing 
thoroughly the work it undertakes to do. Since his death Mrs. 
Clara M. Poynter, his wife, who had been previously associated with 
him in the faculty as lady principal, has efficiently conducted the 
institution, which bids fair to maintain its former position of useful- 
ness as an educational factor in the State. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

• 

Sixty Years in the School Room, by Mrs. Julia A. Tevis, Cincinnati, 1878. 

Sermon on the Fortieth Anniversary of Science Hill, by Rev. G. E. Cunningham, 
Louisville, 1865. 

The Gospel Herald, for November, 1829. 

The Southern School, for January, 1896. 

A History of Methodism in Kentucky, by A. H, Redford, D. D., 3 vols., Nash- 
ville, 1871. 

Collins's and Smith's History of Kentucky. 

Some additional information was also given by the late president. Dr. Po3mter, 

LOGAN FEMALE COLLEGE— RUSSELLVILLE. 

As early as 1846 Prof. William Wines founded a school in Russell- 
ville for boys and girls, as an individual enterprise, to meet the demands 
of the local need of higher education. Out of this school, known as 
"The Academy," by small increments has grown Logan Female Col- 
lege, with her fifty- two years of history, which is practically continuous, 
although her life, on more than one occasion, has been temporarily 
suspended, and has at times seemed in danger of being extinguished. 
Professor Wines was an excellent teacher, and succeeded in building 
up quite a good school, in which manj'^ of the leading citizens of Rus- 
sellville and vicinity either were fitted for college or received the 
greater part of their education. Among these may be mentioned par- 
ticularly the late Ecstein Norton, so long prominent in business cir- 
cles in Kentucky and New York and a liberal patron of education, 
and the late Rev. David Morton, D. D., afterwards so intimately con- 
nected with the history and prosperity of Logan Female College and 
noted in the enterprises of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. 



234 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Equal advantages weit? offered in the school to girls and boys, and 
a large proportion of the attendance during this early i)eriod was 
composed of girls. The desire to perpetuate such an institution in 
their midst led a number of the citizens of Russellville and the sur- 
rounding community to organize a company in 1856 and purchase the 
prop<»rty hitheito occupied l\y the school from Professor Wines, who 
at that time severed his connection with the enterprise. The amount 
paid for the property was t3,500, raised by the company in shares of 
*10() each. 

lender the new regime, Rev. J. E. Games, of Louisville Conference of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church South, became principal of the school 
and remained at its head for two years, during which time he seems 
to have given it a fair impetus for its future career. 

In 1858 he was succeeded by liev. Edward Stevenson, D. D., of the 
same church, who, through his ability and energy, did much to build 
up the character of the institution as an important educational center. 
He inaugurated a plan for the purchase of the property by his church 
and succeeded in raising the money for this purpose from the mem- 
bers of his denomination. He also secured several thousand dollars 
besides, which was used in improving the property generally and 
making important additions to the buildings. He obtained for the 
institution in 1860 a charter changing its name to the Russellville 
Collegiate Institute and granting it the power of conferring diplomas. 
At the same time it was received regularly under the care of the 
Louisville Conference, under whose patronage it has since remained. 
The success of the institute was very great under the vigorous adminis- 
tration of Dr. Stevenson, even during the civil war, but it was much 
disorganized by his long illness, resulting in his death in 1864. 

Rev. David Morton then became principal. He conducted the school 
with such success, took such a prominent part in its history, and 
wrought such changes in its character that he may be denominated 
the principal founder of the institution as it exists to-day. Although 
the work of the college was seriously hindered during the first 
part of his administration because its grounds and part of its build- 
ings were occupied by Federal troops during the greater part of two 
years, yet he not only managed to keep it in operation, but even raised 
some funds for its improvement.. He also began at this juncture to 
contemplate the enlarging of the enterprise in both a material and 
educational way. 

In 1860 a stock company, known as the Logan Female College Com- 
pany, was organized and the plan formed of erecting a large new 
building on a lot opposite the original one, the principal part of the 
money for which was raised by Dr. Morton in the fall and winter of 
1867. The previous establishment in Russellville of Bethel College, 
an institution for young men, by the Baptists of southern Kentucky 
having rendered the department for boys and young men in the insti- 



LOGAN FEMALE COLLEGE. 235 

tute unnecessary, it was discontinued and the school limited to the 
education of girls only. Its curriculum was extended, and in 1867 a 
new charter was obtained from the legislature converting it into a reg- 
ular female college under its present title. Under this charter the 
institution is controlled by a board of eight trustees, elected partly 
by the stockholders and partly by the conference. Conference 
appoints for it annually a visiting committee of three members. Dr. 
Morton retired from the active management of the school at the 
close of the next school year, but remained for some time its financial 
agent and was until 1892 one of its trustees. During this time he 
raised a considerable amount of funds for its use and otherwise 
contributed to its prosperity. 

In 1868, when the new charter went into operation, Rev. R. H. 
Rivers, D. D., became by the appointment of conference the first 
president of Logan Female College. Dr. Rivers was a teacher of 
thirty years' successful experience and would doubtless have done 
much to>vard building up the institution, but at the end of a year, 
before his administration had fairly gotten started, he was transferred 
by his church to other fields of usefulness. 

Rev. N. H. Lee, D. D., was appointed president upon the retire- 
ment of Dr. Rivers. Dr. Lee was a man of high attainments and 
enlarged views and was able to successfully uphold the work of the 
college for four years. But the financial panic of 1873 had greatly 
delayed the collection of funds for the new building, and as the old 
one had been sold and the new one was not yet sufficiently completed 
to be occupied, the institution was suspended for a year after Dr. Lee 
resigned its presidency in 1873. 

In 1874, although the building was yet incomplete, the college was 
reopened under A. B. Stark, LL. D., as president. He was a man of 
broad culture and scholarly attainments, and under his management 
the curriculum of the institution was further extended and regularly 
arranged into different schools of instruction in the various depart- 
ments, substantially as it has since remained. The reputation of the 
college was during this adminstration considerably increased, espe- 
cially by its work in English and Anglo-Saxon, which was of such a 
character as to call forth encomiums from Dr. Furnival, of the New 
Shakespeare Society of London. The attendance during this period 
averaged about one hundred pupils annually, and considerable addi- 
tions were made to the scientific apparatus, the library, and other 
means of instruction. A number of additional rooms were also com- 
pleted in the building, but the college was by this put somewhat in 
debt. Failing health compelled Dr. Stark to resign in 1883, when he 
was succeeded by H. K. Taylor, A. M., as president. 

Professor Taylor's administration was energetic and prosperous. 
Under his managenfent the department of natural science was much 
emphasized and the work of the college in that direction much 



236 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUi'ATlON IN KENTUCKY. 

strengthened. In 1SS!> Professor Taylor retired from the presidency 
of the institution and A. G. Murphey, A. M., who had for the last 
three years beiMi (*onniH*te<l with the faculty, was elected in his stead. 

Professor Murphey, who hml had a ripe experience in various other 
colleges of his church in Kentucky, has since remained in charge of the 
institution, and has been eminently succc^ssful in upholding its stand- 
anl of scholarship and otherwise maintaining its reputation. The 
course of instruction, es|KH*ially in the departments of English history 
and music, has In^en improved, tlie foundations laid for a larger and 
better library, and the facilities for tea(*hing otherwise enlarged. 

The <lebt, which ha<l In^en hanging over the institution for some 
time, luis also been paid, and the college building finally completed, at 
a total (*ost of al)out. $:U),(MM). This building, in its arrangement, size, 
and general accomiiuHlations, is probably the equal of any similar 
structui*e in the SUite. it is situattMl in a tasteful campus containing 
acres. Tlie avemge atteiulance during the first five years of P^si- 
dent Murpliey's lulministrat ion was alH)ut a hundred and fifty students 
each year, an average somewhat larger than that of former times and 
wider in its geographical distribution, as many as nine or ten of the 
Southern and Western States being represented. The attendance 
has of late Ix^en somewhat, reduced by the general financial depression, 
but still remains good. 

The iiKstituk* had sent out its first graduating class of 2 in 1861, 
and the college its fii'st class of 7 in 18(39. There have been up to 
181)S, inclusive, ISo regular graduates in the different courses, besides 
a number upon whom siHK*ial certificates have been conferred in 
various departmc^nts. The pr(\seiit graduating class of 12 members is 
the largest in the history of the institution. The present faculty is 
composed of 12 well-trained teachers. The college curriculum em- 
braces the depailments of Latin, English, mathematics, natural 
science, history, Bible studies, philosophy, political science, elocution, 
Anglo-Saxon, Greek, French, and (Tcrnian, different combinations of 
which lead to the three degrees of bachelor of arts, bachelor of 
science, and bachelor of laws. There are, in addition, primary and 
preparatory departments and departments of music and art, 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

This sketch has been compiled almost entirely from catalogues and correBpoiid- 
ence, with some reference to RedforcVs Methodism in Kentucky and Henderaon^B 
Centennial Exhibit. A few facts have been taken from A History of ESdncsti<m 
in the Louisville Conference, by Gross Alexander, S. T. D., Nashville, 1897, which 
was published after this sketch had practically been completed. 

MILLERSBURG FEMALE COLLEGE, MILLERSBURG. 

The lineal predecessor of this institution may be found in a school 
for girls opened in Millersburg in 1840 or 1850 by Col. Thornton F. 
Johnson. Colonel Johnson had for a number of years previously 



MILLERSBURG FEMALE COLLEGE. 237 

taught at Georgetown, Ky., and later had established, first at George- 
town and then at Blue Lick Springs, a private military academy. 
This was a novel enterprise in this country, in. conducting which he 
had been assisted by James G. Blaine, then quite a young man, but des- 
tined to become subsequently so famous in American political history. 
The school at Millersburg was founded to supply the need of better 
facilities for the higher education of girls in the immediate commu- 
nity and the adjoining section of Kentucky, and was first conducted 
in the building of the Christian Church. In this school Colonel John- 
son was assisted by three sisters, the Misses Stanwood, one of whom 
afterwards became the wife of Mr. Blaine. The school was soon 
transferred from the church to the Batterson residence, which had 
been purchased for it and which was located on the site of the present 
college buildings. 

In 1852 Rev. John Milller, M. D., then pastor of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South, in Millersburg, bought the property and 
changed its character by making the school coeducational. Dr. Mil- 
ler conducted it for two years as principal, when he retired on account 
of poor health, and the institution passed, in 1854, into the hands of 
Rev. George S. Savage, M. D., a well-known and able teacher of sev- 
eral years' experience. 

Dr. Savage, assisted by his wife, also an excellent teacher, con- 
ducted the school successfully for several years as a mixed, common, 
and high school, under the name of Millersburg Male and Female 
Collegiate Institute. When, in 1857, under the leadership, princi- 
pally, of Rev. T. P. Shellman, the plan of establishing a college for the 
Kentucky conference was originated, the aim at first seems to have 
been to convert Dr. Savage's school into the proposed institution. 
But when it was decided to make the new college exclusively male, 
and it was opened in the fall of 1859, as the precursor of what is now 
Kentucky Wesleyan College, the original school was made exclusively 
female and its name changed to Millersburg Female College by a 
charter obtained for it on February 20, 1860, which granted to it the 
power of conferring the usual degrees. The buildings, which were 
not showy, but ample, were at that time thoroughly refitted and its 
previous course considerably extended. The institution was origi- 
nally and still remains entirely a private enterprise, but is, in a gen- 
eral way, under the patronage of Kentucky conference, which 
annuall}^ appoints a visiting committee to inspect its work. 

Dr. Savage remained at the head of the institution until 1866, when 
he retired from its presidency on account of ill health, and was suc- 
ceeded by Prof. J. W. Hamilton. Dr. Savage has since, for many 
years, been the efficient general agent of the Americal Bible Society 
for Kentucky and Tennessee. The general prosperity of the college 
during his administration is attested by the fact that its attendance 
averaged from 150 to 200 students yearly during this period, and 



238 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

althouj^h its patroim^o was soiuewhat redueed, its operations were not 
interrupt<»<l nor its suc(*ess materially impaired by the civil war. 
During the war, on account of the suspension of Kentucky Wesleyan 
Collejro, a numl)er of lM)ys wore I'eceived as students, its old plan of 
coeducation thus being temporarily restored. The school had origi- 
nally a vc^ry good course for the time, and its extension under Dr. 
Savage mad(^ it the equal of that usually offered at female colleges in 
the South, a standard which has since been maintained. The instruc- 
tion given has also been modernized as the times have demanded. 
A nornuil department was (\stablished as early as 1862. 

Profes or Hamilton lield the presidency of the college only three 
years, after which for several years tliere were a number of changes in 
its proprietoi^ship, Professor Hamilton l>eing succeeded by F*rof. J. A. 
Brown, and Judge William II. Savage taking Professor Brown's place 
in 1870. In 1872 Rev. George T. Gould, A. M., was associated with 
Judge Savage in the control of the institution, and in 1874 Rev. H. W. 
Abbett, A. M., was added to the* management. In 1875 Judge Savage 
severed his connection with the institution, which was conducted by 
professors Gould and Abbett jointly until 1877, when Professor Gould 
became sole proprietor, remaining so until 1884. During this period 
of the institution's history, especially under Professor Gould's admin- 
istration, its scope was considerably enlarged and its teaching force 
materially increased, the aim being, as stated in its catalogues, to 
make of it a polytechnic institute, with a course ranging from a pri- 
mary department to a college course of good compass, and including 
the usual ornamental branches, and normal and commercial depart- 
ments. Its patronage was also considerably^ increased during this 
time, rising to 229 students in 1881-82, as many as 13 States being 
at times represented in its matriculation. 

On December 29, 1878, the school met with the misfortune of hav- 
ing its principal building, including all of its furniture and educa- 
tional appliances generally, destroyed by fire. Professor Gould's 
energy is illustrated by the fact that not a single daj^'s exercises were 
interrupted bj^ this calamity. New quarters, with the necessary equip- 
ments, were rented and the school's affairs proceeded as if nothing very 
unusual had happened. With the aid of the insurance on the old 
building and a moderate subscription, secured from the citizens of 
Millersburg and vicinity, a new and more commodious building was at 
once begun, and was completed and occupied in June, 1879. The new 
structure is a large three-story brick building with all the modem 
improvements, and furnishes accommodations for 150 boarders. Pres- 
ident Gould was, however, unable to overcome the financial loss due 
to the fire, and so was forced to relinquish the proprietorship of the 
college in 1884, when he was succeeded in its presidency by Rev. 
Morris Evans, D. D., who, however, remained only one year. 

In September, 1885, Rev. Cadesman Pope, who had previously pur- 



BETHEL FEMALE COLLEGE. 239 

chased the property, took charge of the college. He associated with 
himself in its faculty two veteran teachers — Mrs. S. C. Truehart, for 
the past thirteen years principal of Stanford Female College, and 
Prof. A. G. Murphey, who had had many years' experience in Ken- 
tucky Wesleyan College and other institutions. The general scope 
of tlie institution was also considerably broadened and its work other- 
wise strengthened, so that it ma}'^ be fairly said to rank among the 
best female colleges of the State. The course has been subsequently 
arranged on a more distinctively collegiate basis, the branches of 
instruction being classed under different schools, and the faculty has 
been considerably enlarged. The patronage of the institution during 
the greater part of Rev. Mr. Pope's administration was quite as good 
as at any former period in the history of the college, and was wider 
than ever before, extending as it did from Virginia to Texas and from 
Florida to Illinois. 

In July, 1897, Mr. Pope retired from the management of the institu- 
tion, and Rev. C. C. Fisher, A. M., who had previously become its 
proprietor by purchase, assumed its presidency. Professor Fisher is a 
graduate of Emory and Henry College, and has had a number of years' 
experience as a teacher in high schools and colleges. His aim has 
been to maintain the school's former high ideal of female education. 
Upon his accession the buildings were largely refitted and the equip- 
ment of the school otherwise materially improved. The present 
faculty of the college is composed of 13 teachers, who by their expe- 
rience and ability should be well calculated to perpetuate its former 
usefulness. 

Millersburg Female College has almost every year since 1857 sent 
forth from 1 to 17 graduates, so that her alumnje in 1898 numbered 
339, many of whom have distinguished themselves, especially as 
musicians and teachers. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Perrin's History of Bourbon, Scott, HaiTison, and Nicholas Counties. Hender- 
son "s Centennial Exhibit. The information obtained from these has been materi- 
ally enlarged by that obtained from catalogues, and that furnished by President 
Pope and Miss Ella Fleming, of Millersburg. 

BETHEL FEMALE COLLEGE, HOPKINSVILLE. 

The Baptists of Hopkinsville appear as early as 1851 to have plan- 
ned for a female school to be conducted under their auspices, as is 
shown by the charter secured that year for the Baptist Female Insti- 
tute. The scope of the enterprise seems, however, to have been 
widened, and the present Bethel Female College is the culmination 
of the desire, not only of the Baptists of Hopkinsville, but of Bethel 
Association, to foster female education. This association, from which 
the college takes its name, embraces in its territory a considerable 



240 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

part of south w(»8terii K(»iitii<*.ky ami a |>ortion of Tennessee. The 
movement for the proposed school began to take shape in 1854, when 
John P. Campbell, A. D. Sears, Shandy Holland, L. L. Leavell, A. 
Palmer, S. D. Buekner, II. A. Phelps, E. B. Richardson, and E. Y. 
Vaughan wore appointed its trustees. This board of trustees includes 
tlie names of those who were probabl}'^ mainly instrumental in pro- 
moting i\m enterprise, and who largely looked after it in its incipiency. 

Steps weni! soon taken to raise funds for its Inauguration, and a 
charter was secured for it on March 9, 1854, under the name of Bethel 
High School. It was decided to locate the school in Hopkinsville, and 
a plan for a building for it was pi-oposed by the trustees as early as 
April 21, 1854, but the money for the building, which came mainly 
from local and associational sources, seems to have been collected 
rather slowly, so that its erection was not ordered by the trustees until 
SeptemlKM* 18, 1854. The corner stone of this building was laid with 
Masonic ceremonies on April 7, 1855, but it was not entirely finished 
until the early part of 1857, although it was occupied by the school 
for some time before that date. It is constructed of brick; has three 
stories and a basement, with a frontage of 80 feet and a depth of 50 
feet, and cost, when completed, about $30,000. It is situated in the 
midst of handsome and spacious grounds. 

The trustees, in the summer of 1854, had outlined a course of 
instruction whicli thej' declared should l)e "that of the best female 
seminaries of the South and West," and on July 17 of that year 
appointed W. W. Rossington as professor of music in the school. It 
does not appear whether or not Professor Rossington ever taught in 
the present building, but he is the first teacher ever regularly appointed 
to a position in the school. While its building was being prex>ared 
for occupancy its principalship was offered successively to Joseph 
Warder and R. L. Thurman, each of whom, for some reason, declined 
it. The board had, by i*esolution, determined to look for a presiding 
officer "of preeminent classical training" and to make Bethel Female 
High School " equal to any female college in the Southwest." Finally, 
on July 0, 1856, W. F. Hill was elected principal for a term of years, 
and the school was opened in the fall of that year under his manage- 
ment, although its building was j^et incomplete. 

Professor Hill remained in charge of the institution only one year, 
being succeeded on June 16, 1857, by Prof. J. W. Rust, who remained 
at its head until it was suspended by the civil war, and who may be 
said, more than any other man, to have established its reputation for 
good scholarship and excellent discipline. During all the early years 
its successful operation was much hindered by a lack of funds, to 
secure which a number of agents were at different times appointed by 
Bethel Association. The one who appears mainly to have at last put 
the institution on its feet financially is Rev. J. M. Burnett. 

In 1858, at the instance of Bethel Association, the school was plaeed 



BETHEL FEMALE COLLEGE. 241 

under the control of Green River Educational Convention, and it was 
rechartered under the name of Bethel Female College. The new 
plan of management was, however, found to be unsatisfactory, and 
after a time the new charter was repealed, and the school has since 
been operated, until recent years, under its original charter, although 
still retaining in popular usage the name of college. Professor Rust 
was able to conduct the school with such success that considerable 
improvements were made from its accumulated income in 1860. The 
war, however, cut off a large part of its patronage and otherwise so 
interfered with its operation that Professor Rust found it necessary 
to resign on August 17, 1863, after which for several months its work 
was suspended. During this suspension its building seems, at least 
temporarily, to have been occupied by the Federal military authori- 
ties, as is shown by a protest recorded in the minutes of the board of 
trustees against their use of it for a dance. 

In March, 1864, the school was reopened by Rev. T. G. Keene, wlio 
at first bore the title simply of professor, but became principal the 
next year and remained so until June, 1866. The prosperity of the 
institution revived during his administration, in the latter part of 
which his efforts were ably seconded by those of Rev. M. G. Alex- 
ander, who became his successor. Professor Alexander retained the 
principalship until July, 1868, when he entered other fields of useful- 
ness, and Rev. J. F. Dagg was elected as his successor. Professor 
Dagg successfully conducted the enterprise until his resignation, in 
1874, when the position of principal was again tendered to Prof. J. 
W. Rust, who had been at its head from 1857 to 1863 and had been 
president of Bethel College, at Russellville, from 1864 to 1868. 

Professor Rust, who had been recuperating his health for the past 
six years, accepted the position upon the condition that about $6,000 
be spent in repairing and improving the school property. He entered 
upon his new administration with vigor and soon had the prosperity 
of the school well established. Professor Rust remained in charge of 
the institution until his death, in 1890, and, in the language of its 
board of trustees^ is said to deserve the thanks of the board and of 
the association for the energetic and skillful manner in which he 
managed it and kept it alive. He was "an ef&cient and successful 
educator, possessing energy, enthusiasm, tact, and fidelity." Under 
his management the college had a faculty of from six to ten teachers 
and an average attendance of some^jhing over one hundred students 
each year. Its course of study had been outlined by a committee of 
Bethel Association, consisting of Rev. George Hunt and W. B. Walker, 
in 1866, and had been divided into the five departments of languages, 
mathematics, mental and moral science, and belles-lettres, natural 
science, and fine arts. This course was carried out by Professor Rust 
in such a way as to attain an excellent standard of scholarship. 

For about a year after the death of Professor Rust no one was 
2127— No. 25 16 



242 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATIOX IN KENTUCKY, 

elected to the VHcaut presidency. In January, 1891, the position was 
tendered to Rev. T. S. McCall, M. A., for the past two yetivs the suc- 
cessful president of Liberty Female College, at Glasgow, Ky. Profes- 
sor McCall accepted soon afterwards, and took charge of the institu- 
tion in tlie following suiiiiner, the college building having meanwhile 
been enlarged, lmprove<l, and refurnished, at a cost of about $9,000. 
In the spring of 181K) a new charter had been secured for the school, 
changing its name to Hethel Female College, a name it had really 
borne l^efore the public since 1858, and granting to it the power to 
confer the usual collegiate degrees. As this charter was granted 
shortly before I^rofessor Rust's death, he thus became the first regular 
president of the college, but Professor McCall was the first one to 
enter upon his duties under that title. President McCall maintained 
the formcjr Htan<lard of the school during his administration of five 
years, ending in Juno, 1800. 

Soon after the resignation of Professor McCall had been tendered 
and iiccepted, in the spring of 1896, Rev. Edmund Harrison, A. M., 
was elected president, and the office of vice-president created, to 
which his son, W. II. Harrison, M. A., was elected. President Har- 
rison had been for a number of years a professor in Richmond Col- 
lege, Virginia, while his son had had considerable experience as an 
educator. The new administration took charge in the summer of 
180(>. Its first two years argue well for the future growth and 
improvement of the institution. The course of instruction has been 
mv)deled upon that of the University of Virginia, and the aim is to 
make it equal to that of any of the male colleges in the State, parallel 
degrees to those granted by them being offered. 

H(»thol Female High School sent out its first graduating class, of 
sev(»u meml)ers, in 1858, but did not graduate a much larger one for 
many years afterwards, excellence of scholarship rather than num- 
bers, it seems, being aimed at by her in granting diplomas. Her 
alunumi altogether number 167. Bethel Association has mainly 
furnished the means to build the institution and equip it fairly well 
for its work, but has never granted it the endowment so much needed 
for greatei* ellioieney. Various appeals for an endowment have at 
different times l)een made by Professor Rust and others interested in 
the welfare of the college, but have so far met with only an indiffer- 
ent I'csponse on the part of the association. It is to be hoped that the 
movement, which is still being agitated by the friends of the institu- 
tion, will be more successful in the future. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Tho luinntes of the board of trustees. (Tliese are quite complete and have been 
carofnlly examineil 'J 
Perrin's History of Christian County. 
SiH»nser'a History of tho Bjiptist^ of Kentucky. 
Cathcart 8 Riptist Encyoloi^edia. 
T*^^'- Huasellville Herald of June 10, 1891. 



BEAUMONT COLLEGE. 243 

BEAUMONT COLLEGE, HARRODSBURG. 

Beaumont College is the successor, in location and at least in the 
major part of its equipment, of Daughters' College, one of the oldest 
and for a long time one of the most prominent female colleges of 
Kentucky and the Southwest, and therefore worthy of having some 
account given of its history. 

DAUGHTERS' COLLEGE. 

This institution was almost entirely the work of one man, as it was 
established and successfully conducted for nearly forty years by John 
Augustus Williams, A. M., LL. D., its president during practically 
its entire history. President Williams, who is still living and who has 
been for many years a prominent minister of the Christiaji Church, 
had graduated from Bacon College in 1843, when only 19 years 
old, and subsequently devoted himself mainly to teaching, for which 
he had a special talent. After several years' successful experience 
in his profession, he in 1851 established Christian College, at Colum- 
bia, Mo. , which was very prosperous under his management for five 
years. However, in 1856 he resolved to return to his native State, and 
accordingly purchased Greenville Springs, a beautiful estate of some 
30 acres, formerly noted as a watering place, located near Harrods- 
burg, Ky., where in September of that year he opened Daughters' 
College for the education of young women, as its name implies. The 
buildings of the Springs were commodious and well adapted to edu- 
cational purposes, and the location was excellent and otherwise well 
suited for the establishment of such an institution. A charter was 
secured for the enterprise in the summer of 1856, conf emng upon the 
proposed college all the usual powers and privileges. Prof essor Wil- 
liams's father. Dr. C. E. Williams, was a joint proprietor of the school, 
and remained a business partner for many j^ears, but its educational 
work was from the first under the exclusive management of Professor 
Williams, who was the president of its faculty. This faculty was an 
able and experienced one from the beginning, and the course of 
instruction offered was excellent, especially in comparison with that 
usually given in female colleges. It included the following depart- 
ments: Philosophy, English language and literature, mathematics, 
natural science, history, ancient and modei*n languages, the school of 
the Bible, and the school of fine arts. 

At the oi)ening of the college all the rooms of its building then 
available were filled within a week, and its prosperity was uninter- 
rupted for a long ];)eriod, excepting two years during the civil war, and 
even then its patronage was not greatly reduced . Professor Williams's 
popularity as a teacher is well attested by the fact that fifty or more 
of his former pupils had followed him from Missouri to Kentucky at 
the establishment of the college. In 1865 he was induced to accei^t 



244 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

the chair of moral and moiital pliilosophj' in Kentucky University at 
Lexington, where, in 180G, as its fii^st presiding officer, he did much 
toward organizing llie work of the Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 
lege, but in 1808 lie resumed the presidency of Daughters* College, 
which he then retained continuously throughout its remaining history. 
In 1802, on iiccount of ill health, he retired from the i>rofession of 
teaching, and Daughters' College, as it had l)een formerly constituted, 
was suspended, the name and good will of the institution being re- 
tained by Professor Williams with a view to reopening in the future 
should his strength iK^rmit. Professor Williams has been instru- 
mental in molding the education of many young women throughout 
the South, as the patronage of his school was comparatively large, 
and in many years i'epresente<l most of the Southern States. Its 
graduates numbei*ed from 2 to 17 each year after 1857, and altogether 
amounted to about 350, coming from as many as 26 of the Southern 
and Western States. The college early developed a x>6dagogical 
tendency, having soon a regular normal department added to its 
course of instruction, and l)ecame noted for the large number of suc- 
cessful teachers it produced, more than one-third of all its graduates 
having devoted themselves, more or less, to this profession. 

BEAUMONT COLLEGE. 

After two unsuccessful attempts had been made to establish a new 
institution upon the foundation of Daughters' College the property 
formerl}' occupied by it was purchased in July, 1894, by Th. Smith, 
A. ]\I., who opened in its buildings, in the autumn of that year, a new 
educational enterprise under the name of Beaumont College. The 
new school was incorporated under the general laws of the State in 
April, 1895, with full power to confer degrees. Professor Smith is an 
alumnus of the University of Virginia and a teacher of many years' 
successful experience in Georgeto\\Ti College, Kentucky, and else- 
where. His aim has been to have Beaumont College do more distinc- 
tively university work than is usually attempted in at least most of 
the female colleges of the South. To this end, the former Daughters' 
College curriculum has been considerably widened, especially in the 
depai'tments of ancient and modern languages and higher mathematics, 
and a strong faculty has heen employed, several of whom are promi- 
nent specialists. Sx)ecial stress has also been put upon the school of 
music, which employs onl}'^ graduates of the best conservatories, while 
the former normal and business courses have been retained. The 
new college has ample apparatus and a well-selected reference library. 
It is, however, like Daughters' College, still purely an indiyidnal 
enterprise and lacks tliat endowment which would enable it to enlarge 
its operations and extend its field of usefulness. It has, nevertheless, 
acquired considerable prestige in the past four years and is widening 
its patronage, drawing its students from a number of States outside 
of Kentucky. 



SAYBE FEMALE INSTITUTE. 245 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

On Daughters' College: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky; Mrs. 
Daviess's History of Mercer and Boyle Counties; Henderson's Centennial Exhibit: 
The Disciple of Christ (Cincinnati) for July 1, 1884; The Kentucky Craftsman 
(Lexington) for August, 1895. 

The account of Beaumont College is based entirely on catalogues and corre- 
spondence. 

SAYRE FEMALE INSTITUTE, LEXINGTON. 

This school has long held an excellent rank among the institutions 
for the higher education of women in Kentucky. It owes its existence 
to the munificence of David A. Sayre, of Lexington, after whom it is 
named. Mr. Sayre had come to Lexington from New Jersey in 1811, 
when quite a young man. From absolute poverty he had, by thrift 
and economy, become a banker as early as 1829, and subsequently 
amassed large wealth, a considerable part of which was devoted to the 
use of public institutions connected with the Presbyterian Church, of 
which he was a member. He became interested in educational mat- 
ters largely through the influence of his wife, who had been a teacher, 
and who still retained an enthusiastic interest for the profession, and 
determined to establish in Lexington a first-class school for girls, 
whose benefits should be as widely distributed as possible. 

The institute which bears his name was accordingly organized 
November 1, 1854, under Rev. H. V. D. Nevins as principal. It was 
first located on the corner of Mill and Church streets, and was then 
called Transylvania Female Seminary. On October 1, 1855, it was 
moved to its present location on Limestone street, near the center of 
the city, which had been purchased and specially prepared for it by 
Mr. Sayre, after whom it was then named. On March 10, 1856, it was 
chartered under its present title, with general power to confer collegi- 
ate degrees. According to this new charter the institution is man- 
aged by a board of 13 self -perpetuating trustees, of whom the mayor 
and city judge of Lexington are ex officio members. Its property can 
never be used for anything else except the education of girls, and all 
its income must be used either to increase its facilities for instruction 
or to add to the number of its beneficiary pupils. A moderate rate of 
tuition is charged by the school for its benefits in the case of most of 
its pupils, but it offers a free scholarship to one pupil from each of the 
public schools of Lexington each year, and besides this, grants gra- 
tuitous instruction to many deserving students. Its course includes 
all grades from a primary department to collegiate work of good com- 
pass. It is conducted under Presbyterian auspices, although non- 
sectarian in management. 

Mr. Nevins remained at the head of the school until 1859, when 
Prof. S. R. Williams became his successor. Professor Williams con- 
ducted the enterprise with success until his death in June, 1869, 
although part of the time was the disturbed period of the civil war. 



246 HISTOKY OF HIOHEB EDUCATION IK KENTUCKY. 

Pr<>r. Janirs I)in\vi<ldio t(M)k charge in 18G9y bat remained only one 
year, )kmu^ sii(h*<mmIo(1 in June, 1870, by the present efficient principal, 
Maj. II. B. MeCloUau.* In September of that year occurred the death 
of Mr. Sayns who ha<1 carefiiliy watched over the interests of the 
iiiHt i1 u1 ion sin(?c its in(*option. He left to it in perpetuity its excellent 
buihliii^ an<l fin<' grounds, the latter including about 5 acres. He 
hiv\ a<I<l<Ml olhor gifts during his life, making his total donations about 
8I(K),(KX), and furnishing tho school an equipment which was one of 
the )>est of its kind in the South. He had been its sole founder and 
its only )>eiiota(.*tor up to the time of his death. In the latter part of 
1870 his nt'phow, Mr. K. 1). Sayre, expended about 13,000 in improv- 
ing the property, and his sister, Mrs. Priscilla Cromey, who died in 
1877, iKMiuoatlied to it jHO,000, of which, however, it received only 
15,000, owing to a contest over her will. 

Major McCicihui, <luring an administration which has lasted twenty- 
eight years, has had a large measure of success in the management of 
the institute, and has made it eminently useful as an educational fac- 
tor in Kentucky and tho South especially. The attendance, which 
had been 00 in 18G8-09, was 80 in 1870-71. and 119 in 1872-73. By 
this time the school had outgrown its original quarters, and an enlarge- 
ment and improvement of its buildings were necessary. This was 
done between 1872 and 1875, at a cost of $13,000, the chapel being 
enlarge<l and additional rooms for boarding pupils provided. 

In 1880-87 about l$10,0(X) more was expended in adding a new reci- 
tation room and furnishing improved heating apparatus and other 
modern appliances. Of these amounts 115,000 came from the income 
of the institution, tho rest being derived from the gift of Mr. E. D. 
Sayre and the bequest of Mrs. Cromey. A valuable reference library 
and a good collection of scientific apparatus constitute part of the 
general equipment of tho institution, which has been kept up well 
with tho times, as is illustrated by the fact that Principal McCleUau 
was prepared, in 1896, to verify Professor Roentgen's X-ray experi- 
ments within five days after the discovery had been announced. 

The enlarged accommodations made possible a larp^er patronage, 
which speedily came, there teing 197 pupiLs in 1875-76, and an aver- 
age of about 230 yearly between 1873 and 1893, the highest number 
being 305 in 1800-91. The faculty during this period numbered from 
8 to 14 teachers. The present faculty contains 10 teachers. Since 
the panic of 1893 the average attendance has been about 130. The 
students come mainly from Kentucky and other Southern States. 
The graduating class of 1856, which was the first one to go out, 
numbered 11 members, and since then it has sent out almost every 
year a class of from 1 to 20. The alumnse now number altogether 
415, and are scattered over 20 of the Southern and Western States. 



^ Major McClellan, besides being a prominent educator, is the author of the 
Life and Campaigns of Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart. 



CALDWELL COLLEGE. 247 

The school has power to confer all the regular college degrees, but 
has chosen only to grant diplomas in two courses called regular and 
English. The latter of these embraces the elements of a well-rounded 
English education, while the former includes, in addition, a compre- 
hensive course in Latin or one of the modern languages. The insti- 
tute has furnished a large proportion of the successful teachers of 
Lexington and Fayette County, and has given much free tuition to 
those and others, the amount so bestowed between 1870 and 1889 hav- 
ing been estimated^ to be as much as $10,000. It has, under Major 
McClellan's management, been brought up to a high standard of use- 
fulness and exerted a wholesome influence in behalf of an excellent 
standard of scholarship. The financial foundation granted to it by 
Mr. Sayre places before it the prospect of widening and extending its 
influence for good in the future. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

CoUins's History of Kentucky. 

Peter "s History of Fayette County. 

Henderson's Centennial Exhibit. 

Lexington Press Transcript of February 18, 1895. 

Newspaper clipping of 1889. 

CALDWELL COLLEGE, DANVILLE. 

Schools for girls were early established in Danville, the first one of 
any note being one founded by Rev. J. K. Burch, for a time a professor 
in a theological department attached to Center College. None of these 
schools, however, had a first-class equipment, and their duration was, 
as a rule, short. The community had long been an educational center 
for young men, especially among the Presbyterians, who had also 
endeavored to have their daughters given equal advantages with their 
sons. A united and determined effort looking toward the accomplish- 
ment of this end was finally made in 1856. 

In this enterprise the more intelligent part of the citizens of Dan- 
ville and Boyle County generally were interested, but the Presbyte- 
rians were prime movers. Several prominent citizens were at first 
appointed to canvass for funds for the undertaking, and secured sub- 
scriptions amounting to about 15,000, the largest single subscription 
being tSOO. At a public meeting called in the Second Presbyterian 
Church in Danville to hear the report of this committee, the late Rev. 
E. P. Humphrey, D. D., at that time a professor in Danville Theolog- 
ical Seminary, made a stirring address in favor of the higher edu- 
cation of women, and perhaps did more than anyone else to arouse 
enthusiasm in favor of the proposed institution. After several other 
addresses had been made and various plans suggested. Dr. J. M. Meyer, 
who is still living in Danville, arose and having stated that, if the 



Newspaper clipping of 1889. 



248 HISTORY OF IIKSHEB EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

ent^^rprise was to be a huccohs larger subscriptious must be made, 
propose<l to bo one of ten to give tl,000 each for the school. To this 
proposition G. W. Welsh, Charles Henderson, George F. Lee, Charles 
Caldwell, and {)erhai)S ono or two others responded. These subscrip- 
tions, together with other smaller amounts subscribed at the time, 
made about 9S,()(K) raisiMl at lliis meeting. A further canvass of the 
community was made in which alM)ut 13,000 additional was secured. 
A building committi^e was appointed, and with the money in hand an 
eligible lot on I/exingt^)n stnn't in Danville was purchased, and the 
front of the original building erected in the latti^r part of 1859. 

In this year Pnif. K. A. Sloan, of Ahibama, was elected the first 
prin<Mpa1 of the institution, who, ui)on his arrival in Danville, con- 
sidered its aecomnKHlations insuilicient, an<l so, upon his request, an 
extra sulxseription of 810,<MM) was raised, with which, in 1860, an ell 
1(K) feet long and two stories high, with galleries on either side, was 
added to the front pn» viously erected. The school had originally been 
called IIen<lerson InstituUs but in order to secure the addition to the 
building Mr. Charles Cahlwell had raised his subscription to $3,000, 
in gratitude for which its name was changed to Caldwell Institute. 
Mr. Cahlwell was an ehler in the Fii'st Presbyterian Church in Dan- 
ville, and a warm friend of the institution as long as he lived. Under 
its new name a charter was secured for the enterprise, placing it 
under the control of the elders of the two Presbjrterian churches of 
Danville. 

The institute was first opened by Professor Sloan in the fall of 1860. 
Its complete<l building w^is equipped in such a manner as to be one of 
the finest of its kind in the States the total cost of buildings, ground, 
and equipment being about $80,000. The faculty was composed of an 
efficient corps of teachers and the opening attendance was large. So 
the school at the time had every prospect of success; but the civil 
war soon cut off its patronage from the South, upon which the man- 
agement had largely depended, and consequently its operations had 
to be suspended in 1802. 

It remained closed for about two years, when a Mr. Hart seems to 
have had charge of it for about the same length of time. In 1866 
Rev. L. G. Barbour, 1). D., was elected principal and conducted a 
good school for eight years, when he resigned, 1874, to accept a chair 
in the newly established Central University. 

The usefulness of the institution had for some time been greatly 
impaired by the lack of cooperation between the two controlling 
Presbyterian churches, who had become divided by the issues of the 
war and who did not care to occupy the property jointly. This was 
one reason for its suspension. At length an arrangement was made 
whereby the Second Presbyterian Church was to assume a debt 
remaining from Professor Sloan's administration, amounting to about 
$20,000, and was to have control of the school. It has until recently 



CALDWELL COLLEGE. 249 

remained under the management of that church, whose elders have 
acted as its board of trustees. 

Upon Dr. Barbour's resignation as principal, Prof. W. P. Hussey, 
of Boston, Mass., became his successor. The latter entered upon his 
work with great enthusiasm, inducing the board of trustees to apply 
to the legislature for a new charter, which changed the name of the 
institution to Caldwell College and otherwise enlarged the scope of 
the enterprise. Professor Hussey's plans were, however, cut short 
and the work of the college again suspended by the misfortune of 
having its building entirely destroyed by fire in April, 1876. 

Nothing remained to it from this calamity except its grounds, which, 
not long afterwards, were divided into building lots and sold. With 
the f ands thus obtained the present main building, well suited to its 
purposes and almost directly opposite the original location, was pur- 
ckased. In the autumn of 1880 the college was reopened in its new 
quarters with Rev. John Montgomery as president. President Mont- 
gomery remained at its head for six yeai'S, during which time it seems 
to have been fairly prosperous. In his administration a brick chapel 
was added to the material equipment of this institution. 

In the fall of 1886, Miss C. A. Campbell, of Danville, succeeded 
Rev. Mr. Montgomery in its presidency and remained its successful 
manager for eleven years. Soon after her accession an addition, con- 
taining four large recitation rooms and a gymnasium, was made to the 
buildings. Not long after this, a charter was secured granting full 
power to confer the usual degrees, a right which the college does not 
seem to have had, at least in full, under its previous charter. The 
course of instruction was also very materially strengthened, the aim 
being to make it the equal of that pursued in the male colleges of the 
State. It also includes a normal course, intended especially for. stu- 
dents who wish to become teachers. Miss Campbell associated with 
herself a well trained faculty of 11 teachers and was able to build up 
the patronage of the institution considerably during her administra- 
tion. 

She retired from the presidency in the summer of 1897, and was 
succeeded by Rev. J. C. Ely, D. D., who has upheld the former pros- 
perity of the school during the past year. Caldwell College has sent 
forth many well trained graduates since its first opening in 1860. The 
number of these can not be accurately ascertained from the somewhat 
imperfect records at hand, but enough is known to say that at present 
there are over 200 alumnsB. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The facts nsed in this sketch have been chiefly ohtained from Dr. J. M. Meyer, 
of Danville. They have been considerably elaborated by reference to catalogues, 
Henderson's Centennial Exhibit, and other general sources of information. 



250 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

HAMILTON FEMALE COLLSQB, LEXINGTON. 

This iiLsti till ion was originally called Ilocker Female College, after 
its foiiiKlor, aiul was oi)eiuHl in Loxin^n in the autumn of 1869 by 
Mr. Jamos M. Ilocker, who, as announced in the first catalogue of 
1 h(^ collects \uu\ ha<i for yeai-s the cherished purpose of conseoratinga 
iar^c portion of his time an<l moans to the ^^ upbuilding of an institu- 
tion for youn^ women, foundc<l on Christian and scientific principles." 
Tlu^ school wiis intcndcMl U) meet a public want by supplying an edu- 
cation for ^irls cijual to that usually afforded boys. It was from the 
fii'st conducted in the interest of the Christian Church, of which Mr. 
IIo<*kcr was a mcmlx'r. lie was the founder and sole proprietor, but 
some of the prominent members of his church in Lexington and vicin- 
ity were associated with him in its management. A number of these 
constitutcMl its trust>i'es under its firat act of incorporation, which was 
secured early in its history and gave to it the right of granting 
diplomas. 

Prior to the opening of the college a substantial and artistic build- 
ing was erected for it, which has a frontage of 160 feet and a depth 
of 88 feet, and is four stories in height. It has accommodations for 
150l)oarding pupils, and is situated in the midst of a handsome campus 
on North Broadway street. In 1870 an addition was made to it, con- 
taining a gymnasium, music hall, and art gallery, which, including the 
excellent equipment, brought the total cost of the entire educational 
plant above «1(X),()00. 

The first pi*esident of the new college was Robert Graham, A. M., 
who has been so long prominently connected with the educational 
entei'prises of his church, especially with Kentucky University and 
the College of the Bible. The first faculty Included 12 experienced 
teachers, and the course offered embraced the following departments: 
Mental and moral philosophy, physical science, mathematics, English 
language and literature, sacred and civil histoiy, modem languages, 
ancient languages, and the fine arts. There was also a prei>aratory 
department. President (T]*ahaui remained in charge of the institution 
for six years, during which the average annual attendance was some- 
thing over 120, and repi*esented most of the Southern States. The 
first graduating class, that of 1870, contained 3 members, and there 
were 48 other graduates during this administration. 

Upon President Graham's retirement in 1875 to become the presid- 
ing officer of the Collc^ge of the Bible, Henry Turner, A. M., became J 
his successor and held the position for two years. Mr. Hocker's 
financial management of the college had not been a success, and so, 
in the summer of 1877, its proprietorship was transferred to a joint 
stock company, composed of its first board of trustees and othier 
enlightened and public-spirited citizens of central Kentuciky, all of 
whom were members of the Christian Church. This company was 
incorporated on July 1, 1877, and a new charter was secured for the 



HAMILTON PEMAIiB COLLBOB. 251 

institution placing it under the control of a board of 15 trustees 
elected by the stockholders, its management in the interest of the 
Christian Church being still secured by the charter requiring its trus- 
tees to be members in good standing of some Christian congregation. 
Those chiefly instrumental in bringing about the reorganization in 
this way were Elders M. E. Lard, J. W. McGarvey, and Robert Gra- 
ham, although others assisted prominently in the enterprise. The 
money for the purchase of the property by the joint stock company 
was raised by donations and loans from liberal citizens and amounted 
to about $50,000, of which $10,000 was given by Mr. William Hamil- 
ton, of Woodford Countj^ in honor of whom, as the chief contributor, 
the school was named Hamilton College by its new charter. It has 
since been operated under this charter with some slight amendments. 

Under the reorganization Prof. J. T. Patterson, who was one of the 
chief stockholders and had had twenty-two j^^ears* successful experi- 
ence in conducting similar institutions, became president. The college 
prospered under its new auspices and Professor Patterson remained 
at its head fourteen years, steadily increasing its reputation and 
attendance. Its students during this time averaged each year about 
165, their number in 1890-91 rising to as many as 226. They fre- 
quently represented 13 of the Southern States. The faculty also 
increased from 10 at the opening of the administration to 17 at its 
close. 

In 1889 Professor Patterson, on account of impaired health, retired 
from the active management of the institution, having associated 
with himself Prof. J. B. Skinner as principal and financial agent. 
The former, however, still retained his connection with the faculty 
and conducted his classes as usual until 1891, when he finally severed 
his connection with the institution. Under his management from 4 
to 22 graduates had gone forth each year, and the total roll of alumnae 
for the time is 173. 

Upon President Patterson's retirement in 1891, Professor Skinner 
assumed entire charge of the school as its president. A primary 
department was then added to the course of instruction, and for it a 
new building was erected in 1892. In 1895 an extra calisthenic room, 
laboratory, and library were added and in the summer of 1896 the 
college grounds considerably enlarged and improved, about $5,000 
being expended for these purposes. President Skinner had a large 
measure of success in sustaining the previous standard of scholarship 
of the institution and in upholding its attendance, notwithstanding 
the financial distress of recent years. The original large faculty was 
still retained, and about 200 students were usually to be found in the 
rooms of the college during his administration, which lasted about 
seven years. There were 114 graduates during this time, 24, the 
largest number in the history of the college, having been sent out in 
1896, thus making the total alumnsB of the institution, up to 1898, 
inclusive, 351, who have come from 15 States of the Union. 



252 HISTORY OF niOHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Pre8i<leiit SkiiiiuM* <li(»<l in office February 28, 1808, thus being cut 
off ill the midsi of a career of educational usefulness, which, besides 
his nine years' (connection with Hamilton College, had included a pro- 
fessorship in ('hristian College, Columbia, Mo., for five years and the 
pr(»Hiden(*y of (Turrard College, Lancaster, Ky., for one year. 

B, C. llagernian, A. M., for a number of years the successful presi- 
dent of Madison Female Institut-e, at Richmond, Ky., and since then 
of Bethany College, Va., has recently l)een chosen as President Skin- 
ner's successor. His past recoM is such that Hamilton College may 
be expected to continue its present prosperity under his management. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

This sketch has been founded largely upon facts obtained from a file of catar 
logues, which have been supplemented considerably by reference to Peter's History 
of Fayette County and by some information famished by Professors Graham and 
Skinner. 

JESSAMINE FEMALE INSTITUTE, NICHOLAS VILLB. 

Although bearing the name of institute simply, this school has for 
some time held an honorable position among the female colleges of 
the State. The purpose for which it was founded may be well 
expressed in the language of a recent catalogue, which declares it 
to be "the outgrowth of the intelligent demand of a cultured and 
earnest community, which realizes its best interests are met in an 
educated womanhood." 

The preliminary steps looking toward the establishment of the 
institution were taken at a public meeting held at Nicholasville on 
May 20, 1854, when a series of resolutions were adopted, with a pre- 
amble reading as follows, viz: 

We whose names are hereto subscribed, being desirous of establishing in the 
town of Nicholasville, Ky. , a female school of such a character as will attract 
patronage from abroad as well as give the highest facilities for education in our 
own midst, have united ourselves into an association for this purpose, pursnant to 
an act of the legislature of Kentucky, passed at its last session, providing for and 
regulating voluntary associations. And that we may secure to ourselves the 
privileges and benefits therein set forth of a body corporate and politic, under the 
name and style of the Jessamine Female Institute, do hereby adopt the following 
articles of agreement. 

According to the articles of agreement, which follow, the educa- 
tional affairs of the association were to be managed by its principal 
officers in conjunction with a board of trustees appointed by the 
members from among their own number. The agreement was signed 
by twenty prominent citizens of Nicholasville and vicinity, who thus 
became chiefly instrumental in promoting the enterprise. They were 
mainly members of the Presbyterian Church. Only $2,500 was at 
first subscribed toward the equipment of the school, and the fii-st 
building erected for it was a brick chapel for recitation purposes, 

•'+h a seating capacity of fifty pupils. 



JESSAMINE FEMALE INSTITUTE. 253 

As the Presbyterians took the leading part in organizing the insti- 
tute it was opened under their auspices, with Rev. Branch Price, a 
Presbyterian minister, as its first principal. He took charge in the 
autumn of 1855, and was assisted by a full faculty. The curriculum 
offered consisted of courses in English, Latin, Greek, mathematics, 
modern language, music, and art, and was aimed to be the equal of 
that of any of the female colleges in the Southwest. The policy of 
the trustees has been to leave the property to the principal, who takes 
direct charge of the school affairs, appointing and governing its fac- 
ulty and selecting its course of study. 

In February, 1866, the legislature of the State, upon application, 
granted a very liberal new charter to the institution, giving to it 
the power to confer the usual degrees and putting it more distinc- 
tively on a nonsectarian basis. It was to be managed by a board of 
six trustees, elected every three years by the members of the corpora- 
tion. The first trustees elected under this charter purchased a resi- 
dence for the principal, adjacent to the chapel, and in 1867 Prof. M. C. 
McCrohan, who had succeeded Rev. William Price, opened a board- 
ing department, which added considerably to the patronage of the 
school already very good. 

In 1870 Prof. G. G. Butler became Professor McCrohan's successor 
in the principalship. Under his direction the school prospered for 
three years, but during the next two years the attendance declined 
considerably. In 1875 Prof. J. B. Tharp took charge of the institu- 
tion, and had a good school for three years; but from 1878 to 1881 the 
affairs of the institute were badly managed and its patronage became 
so poor that it was closed for a short while in the spring of 1881. 

In the autumn of that year Miss M. F. Hewitt, who for the past six 
years had been principal of Warrendale Female Seminary, at George- 
town, Ky., was induced to attempt the reorganization of the school. 
It had become so much disorganized and its prospects were so poor 
that the trustees had to guarantee Miss Hewitt her support for a 
year in order to induce her to undertake the work. She, however, suc- 
ceeded in the task from the beginning, and conducted the institution 
very successfully for twelve years. The attendance increased from 
year to year so that the original building had soon to be much 
improved and enlarged. By 1888 the institute had outgrown entirely 
its original quarters, and in September of that year an elegant and 
imposing new building was completed by the trustees, at a cost of 
$20,000, most of the money for the purpose having been subscribed by 
the citizens of Nicholasville and Jessamine County. The new build- 
ing is quite complete in all its appointments and is one of the hand- 
somest structures of its kind in the State. It stands in the midst of 
a well-kept campus of 3 acres beautifully situated on a commanding 
elevation west of the town. The patronage of the institute during 
Miss Hewitt's administration was more than double what it had usu- 



254 HI^rOKY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

ally l>oon previously, and at times included representatives from as 
many as eleven of tlie Southern and Western States. 

In LS<Ki declining health caused Miss 1 lewitt to resign, and the present 
principal, Mrs. H. W. Vineyard, was then elected. Under the latter's 
niana^inent the previous reputation of the school has been sustained 
anil consitlorable improvements have been made, particularly in the 
way of additiouH to its library, scientific apparatus, and other facilities 
for instruction. The present faculty is a large and well qualified one, 
and tlie institution is prepared to do excellent work in the future, 
aiming as it does to stan<l abn^ast of any college in the South. Like 
all the other female colleges of Kentucky, however, it has no endow- 
ment uptm which the si'curity of its future growth and expansion 
may dei>end. No record of its alumnie was kept prior to 1882, but 
from that time to 18i»8, inclusive, there have been 181 graduates, many 
of whom have iH^come teachers of cimsiderable reputation. 

niBLIOOKAPIIY. 

This sketch is based primarily npon information fnmiBhed by Dr. Gharln 
Mann, secretary of the board of trustees, which has been confirmed and enlarged 
by reference to the usual sources of general information. 

STANFORD FEMALE C^OLLEGE, STANFORD. 

ThiH institution was organized in 1871, at the instance of some of 
the prominent citizens of Stanford and vicinity, for the purpose of 
giving their daughters a collegiate education and also attracting 
patronage f i*om a distance. It was chartered the year of it« estab- 
lishment with the usual collegiate powers and privileges. John B. 
Owsley, S. II. Shanks, J. W. Alcorn, M. C. Saufley, John Reid, and 
II. S. Withers were prominently connected with the enterprise from 
its inception, and may be mentioned as its chief founders and pro- 
motel's. These and others oi*ganized themselves into a joint stock 
company to raise the necessary funds and to provide for a plan of 
management. The money for the building was subscribed by the 
incorporators and other citizens of the community and was supple- 
mented by a donation from the town of Stanford. 

The original building is a substantial brick structure costing about 
$15,000. It is admirably adapted to its purpose and is located in the 
midst of tastefully ornamented grounds. It was completed shortly 
before the opening of the college. Consi derable additions and improve- 
ments have since been made to it by the company securing author- 
ity to issue bonds upon the property. This plan has caused the 
accumulation of an indebtedness by the institution which has not 
yet been entirely liquidated. 

The school was opened in the fall of 1872 with Mrs. Sallie C. True- 
hart, A. M., as the first president. Mrs. Truehart held the position 
with success for thirteen years. Under her direction the original 
course of instruction, consisting of the departments of ancient Ian- 



STANFORD FEMALE COLLEGE. 255 

guages, modern languages, mathematics, mental and moral philosophy, 
English literature, natural science, history, and the usual ornamental 
branches, was laid out and a good complement of educational appa- 
ratus, including the foundation of a well-selected library, accumu- 
lated. During this administration the faculty included from 6 to 11 
teachers and there were usually about 100 students in attendance 
upon the various courses, which included primary and preparatory as 
well as collegiate instruction. The total number of graduates for the 
period is 41, there being from 1 to 10 in each class after 1875. 

In 1885 Mrs. Truehart resigned her position and was succeeded in 
the presidency by A. S. Paxton, A. B., who remained in charge of 
the institution for three years. Professor Paxton remodeled the 
course after the plan of that of his alma mater, Washington and Lee 
University, an arrangement which has since been substantially 
retained. 

J. M. Hubbard, A. M., next became president, assuming the position 
in 1888 and retaining it for seven years. During this time the con- 
dition of the institution was that of general prosperity. Its matricu- 
lation was considerably increased, its curriculum somewhat enlarged, 
and its buildings extensively improved. Professor Hubbard employed 
only well qualified teachers and used modern methods of instruction. 
He resigned in 1895 to accept the presidency of Howard Female 
College, Gallatin, Tenn. 

His successor at Stanford was Rev. William Shelton, LL. D., who 
is the present head of the institution. Dr. Shelton has for a number 
of years been a prominent educator, having been the president of sev- 
eral colleges in Teanessee. His administration of Stanford College 
has so far been successful and the future prospects of the institution 
are good. His daughter, Mrs. Nannie S. Saufley, is the efl&cient ladj'^ 
principal of its faculty. A number of improvements have recently 
been made in the buildings and the scientific apparatus considerably 
enlarged. Mr. George H. McKinney, of Stanford, presented to the 
college in 1897 a valuable cabinet of minerals and other geological 
specimens. 

Stanford Female College, while Christian in spirit, is one of the few 
educational institutions in Kentucky which is not under the patron- 
age, if not direct control, of some religious denomination. According 
to its charter it is managed by a board of eight trustees, who are 
authorized to fill their own vacancies. The course of instruction 
offered by the institution has been from time to time improved so as 
to compare very favorably with that of other Southern female colleges. 
If four of its ** schools" are completed the student is entitled to a 
diploma without degree. The completion of the English course leads 
to the degi'ee of M. E. L. The addition of Latin to the latter course 
entitles one to the degree of A. B. The standard of scholarship in 
the degree courses seems to have been very well upheld, as the insti- 
tution has had only 83 graduates throughout its history. 



256 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

BIBLKKtRAPHY. 

This Hketch has as its chief foundation a number of data f unuBhed by President 
Hubbard, now president of Howard Female College, Gallatin, Tenn. Other facts 
have come from catalogues and similar sources. 

VILLA KIDCIE COLLEGE, PEWEE VALLEY. 

ThJH inHtitiitioii was known until 1806 as Kentucky College for 
Youn^ LiKlios, aii<l lis object an<l purpose, as expressed in a clipping 
from the OMhain News of I)ecenil)er 20, 1894, is **to promote the edu- 
cation of youn^ women in literature, science, and art." The college 
was founded orijrinally by a stock company, of which a number of 
prominent citizens of Poweo Valley and vicinity were members, 22 
of wliom, its (^hief promoters, constituting its first board of trustees. 
Thos<^ mainly instrumenlal in establishing the school seem to have 
been PresbyUjrians, but it was placeil from the beginning on an unde- 
nominational basis. A well-located trac»t of 20 acres of land, one-half 
of which constitutes the present campus of the college, was purchased 
by tlie company an<l from funds subscribed by its members a large 
and comfortable building w^is erected, which was dedicated on Decem- 
ber 23, 1873. 

The s(*hool had bwn opened in the previous autumn and had E. A. 
Sloan, A. M., as its fii'st president. Professor Sloan had previously 
been at the lu^ad of female colleges in Alabama and Kentucky, and 
successfully conducted the institution for six years. The original 
faculty consisted of 8 teachers, and the course of instruction as first 
outlined contained the usual ornamental departments, besides a two 
years' preparatory course and a four years' collegiate course of very 
good compass in comparison with that of similar institutions. There 
were 03 students in attendance the first year the school opened. In 
1874 it was incorporated by the legislature under the name of Ken- 
tucky C'Ollege for Young Ladies and was given all the i)owers and 
privileges of "any university, college, or seminary of learning in the 
State." In its second year the foundations of an excellent library for 
the institution were laid through the liberality of Mrs. B. J. Clay, of 
Richmond, Ky. In that year there were 68 students in attendance, 
most of whom were in the collegiate department, and the first class, 
consisting of 9 members, was graduated. There were 33 graduates 
during President Sloan's administration, which was terminated by 
resignation in 1879. 

Soon after Professor Sloan's retirement an arrangement was made 
between the truste(\s and Rev. Erastns Rowley, D. D., whereby the 
latter leased its property and took entire charge of the college as its 
president. Dr. Rowley was a prominent minister in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church South. He was an alumnus of Union College, New 
York, and a teacher of twenty-six years' experience. Not long after 
his accession to its presidency he became sole proprietor of the instl- 



pottp:r college. 257 

tution by the purchase of its property from the trustees. It has since 
remained a purely private enterprise. 

Early in Dr. Rowley's administration a primary department was 
added to the course of instruction and a scientific course was arranged 
for in the collegiate department. In 1891 normal and business depart- 
ments were also added and in the same year the building of the pri- 
mary and preparatory departments was considerably enlarged. The 
library was also increased during this administration, in which the 
average attendance was somewhat larger than it had been formerly. 
From two to six students completed the course each year during the 
time, making the total number of graduates 43 up to the time of Dr. 
Rowley's retirement from the presidency of the institution in 1894. 

In the summer of this year G. B. Perry, A. M., became president of 
the faculty. Dr. Rowley still remaining in connection with the insti- 
tution as its professor of moral philosophy and the manager in certain 
respects of its business affairs. He retained this relation with the 
institution until his death, on February 28, 1896. President Perry 
had had several years' experience before coming to Pewee Valley, and 
has been able by his executive ability to uphold the former reputa- 
tion of the institution and somewhat enlarge its patronage which now 
comes from a number of the Southern States outside of Kentucky. 
AH the earlier departments of study have been retained, the former 
primary and preparatory departments having been combined into a 
preparatory course of four years, and a one-year postgraduate course 
having been added to the collegiate department, which embraces the 
schools of history, mathematics, science, Latin, mental and moral 
philosophy, and English, besides the usual ornamental branches. The 
present faculty has 10 members. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Clipping from the Oldham News of December 20, 1894, with additional informa- 
tion mainly obtained from catalogues. 

POTTER COLLEGE, BOWLING GREEN. 

The following sentence, taken substantially from one of its recent 
catalogues, describes in a general way the origin of this institution : 
Potter College is an expression of the generosity and liberal spirit of 
the citizens of Bowling Green, who, irrespective of church connections, 
heartily united in establishing in their midst an institution for the 
higher education of young women. The chief promoter of the enter- 
prise was Rev. B. F. Cabell, who had been for twelve years the presi- 
dent of Cedar Bluff Female College, located in Warren County, and 
who in January, 1889, first conceived the idea of establishing a similar 
institution in Bowling Green, which in many ways offered excellent 
advantages as a location for such a school. This plan having been 
submitted to a few of the prominent citizens of the community received 
2127— No. 26 17 



258 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

a hearly roHpoiiHe from thoin, and uteps were at once taken to raise 
by subscription the money need eil to erect and equip for the proposed 
institution a building which sbouhl be first class in all its appoint- 
ments. A stock company was soon oi*ganized, the soliciting commit- 
tee of which secure*.] subscnptions amounting to about $17,000. This 
was. liowever, not deemed a sufficiently large amount with which to 
inaugurate the enterprise, and Mr. P. J. Potter, unwilling that the 
project should fail, raise<l his subscription to $5,000, in consideration 
of which liberal ^ift the college was named by its trustees in his 
honor. 

A)M)iit a year was (*onsumed in raising the needed funds and erect- 
ing the front building, which was not fully completed until December, 
1889. Meanwhile a charter was obtaine<l for the college, conferring 
upon it all th(^ usual {Hiwers and privileges, and the institution was 
opem»d on 8ept<.Mnber 1), 1889, with Rev. B. F. Cabell as its president, 
its proiM*rty having been leased to him for a number of years. The 
college building, to which a new wing was added in 1891, was finely 
equipiMHl throughout, making its total cost about $50,000, its appoint- 
ments, including an excellent gymnasium, being modem in all respects. 
It is a three-story brick building of improved architecture, one of the 
largest of its kind in the State, and is splendidly located, in a com- 
pass of about 7 acres, on a commanding eminence west of the town. 
A part of the equipment of the college at its opening was a very good 
complement of pliysical and chemical apparatus and an excellent 
geological collection. 

The institution is Christian in spirit, but is insured against sectarian 
control by the provision of its charter that not more than two of its 
ten trustees, who are elected by the stockholders, shall be members of 
the same religious denomination. The course of instruction at first 
embraced primary, preparatory, academic (secondary), and collegiate 
departments, but only the last two, extending through two and four 
years, respectively, are at present retained. There are in addition 
the usual departments of music and art. The regular currioulam 
includes the departments of English, history, natural sciences, Latin, 
mathematics, philosophy, elocution, Greek, French, and Gk^rman, in 
the last three of which elective courses are offered, as well as in Eng- 
lish. Certificates of proficiency are granted in various departments, 
but only one degree, that of A. B., is conferred. The original faculty 
contained 11 members, and the students in attendance the first year, 
who numbered about 200, represented 13 States, principally in the 
South and West. A number of them were advanced students from 
other institutions, and at the end of the year there were 9 graduates 
in the various departments of the college. 

The average annual enrollment since the opening of the institution 
has been about 200, and 26 different States have been represented by 
its students up to the present time. Its faculty has been usually 



OWENSBORO FEMALE COLLEGE. 259 

composed of about 15 teachers in the various departments, and it has 
had altogether, up to 1898 inclusive, 77 regular graduates, several of 
whom are holding lucrative positions as teachers in different sections 
of the country. 

During the nine years of its history the equipment of the college 
has been considerably improved, especially in the way of libraries and 
scientific apparatus. In 1896 an annex building was erected near the 
main building. Since the institution was opened President Cabell 
has been its active manager and the promoter of its success. He has 
lately secured a sufficiently large amount of its stock to give him a 
controlling interest in its affairs, which makes the institution now 
really a private enterprise. The scholastic year 1897-98 was one of 
the most successful in its history — a history which has been marked 
by almost unexampled prosperity, for, although one of the youngest 
of the female colleges of the South, its career has been very successful 
from the start. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The Chicago Commercial Journal of April 7, 1893, supplemented by the usual 
sources of general information. 

OWENSBORO FEMALE COLLEGE, OWENSBORO. 

This institution opened its doors in the autumn of 1890, and is there- 
fore the youngest candidate for public favor among the female colleges 
of Kentucky. The college is said in its first announcement to be ''the 
outgrowth of a desire on the part of the citizens of Owensboro to have 
brought to their door the largest advantages for their daughters in 
the higher branches of education." A few earnest men took hold of 
the matter in a determined way, and having organized themselves into 
a stock company in a short time raised $30,000 with which they pur- 
chased an admirable site and erected thereon an excellent building, 
the cost of the latter being about $24,000. R. P. McJohnston, Thomas 
Pettit, J. D. Powers, Robert Brodie, J. G. Delker, A. C. Thompkius, 
J. H. Parrish, E. G. Buckner, and T. S. McAtee were, among others, 
especially active in promoting the enterprise. 

The institution is incorporated under the general laws of the State. 
Its articles of incorporation wore filed on March 26, 1893, and give to 
it the right to confer the usual literary degrees. It is placed under 
the management of a board of 10 directors chosen by the members of 
the stock company from their own number. R. P. McJohnston was 
the president of its first board of directors, while Thomas Pettit was 
the secretary and J. H. Parrish treasurer. The committee under 
which the building was completed was composed of A. C. Thompkins, 
Alexander Hill, and E. G. Buckner. The building is of brick, is 3 
stories in height, and is quite modern in its equipment. It contains, 
besides the class-rooms, a gymnasium and laboratories, and has, in 
addition, accommodation for 30 boarding pupils. The college has 



260 HISTORY OF HIGJIKK EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

actLuinMl sIikm' its foiuuiation a ^o<kI geological collection and an 
excellent herbarium. 

l*rof. W. H. Stuart, who ha<l l)een for several years at the head of 
Stuart C'oUege at- Shelby ville, Ky., was elected its first president, and 
o|M^iie(l the institution on Novenibi^r 1, 18fH), at tlie time its building 
was <Mjin[)let(*<l. Professor Stuart was assisted by a faculty of 8 mem- 
lx»rs. The courst* ofTeiHMl at the o[)ening was similar to that usually 
given in female colleges in the South, having l)esides the usual orna- 
mental branches and primary and pi'ejmratory departments, two col- 
lege eours<»s of four yeai"s each, leading I'espectively to the degree 
mistress of arts, and mistress of lK*lles-lettres. These courses embrace 
the departments of ancient languages, modem languages, mathe- 
matics, natural s<uen(*,e, and P^nglish. There were 70 regular and 12 
special students in attendance the first year. In the second year 
there were 83 regular and 12 siK'cdal students. 

Pn\sident Stuart was not abh^ to make a financial success of the 
school and so, in JS1K5, retired from its management, its property being 
at that time lejisc»d for a term of years to A. C. Groodwin, Ph. D. 
Professor Goodwin had lH»en for the previous nine years superin- 
t.<»ndent of the Owensboro city schools, after having previously been 
(H)nno(it(Hl with the faculty of South Kentucky College. He has since 
conducted Owenslwro Female College with success, having been able 
to considerably widen its reputation and extend its patronage. 

Under his contract with the directors boys were to be allowed to 
enter this institution as day pupils, thus making the school partly 
coeducational and so far changing its original design. The enterprise 
has also of late become largely individual through President Gkx)d- 
win's having acquired the greater part of its stock. In its course of 
instruction natural science and literature have recently been given 
special emphasis, while a commercial course and a normal depart- 
ment have been added to the branches previouslj'^ taught. The col- 
lege has had a number of graduates, several of whom have sustained 
themselves well in advanced work in Eastern institutions. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

This sketch is based entirely ax>on catalogues and correspondence. 



Chapter VII. 

SPECIAL PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS. 



THE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE. 

The charter of the University of Louisville, granted by the legis- 
lature of Kentucky on February 7, 1846, contemplated the founding 
of *'all the departments of a university for the promotion of every 
branch of science, literature, and the liberal arts." Its basis was to 
be the Louisville Medical Institute, then a flourishing institution; a 
law department was to be at once established, and power was given 
to convert Louisville College, the successor of old Jefferson Seminary, 
founded in 1816, into the collegiate department. The proposed insti- 
tution was, according to the plan of management adopted for the 
Louisville Medical Institute in 1837, to be governed by a board of 
eleven trustees, who were to be appointed by the mayor and city 
council of Louisville and were given the right to confer all degi'ees 
usually conferred in colleges or universities. This board has since 
exercised supervision over the original medical department and over 
the law department, which was soon added, but the contemplated 
conversion of Louisville College into its academic department was 
never regularly completed, and so the University of Louisville, as at 
present constituted, embraces only medical and law schools, located 
in the city of Louisville. Jefferson Seminary, or Louisville College 
as it came to be called after 1830, is, however, worthy of some notice 
in this connection on account of the important educational i)osition 
it held for some time in the early history of the city. 

JEFFERSON SEMINARY. 

This was one of the State academies created by the act of February 
10, 1798, which gave to it an endowment of 6,000 acres of public land. 
An additional act of December 17, 1798, gave to it the privilege of 
raising $5,000 by lottery for building purposes. The control of the 
proposed institution was vested originally in a board of eight trus- 
tees, whose number was for some reason increased to sixteen in 1800. 
The land granted was later surveyed and located in Union County, 
but no use seems ever to have been made of the lottery privilege. 

Nothing was done toward opening the school for several years, 

owing largely, it seems, to the little interest taken in it on the part 

of its unwieldy board of trustees, whose rights had several times to be 

261 



262 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

con firmed by sul)s<»(i!u»ii1 h»^islat ive HCtioii, but. owing partly, perhaps, 
to th<» hu'k of fnnds for inaugurating tho ent^^rprise. At last, on 
July 2, lSi:j, th<j truHt.<M^K, now reduced in numl)er to ten, purchased 
for *S()() a lot. of 2} aen»s on Eighth street, l)etween what is now Wal- 
nut, and (-rreen streets, uiH»n wliieh, soon aft<*r, a brick house, one 
and a half stories high, with two large ground rooms opening toward 
(xravson str<»et, was <»nM*ted. 

In this building the seliool was opened in 1816, with the historian, 
Mann l^utler, as its fli'st principal. Mr. Butler was assisted by Reuben 
Murray and William Thonipkins, the principars salary being $600 a 
y(»ar and tliat of the other teachers $500 each. The school t«rm was 
six months in length, and the rate of tuition was $20 per term. 
Betwe<m 40 and 50 students were in attendance upon the seminary 
during its fii*st U'^rm. It was from the beginning of comparatively 
high grade, and was the* finishing school for the more elementary old- 
field schools then located throughout the city. In 1817 an unsuccess- 
ful atUnnpt was made to improve the institution's financial condition 
by starting a town on its Union C-ounty lands, and in 1820 authority 
was o])tained from the legislatun^ to dispose of these lands at auction. 
It does not appear liow much was realized from this transaction. In 
1820 the i)lan of governing the school was much improved by having 
the numlKJi* of its trustees reduced to seven, who were appointed by 
the county court of Jeffei'scm County. 

On SeptemlK^r 30, 18»50,^ inspired by the success of the new city 
school which had takii^n away its principal, Mann Butler, its trustees 
secured legislative authority for transferring one-half of its property 
to the (dty of Louisville for a high school. The city accordingly took 
possession soon afterwards of the city property of the seminary, which 
it converted into what was known as Louisville College, the city agree- 
ing to augment, as far as necessary, its tuition fees by an annual 
appropriation. Its first I'egular college faculty, organized in 1S30, 
was composed as follows : Rev. B. F. Famsworth, president and pro- 
fessor of intellectual and moral philosophy and political economy; 
John 11. Harney, professor of mathematics, natural science, and civil 
engineering; James Brown, professor of the Latin and Greek lan- 
guages and literatures; Leonard Bliss, professor of belles-lettres and 
history; II. F. Farnswortli, tutor in the preparatory department. 
Rather a modern tone is given to the school by the fact that chairs 
of mod(^rn languages, of commercial science, and of agricultural and 
mechanical arts w(M-e contemplated as future departments. These 
were, however, probably never established. 

Although popularly having the name of college and really doing 
considerable work of collegiate grade, the legal title of the institution 
was still JefTerson Seminary until January 17, 1840,^ when it was, by 



' The conveyance was not formally made until April 7, 1844. 
2 CoUins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 46. 



UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE. 263 

legislative action, regularly incorporated as Louisville College, and 
became the official head of the city public-school system, then con- 
sisting of primary and grammar schools and a college. The city was 
then to pay $2,000 a year into the funds of the college and to receive 
in return 30 free scholarships for its most deserving grammar school 
students. The college, however, seems later to have received regular 
tuition fees for these pupils in addition to the regular appropriation. 
Its faculty at this period in its history was an able one, including 
among its members for some time Prof. Noble Butler, noted through- 
out the State as an eminent educator and the author of popular 
text-books. 

Under the legislative act of February 7, 1846, it was proposed to 
make the institution the academical department of the contemplated 
University of Louisville provided for by the act, but this union was 
never regularly consummated, and by the terms of the second charter 
of Louisville, adopted March 4, 1851, all tuition fees in Louisville 
College were abolished, and it lost its identity in the city public-school 
system, of which it has since remained a part, as the male high 
school. Some mention will again be made of it in describing the 
public-school system of Louisville. 

The old seminary property was sold in different parcels in 1845 and 
soon after, and the proceeds subsequently used to erect on the uni- 
versity grounds, on Chestnut street near Ninth street, the building of 
the law department of the university, which has, however, since its 
construction been used almost exclusively as the home of the male 
high school, that school thus remaining, in location at least, if not 
otherwise, a department of the university. As old Jefferson Seminary 
and Louisville College it had, from the beginning, taken a high stand- 
ing, partly on account of Mann Butler, its first principal, and was for 
a longtime the only seat of higher learning in the city. In this capac- 
ity it furnished to many of the early citizens of Louisville the elements 
of a liberal education, of the benefits of which they would otherwise 
have been deprived. 

THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 

The medical department of the University of Louisville is the oldest 
medical school now existing in Kentucky with a continuous history to 
date. Its origin may be traced, in name at least, to the Louisville 
Medical Institute, which was established in Louisville on February 7, 
1833, and was, it seems, operated for a short time under the charter 
of Centre College, at Danville. It appears, however, never to have 
had any vigor, and was succeeded in 1837 by a new institution, under 
the same name, out of which has grown organically the present med- 
ical department of the University of Louisville, which has thus had a 
continuous corporate history since 1837. 



264 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTl'CKT. 

The l«*HdiiiK spirit in th<* <\stablishiH<'nt <if the school was Dr. Charles 
(.'al<lw«*Il, who \m*\ Inmmi <'<iiiii(M-t4Ml for a number of years with the 
iiifMlifal faculty of Transylvania I'niversity, but had begun to recog- 
nize; in LouisviIl«*. whiHi in ls:{7 had much outgrown Lexing^n in 
sm% a inoH' e'li^iblc liH-ation for a meilical college, largely by reason 
of th<* sii|N'rior clinii'al a(lvanta^<*s it «>frered. Accordingly, after an 
unsiirr«*ssful att<'ni|it. in which he was joined by Professors Cooke, 
VandclU and Sliort. of tin* Transylvania me<lical department, to have 
that s(rh<N>l niov<Ml lN)dily tii Louisville, he and those gentlemen 
rcsi^rncd tlioir positions at Lexington and resolved to open the new 
institution on thoir own responsibility. 

Largely tlin>u^li Dr. ('aldwelTs influence the city council* of Louis- 
ville was in<lueed to ^ive 4 aeivs of ground, ctentrally located with 
refen»nee to tli«» eitv, and *r»(),(MM) in m one v toward the new enter- 
prise, ^:H\,iHH\ bein^ <riven to provi<le a suitable building on the lot 
donated and $20,(M)() to furnisli a library and apparatus. Dr. Joshua 
H. Flint, a incHulMM* of its first faculty, was sent to Europe by order 
of the <Mty council to pureliase a suitable equipment of apparatus for 
th(» n(*w s(?hool, and suceeede<l in securing a very fine one for the 
time. The (corner stone of a splendid new building was laid with 
appropriate ceremonies on February 22, 1838. The institution had 
already lM?en opened, however, in the fall of 1837, and until its build- 
ing <*<>uld b<» coin])lete(l occupied teniiK>rary quarters in the upper 
rooms of the (*ity workhouse, which stood on the site of the present 
university building. 

Tluj first faculty of the school was constituted as follows: Charles 
Caldw<»ll, M. 1)., institutes of medicine; John fislen Cooke, M. D., 
th<M»ry and i)racti(*e of m(»dicine; Lunsford P. Yandell, M. D., chem- 
istry; Henry Miller, M. I)., obstetric medicine; Jedediah Cobb, M. D., 
anatomy; Joshua H. Flint, M. 1)., surgery. Dra. Caldwell, Cooke, 
and Yandell hc^ld th<» same chairs as those held by them in Lexington, 
where t h<»y ha<l been long and favorably known, and the faculty was 
alt<)<(<^1 \u)v a si ron^ one. Dr. C'ol)l) was a well-known medical professor 
from (Uncinnati, and was for many years the efficient dean of the insti* 
tuti^ faculty. TlK^re w<M*e only 25 students present at theopeningof the 
new institution, hut SO — a number of them from other institutions — 
were in atteiidanc<^ during its first sessicm, and at its close the degree 
of jVI. I), was (M)uferred on 24 candidates. 

The fine new building Avas finished in time for the opening of the 
s(»con<l session of the school, and, with its library and apparatus pur- 
chased by Professor Flint, its eiiuipmeut was then unexcelled in the 
(M)unt ry. Us faculty was completed the second year by the addition 
of Dr. Charles W. Short, who came to Louisville at that time to 
occupy in the institute his old Lexington chair of meteria medica, the 

^ Fred. A. Kaye waB mayor of Lonisville at the time and was one of the foiemoBt 
on*' warmest advocates of the school. 



UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE. 265 

duties of which had been discharged the previous year by Professor 
Yandell. During the second session 120 matriculates were in attend- 
ance, and at its close 27 M. D.'s were conferred. 

In 1839, a new chair of clinical medicine and pathological anatomy 
was created, to which was called the celebrated Dr. Daniel Drake, 
formerly connected with Transylvania University and the Cincinnati 
Medical College, and noted for his strength, versatility, and eloquence 
as a teacher of medicine. The students that year rose in number to 
205, and there were 38 graduates. In 1840, a clinical amphitheater 
was erected by the faculty at their own expense, adjoining the Marine 
Hospital, in order that better results might be obtained in witnessing 
operations. 

The number of students regularly increased until 347 were in 
attendance, in 1845-46, and 73 were graduated. This made the 
school second in number only to the two medical schools of Philadel- 
phia. It had had, up to the end of that year, 1,955 matriculates and 
418 graduates. No other medical school had, probably up to that 
time, attracted a larger number of pupils in so short a time. 

A larger institution was now proposed and, as has been said, was 
organized, by a charter secured from the legislature, on February 
7, 1846, according to the terms of which Louisville Medical Institute 
became the medical department of the University of Louisville, the 
buildings and grounds of the former institution being transferred to 
the latter by request of the city council. This reorganization took 
place on May 18, 1846, through by-laws adopted by the board of trus- 
tees, who took the place of the old board of managers. This change 
of name and charter had really no other effect on the institution, 
which has been conducted on the same plan as formerly, and has not 
been materially affected in any way in its history by the founding of a 
law department under the same board of trustees. 

The history of the medical department of the university has since 
been one of uniform success, its aim having been to keep abreast of 
the demands of medical science and to furnish proper facilities for 
the changed conditions of practice and teaching as these have arisen. 
Some notice will be taken of the important advances in its work from 
time to time, together with other incidents in its history of more than 
usual interest. 

The progress of the school was steady until interrupted somewhat 
by the advent of the civil war, which suspended its lectures entirely 
during the year 1862-63. Meanwhile, on December 31, 1856, it had lost 
its original building by fire; but the lectures of that session were com- 
pleted in the amphitheater of the marine hospital by the courtesy of 
its trustees, and a new building, in many respects more commodious 
than the old one, was erected in the spring and summer of 1857. The 
loss on the former building and apparatus, while approximating 
$100,000, had been mainly covered by insurance, so that the facilities 



266 HISTORY OF HIGHEH EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

of th<' si'litN)! wrn* not (IcK^ifsimMl by the fin% but rather increased, as 
its biiil(lin;i: was liiipnivtMl and ih'w apparatus speedily supplied. 

In 1S5!) H vahiablt* addition was made to its equipment by the erec- 
tion of a small disfMMisary buildiu^r, where the treatment of disease 
rould In' bniu^ht nion' dire(;t]y under the inspection of its students, 
rp t«> lis t<'niiM)rary susiM^nsioii in 1S()2, the school had had 1,067 
graduates, the lar^t^st single <*lass during this period being that of 
1 8r)<), which graduated IVi meni1>ers. The classes of 1864 and 1865 
won' <M>nii>arat ivoly small, but that of 1800 again reached the respect- 
able proiH)rtions of S7 ^mduates. 

In SeptemlK*!* of this last year the Kentucky School of Medicine was 
temporarily united with the university, a combined faculty of ten 
meml>ei*s taking the place of the former separate faculties. This fac- 
ulty was eonstituttKl as follows: Llewellyn Powell, M. D., professor of 
obst<.^t.rle medieinc; H. M. lUilliti, M. I)., professor of the principles 
and praetiee of medieine; <4. W. Bayless, M. D., professor of the prin- 
ciples and practice of surgery; C. W. Wright, M. D., professor of 
chemistry; .1. M. IloUoway, M. J)., professor of physiology; L. J. 
Frazeo, M. I)., professor of materia medica and therapeutics; J. M. 
BcKline, M. 1)., pi'ofessor of anatomy; A. B. Cook, M. D., professor of 
surgi(;al <liseas<;s of the genito- urinary organs and rectum; J. A. 
Ireland, M. 1)., professor of olinieal medicine; J. W. Benson, M. D., 
prof(js8or of clinical surgery. I)rs. T. S. Bell and Lewis Rogers were 
also cnuM'itus professors, respectively, of the science and practice 
of medicine and publie hygiene, and materia medica and clinical 
medicine*. Dr. Benson was dean of the faculty. 

'I'll is union of the two schools only lasted about a year, as the uni- 
versity fai'ulty was r(M)rganized in May, 1867. It was then composed 
of Drs. Powell, Rogoi's, Bayless, Bullitt, Wright, and Bodine, men- 
tioned above, with the iiddition of Drs. Henry Miller and D. W. Yan- 
dell, wiio had formerly been connected with it. Drs. Powell, Bayless, 
Wright, and Bodine held their former chairs, while Dr. Rogers, now 
an a(;tive i)rofessor, held that of materia medica and therax>etitics; 
Dr. Bullitt, that of physiology and pathology; Dr. Miller, that of 
medical and surgical diseas<^s of women, and Dr. Yandell, that of the 
science and practice of medicine. Dr. Bodine had become dean of 
the unitc^l faculty in January, 18G7, upon the resignation of the posi- 
tion by Dr. Benson, a n^lation which was continued under the reor- 
ganized university faculty, and one which has since been maintained, 
much to the advantage of th(» institution. 

The university lias always been in hearty sympathy with every 
proposition to advance the standard of medical education, but, look- 
ing as it necessarily does to the South and West for patronage, has 
not always been able to take the stand in favor of these that it would 
have otherwise done, owning to the competition of other colleges in the 
same territory. Its course was originally one year of lectures, with a 



UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE. 267 

preliminary requirement of three years' office study, and remained so 
for many years. In 1876, upon the formation of the American Medical 
College Association, of which it became a member, its requirements 
for graduation were made two years' lecture courses with one year's 
preliminary study. In 1892 it took part in the organization of the 
Southern Medical College Association, and in 1893, according to the 
laws of that body, required a preliminary admission requirement at 
least equal to a second-grade teacher's certificate, and the student 
was required to take instruction in the laboratories of practical chem- 
istry, microscopical technology, normal and pathological histology, 
bacteriology, ophthalmoscopy, laryngoscopy, otoscopy, operative 
surgery and surgical dressings, besides attending upon three courses 
of lectures of not less than six months each in three separate years, 
during which the student must take two courses in dissection and 
two courses of clinical or hospital instruction as a prerequisite to 
graduation. In 1895 the institution became a member of the associa- 
tion of American medical colleges and advanced its matriculation 
requirements and its standard of graduation up to the rules of that 
association, which require attendance upon four years' lectures for 
students graduating after 1899. 

Meanwhile the equipment of the school has been kept abreast of 
these increasing requirements for its doctorate. In 1888 a commodious 
dispensary was constructed, the plans and arrangements of which 
were well suited for conducting a large polyclinic. Besides its original 
chemical equipment, it has from time to time established special labor- 
atories for practical demonstration and for teaching students the use 
of instruments, especially those of precision required in diagnosis. In 

1879 special laboratories in medical chemistry, ophthalmoscopy, laryn- 
goscopy, otoscopy, histology, and microscopy were opened, and in 

1880 one for surgical dressings was added. These various laboratories 
have been steadily enlarged and increasingly provided with all the 
instruments and appliances which experience has shown to be needed 
in a well-conducted institution. The regular chemical laboratory is 
one of the largest in America. The library and anatomical apparatus 
of the school are also modern. In 1896 its clinical instruction was 
enlarged by the addition of three new chairs to its faculty, those of 
clinical professor of diseases of the eye, ear, nose, and throat, clinical 
professor of diseases of children, and clinical professor of genito-uri- 
nary diseases. Medical j urisprudence has been taught for many years 
by a competent lecturer, and instruction in all the departments of a 
modern medical course is now offered annually by the members of the 
faculty of the institution. 

The number of students in attendence upon the medical department 
of the university since 1869 has rarely fallen below 200 annually, and 
has frequently gone over 300. The largest attendance in any single 
year was 426 in 1892-93. The average attendance for the last ten 



2C}H HISTORY OF HIOIfRR EDUCATIOX IX KENTUCKY. 

ycai-s has Ihhmi :m:).< Thi' iiiiinlN'rof ^nMluat^s each year has usually 
Ihmmi alN)iit 1(N^ the lar^ost niiinlMM* in any one year being 209 in 
]s<j:(-{)4. 'Dk' av(»ra^o for tho paHi l^n yearn has been 125. The total 
luiinlMT of ^radiialos, from t\w foundation of the school up to 1898, 
inrlusivt*, is 4,s:Jl. 

Th(* a(lvan<*<'ni(*nl of the rtMiuiremontH for niatrionlation and gradu- 
ation in n'cent years has somewhat ivdueed the numl)er of matriculates 
an<l graduates, but the nHlurtioii has not been greater than has been 
usual in other similar institutions. The gra<luates of the school have 
won much distin<*tion in their ]>rofesAion and as teachers, those who 
have ^one into tea(*hin^ having filled ehairs in New York, Philadel- 
phia, New Orleans an<l other <*entors of medical education. It has 
furnish(*d s<'ven ])r<^sidents to the Ameriean Medical Association. 

The followin;::, a ])ra<»ti<»ally complete list of its professors from its 
foundation to the present time, will doubtless be of some interest: 
Cliarh^s C^aldwell, Is;J7-ls.U>: John Ksten Cooke, 1837-1844; Lunsford 
P. Yandell, sr., I s:{7- 1 S.V.i ; Henry Miller, 18:37-1858 and 1867-1869 
JcMhKliah (\)bl), ls:J7-lsr)i>; Joshua H. Flint, 1837-1840 and 1856-1858 
diaries W. Sliort, 18;}S-1S4!»; Daniel Drake, 1839-1849 and 1850-1852 
Samuel I), (iross, lS4(Ulsr)()and 18r>l-lH5r);2 Elisha Bartlett, 1849-1850 
I.ewis liojriM-s, lS4lMHr>r,'.' and l8r,.Vl808; BonjaminSilliman; jr., 1849- 
18r)4; Paul V. Kve, I84!uis5(); Austin Flint, 1852-1865; » Benjamin R. 
Palmer, 1852-1805; J. Lawn^iee Smith, 1854-1806; Robert J. Breck- 
inridjre, 1855-18r,l;2 T. S. Bell, 1850-1 807* and 1868-1885; Llewellyn 
Pow<^ll, 1858-18«;8; J. W. Uenson, 1858-1864 and 1866-67; David W. 
Yan<lell, 185«j-18r)l and i8r)7-18!)7; S. M. Bern iss, 1861-62 and 1865-66; 
(4. W. Bayless, 18r>:3-187:5; J. M. llolloway, 1865-1867; H. M. Bullitt, 
lsr)0-180S; (\ W. Wrijj:ht,18r,(;-1808; J. M. Bodine, 1866 to date; Edward 
l^ilnu^r, 18t>8-l8!i5; L. P. Yandell, jr., 1808-1884; John E. Crowe, 1868- 
1881: Jam<^s W. Holland, 1800-1885; Theophilus Parvin, 1869-1872 
and 18S2-8:j; Richard (). Cowling, 187:5-1881; W. O. Roberts, 1881 to 
date: J. A. ()u(*ht(^rlony, 1882 to date; Turner Anderson, 1884 to date; 
II. A. Cotlell, 1884 to date; William Bailey, 1885 to date; H. M. Good- 
man, 18i)5 to date; J. M. Ray, 1800 to date; R. B. Gilbert, 1896 to 
dat(s I. N. Bloom, 189() to date. 

This list includes the eombined faculty of the University and tiie 
Ki^ntueky School of Medicine in 180G-07. No attempt has been made 
to ^iv(^ th<^ chairs of th(^ different professors, as these have been 
changed so oft(Mi as to make the task quite impossible. 

Th<» followinji: have been the deans, or chief executive officers, of 
th<^ faculty, to whom a large part of the success of the school is to be 
attributed : Ji^lcMliah Cobb, f mm 1837 to 1852 ; Lunsford P. Tandell, sr., 



^ The students come mainly from the Southern and Western States, bat have 
at times represented as many as liS of the States and Territories, and 8 fonign 
countries. 

'^ These dates are a little uncertain, but are approximately correct. 



UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE. 269 

from 1852 to 1859; J. W. Benson, from 1859 to 186:J, and again from 
1866 to 1867 (January) ; G. W. Bayless, from 1863 to 1866, and J. M. 
Bodine, from 1867 (January) to the present time. 

The following are the present regular professors of the institution, 
with the chair of each: J. M. Bodine, M. D., professor of anatomy 
and dean of the faculty; W. O. Roberts, M. D., professor of prin- 
ciples and practice of surgery and clinical surgery; J. A. Ouchterlony, 
A. M., M. D., LL. D., professor of principles and practice of medi- 
cine and clinical medicine; H. A. Cottell, M. D., professor of physi- 
ology, histology, and clinical diseases of the nervous system; Turner 
Anderson, M. D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology; William 
Bailey, A. M., M. D., professor of materia medica, therapeutics, 
and public hygiene; H. M. Goodman, A. B., M. D., professor of 
medical chemistry; J. M. Ray, M. D., clinical professor of diseases 
of the eye, ear, nose, and throat; R. B. Gilbert, M. D., clinical pro- 
fessor of diseases of children and demonstrator of anatomy; I. N. 
Bloom, A. B., M. D., clinical professor of genito-urinary diseases. 
The faculty iucludas, besides these, sixteen lecturers, demonstrators, 
and assistants of various kinds. 

THE LAW DEPARTMENT. 

This department of the university is ordinarily called the Louisville 
Law School, and was organized, according to the terms of the uni- 
versity charter of February 7, 1846, at the same time that Louisville 
Medical Institute became the medical department of the university 
under by-laws adopted by the board of trustees on May 18, 1846. 
Those who may be mentioned as taking perhaps the leading part in 
its establishment are Hon. James Guthrie and Judge Henry Pirtle, 
the latter for a long time being one of its most prominent professors. 
Mr. Guthrie, who was prominent in local. State, and national politics 
before and after this time, had been previously connected with the 
board of managers of Louisville Medical Institute and had taken a 
great interest in its welfare. He did much to promote the foundation 
of the larger institution, with all the departments of a university, con- 
templated by the charter of 1846, which movement, as already noticed, 
only resulted in the addition of a law school to the former medical 
school, the two forming the professional departments of a university 
which as yet has had no others. 

The law department of the university was opened in the fall of 1846, 
and had as its jfirst faculty Henry Pirtle, professor of constitutional 
law, equity and equity pleadings, and commercial law; Garnett Dun- 
can, professor of the science of law and the law of nations; Preston 
S. Loughborough, professor of the practice of law, including actions, 
pleadings, evidence, and criminal law. This faculty, as has been the 
case with subsequent ones, was composed of able lawyers and jurists, 
but of these Judge Pirtle, as he was ordinarily called, was perhaps 



270 1I1J?T0RY OF HKiHEK EI>UCAT10N IN KENTUCKY. 

the most <listin<;uislu'<l and tht* «>ii<' destined to be iiKist closely con- 
)uh'((m1 Willi (h(* s<*li(N>l. H(* had stiidicMl under the not.ed John Rowan, 
pvally <listin;riiish<Ml as an a<lv(M*at4', a jud)^, and a United States 
S(*nal<»r; had bt^'onio a (Mivuil ju<l^^ at the early age of 28, and had 
sul>s<Mjii(MitIy held soint* of the hi;;h(*st judicial iKMitions in the St-ate. 

He wuH for twenty-He veil yearn a i)rofe8t}ur of the law school, and was more 
potent than any other one man in Hhaping its destinies. He was a profound law- 
yer, particularly in tht* etjuity branches, and was to the end of his life an enthu- 
siastic and hil)orionH Htndent in many tieldH of learning.' 

l*n»frssor Dinu'un was on<' of thr leailei's of the bar of Kentucky, 
and was imissossimI of a dcop knowh^lge of legal science. He only 
n^niainrd (*onno<*t<»d witli tin* scdiool for one year, being succeeded in 
1847 by Kphraini M. Kwing, who also held an honorable x>osition in 
the judicial annals of IIh' Stat<'. 

Of Pi'of<»ssor Loughborough it has lK»en said: 

As a profesMor he moved with familiar steps over the department of jnrispm- 
dence confided to hiH teaching, and an a practitioner he may be said to have iUns- 
t rated the law by his learning and sagacity. - 

lb' n^niaincd idcntifuMl with tlu* s(*Ihh)1 until just prior to his death 
in IS')!*, wIhmi 1i<» was succeeded by James Pryor. 

The original nMiuinMn(»nts of the law department of the university 
were one year's oftice practice and one year's lectures, or two years' 
le(*tun»s. Thc^ bitter has In^en the uniform requirement in recent 
yeai's. Ther<» w(»re .JO students in attendance during its first term, of 
whom iL* received diplomas at- the (»nd of the year. The attendance 
of Uw second year was considerably larger, and at its end 23 degrees 
were* conferred. The s(diool was uniformly successful up to the 
period of the civil war, its graduating class numbering 36 in 1860, and 
almost as many in 1801. It. continued its sessions during the war, 
but of cours(j its matricuhition was very much reduced, the operations 
of the war covering foi* some time a considerable part of the territory 
from which it drew its students. By 18G() its classes had again risen 
to somewhat of theii* former size, and its patronage has since continued 
generally good, the graduating class it now usually sends out annually 
approximating very closely the largest one of antebellum days. 

The pres(^iil course of study is <lesigned for two sessions of seven 
months each. The junior class i)ursues courses in elementary and 
constitutional law , mercantile law, law of corporations, law of con- 
tracts, law of pleading, criminal law, and law of torts; while the 
senior class investigates e(|uity jurisprudence, laV of corporations, 
law of evidence, law of code i)leading, and law of real property. The 
method of instruction is one in which the use of lectures, of text- 
books, and the discussion and dissection of test cases are combined. 
The whole is illustrated and enforced by a moot court, which meets 



' Announcement of 1896-97, p. 6. 
^ Announcement of 1897-98, p. 7. 



UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE. 271 

regularly and conforms to all the rules and practices of judicial pro- 
cedure. The students have free access to the Louisville Law Library 
which contains about 10,000 volumes. They can also attend without 
extra expense the lectures on medical jurisprudence in the medical 
department of the university. By an act of the State legislature of 
December 20, 1873, the diploma of the law school is equivalent to a 
license to practice law in Kentucky. 

The matriculates of the school have come mainly from Kentucky 
and the adjoining States, but its alumni, who up to 1898, inclusive, 
number 1,034, are to be found in almost every State of the Union. 
Many of these have reached distinction at the bar and in politics. 
They include in their number many judges and Congressmen, a nomi- 
nee for the Yice-Presidency, and at least one governor of a State. 

The following is a complete list of the professors of the institution 
from its foundation: Henry Pirtle, 1846-1873; Garnett Duncan, 1846-47; 
Preston S. Loughborough, 1846-1852; Ephraim M. Ewing, 1847-1849; 
William F. Bullock, 1849-1871; James Pryor, 1852-1856; James Speed, 
1856-1858 and 1873-1876; John Preston, 1858-59; Horatio F. Simrall, 
1859-1862; Peter B. Muir, 1862-1868; Henry J. Stites, 1868-1872; 
Bland Ballard, 1871-1873; Thomas E. Bramlette, 1872-73; James S. 
Pirtle, 1873-1881; Horatio W. Bruce, 11873-1880; William Chenault, 
1879-1886; Henry C. Pinnell, 1880-81; Rozel Weissinger, 1884-1890; 
Emmet Field, 1884 to date; W. O. Harris, 1886 to date; Charles B. 
Seymour, 1890 to date. 

For many years prior to 1897, for the greater convenience of its 
professors, its sessions were conducted in the building known as the 
Bull Block, on the northeast comer of Fifth and Market streets, but 
having in that year outgrown those quarters, the session of 1897-98 
was held in the home originally designed for it — the law building of 
the university, on Chestnut street near Ninth street, occupied since 
1856 b^^ the city male high school. 

The present faculty consists of: Hon. W. O. Harris, LL. B., pro- 
fessor of the law of real property, of criminal law, and law of torts; 
Hon. Emmet Field, LL. B., professor of pleading, evidence, and law 
of contracts; Charles B. Seymour, A. M., B. S., professor of equity 
jurisprudence, of mercantile law, and law of corporations. 

As has been said. Judge Henry Pirtle was for a long time a leading 
spirit in the school. Since 1890 Hon. W. O. Harris has been its effi- 
cient dean, or chief executive officer. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

CoUins's Sketches; Collins's History; McMurtrie's Sketches of Louisville; Col- 
onel Durrett's articles in Courier-Journal of January 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30, 1881. 

Sketch of the Medical Department, in Courier- Journal of August 9, 1869; Wil- 
liams's Ohio Falls Cities and their Counties. 

Louisville, her Commercial, Manufacturing, and Social Advantages, by Richard 
Deering, Louisville, 1859. 



272 HISTORY OB' HKiHEK EOrCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

A History of Louisville, liy Btni Casseday, LoaiBville, 1852. 

Louisville, Past and I^h*esent, by M. Joblin & Co.. Louisville, 1876. 

Address by Dr. D. W. Yandell on tho Semicentennial of the Medical Department, 
Fifty- first Announcem(>nt, pp. 24-32. 

Articles by T. M. Goodk night in the Southern .School. 

A sketch of tho law department and its first faculty is to be found in the 
announcements of that department for 1804-05, 1807-08, and 1808-00. 



DANVILLE THEOLO(iICAL SEMINARY, DANVILLE. 



Tho oflh^ial titlo of this iiiHtitutioii, according to the plan adopted 
for its ivpilat ion in lS/)4, is Tho Danville Theological Seminary, under 
tlio can* of th<» (Tcncral Ass<Mnl)ly of the Presbyterian Church in the 
I'nitiMl States of America. It was established by that church in 1853 
to Hiii)i>ly [)i'oiM»r theoIogi(*a1 training for its ministry, primarily in 
tlu? South w<»st and \V<»st.. The Pn^sbyterians of Kentucky early con- 
ti'niplatcMl tlie <^tablishni(Mit of a theological seminary in their midst 
The amendment to the charter of Centn* College, secured on January 
27, 1824, and placing tht^ institution under their control, made pro- 
visi<m for a theologi<*al department, with <me or more prof essors, and 
w(^ havi^ s<M^n in connection with the history of that institution that 
such a department, with oiu*^ professor. Rev. James K. Burch, was 
attached to it in 1828, but* was not long maintained, owing to a lack 
of suflftcient endowment. However, the $2,000 raised toward an 
endowment' at that time was (carefully husbanded and afterwards 
formc^d a part of th(^ funds offered by the synod of Kentucky for the 
establishment of Danville Theologicjil Seminary, amounting then to 
about 85,500. Subsecpient to the abandonment of the theological 
d(»partment of Centres, another fund was raised by this synod for theo- 
logical edu<*at.io!i . It amounted to about $22,000, and was later united 
with the Centn* ColU^ge fun<l into what was known as the Seminary 
fund. This was, b^' a l(».gislative act of March 1, 1860, put under the 
ecmtrol of trustees, and its inc(mie was for a time used to support a 
professor in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at New Albany, 
Ind., an institution supported and controlled by seven of the western 
synods of tlie church. 

Tli(»re was a desires, however, on the part of these synods, especially 
that of Kentucky, to have locatinl in the West, as the central Missis- 
sippi Valley was then called, a seminary of the first chiss under the 
control of the General Assembly of tho church. This desire was 
voiced by a incH^ting of ropres(*ntatives of these synods, joined by four 
other westcM'u oni^s, held in conjunction with the session of the Gten- 
eral Asseniby of the church in Philadelphia, Pa., in May, 1853. The 
participating synods wc^re those of Nashville, Kentucky, Cincinnati, 
Indiana, North Indiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Memphis, Illinois) Ohio^ 
and Arkansas, and their representatives passed unanimously the fd- 



DANVILLE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 273 

lowing resolution, together with some others in regard to the location 
and other specific matters concerning the proposed institution : 

That we are of the opinion that the General Assembly ought at this time to 
establish in the West, under its own care, a theological seminary of the first class, 
and that we will earnestly labor to have it done. 

The matter was duly brought before the assembly,^ its presentation 
being accompanied by an overture from the twelve commissioners 
from Kentucky, proposing, if the assembly should establish such a 
seminary, to give toward its endowment, wherever it should be 
located, $20,000, and if it should be located at Danville, Ky., to make 
their contribution |»60,000 and 10 acres of land. 

Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, who had taken a prominent part in the 
meeting of the representatives of the synods, and also in drawing up 
the overture from the Kentucky commissioners, presented the latter, 
with other papers, before the assembly, as chairman of the committee 
on theological seminaries, in a very forcible way, and was largely 
instrumental in bringing about the subsequent action. He may thus, 
more than anyone else perhaps, be called the founder of Danville 
Theological Seminary, of whose faculty he was also for many years a 
very prominent member. 

The assembly on May 26 voted to establish the desired seminary, 
on May 27 accepted the proposition of the Kentucky commissioners 
and located it at Danville, and on May 30 placed it under the imme- 
diate control of a board of 54 directors, one-third of whom were to be 
elected each year. On the same day it declared the institution should 
be conducted provisionally on the plan of Princeton Seminary, New 
Jersey, and should be opened on October 13, 1853. On the next day 
it elected the first faculty of the school, composed as follows: Rev. 
Robert J. Breckinridge, D. D., LL. D., professor of exegetical, didat^tic, 
and polemic theology; Rev. E. P.. Humphrey, D. D., professor of Bib- 
lical and ecclesiastical history; Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D., professor 
of oriental and Biblical literature; Rev. Phineas B. Gurley, D. D., 
professor of pastoral theology, church government, and construction 
and delivery of sermons. 

A charter was afterwards secured for the institution by a legislative 
act of January 28, 1854, which placed the management of its finances 
in the hands of a board of not more than 18 trustees, 9 of whom must 
be from Kentucky, and whose appointment was vested in the assembly. 
Its aifairs, outside of its finances, still remained under the control of 
its directors. 

Drs. Gurley and Palmer having declined the chairs to which they 
had been elected, the seminary was opened at the appointed date, with 
Drs. Breckinridge and Humphrey as professors, assisted by Joseph G. 
Reasor as instructor in oriental and Biblical literature. An arrange- 

' Catalogue of 1853-54, p. 14. 
2127— No. 25 18 



274 HISTORY OF HIOIIKK KDUCATlOX IN KENTUCKY. 

inoiit IumI Ih'oii iiumIo on June :{o, 1H53, hetweeii a committee of the 
asMMiihly and the 1 tusIch^h of C\»ntrc^ C'ollege by which, until the semi- 
nar}' could provide if self witli suitable quaiiers, it was to have the use 
of the <*oneK<' buihlinp^ as far as such use would not interfere with the 
lalfer's iuten^sts. This is tlie l)e|;innin|i: of a close alliance in spirit 
and nuina^euieiil iM^lween the two institutions, although there has 
nev<»r been any orpmit* <*onnection l)etween them. The students of 
the seminary have always had free access to the college classes, and 
the library of each institution has always l)een freely accessible to the 
professors and students of the other. 

The seminary was eon<luetc»d the first j^ear under the Princeton 
plan, but the assembly of 1854 adopted for it a plan drawn up by a 
committ'ee appointed for the puriK>s<^ the previous year, the essential 
principle of which was that the students should not be arranged in 
re|i:ular (•lassi»s ex(*ept in lIebiH»w, in which there were to be two divi- 
sions a(*c()rding to the stage of advanc^ement, but were to be taught 
together, as in other pn)fe8sional sch(M)ls, every student attending 
every i)ublic ex(*rcise of every i)rofessor as long as he was connected 
with the institut ion. The completion of a certain number of exercises 
in a creditable manner, which usually required three years, qualified 
for graduation. This plan was use<l continuously in the seminary 
until 1870. 

There were 2.*J regular students, from five of the Southern and West- 
ern States, in attendance on the seminary during its first year. By 
1854 the church in Kentucky had done more than had been pledged, 
as she had subs(;rilx»d <?r)5,0(X) towanl the funds of thie institution, and 
in the summer of this year a substantial and commodious building 
was purchased for its acecmimodation. Tlie means to purchase this, 
as well as to pay the running exi>enses of the school for three years, 
were entirely contributed by the synod of Kentucky, as has also been 
the case with its endowment mainly, which has been given almost 
entirely by Kentucky and the eastern half of Tennessee. Its funds 
had in 1859 accumulated to ^131, 749, of which amount all but about 
$20,000 came from Kentuckv. In 1854-55 there were 37 students in 
attendance, and in 1855-50, 45. In the latter year Rev. Stuart Robin- 
son, D. D., became professor of pastoral theology and church govern- 
ment in the institution, lie only remained connected with the faculty 
for about two years, but before his resignation Rev. Stephen Terkes, 
in June, 1857, took Instructor Reasor's place as professor of oriental 
and Biblical literature, thus for the first time completing the faculty 
as originally contemplated. During the next session there were 40 
students in attendance, who represented fourteen States of the Unipn 
and one foreign country. 

Dr. Yerkes remained closely identified with the history of the semi- 
nary until his death and had a very potent influence on its later 
development, perhaps more so than any other one man outside of 



DANVILLE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 275 

Dr. Breckinridge. Rev. Joseph T. Smitli was professor of church gov- 
ernment and pastoral theology for a part of the year 1860-61, but that 
chair was not occupied again regularly until 1867. The highest num- 
ber of students during any year prior to the civil war, in fact any 
year in the history of the institution, was in 1859-60, when 53 were in 
attendance. Up to 1859, inclusive, there had been altogether 115 
separate students and 43 graduates. 

The seminary was in operation all during the war, but its attend- 
ance was very much reduced, not only by the disturbed state of affairs 
generally, but by the disruption which began in the church. The 
t/Otal enrollment of the institution up to September, 1865, had been 
372 students, of whom 81 had completed the course. The Synod of 
Kentucky divided in 1866 between the original church organization 
and that of the new Southern Presbyterian Church, but the seminary, 
as well as Centre College, remained under the control of the original 
assembly, ordinarily called that of the Northern Presbyterian Church. 
The results of the war practically in large measure isolated the institu- 
tion, as a large part of the church in its original field went over into 
the Southern Presbytery, and, moreover, in 1869, by the union of the 
old school and new school branches of its own church organization, it 
was brought into competition in the same field with Lane Seminary, 
at Cincinnati, Ohio. These facts account for its slow process of re- 
cuperation and growth since the war. 

At the end of that struggle the institution was left in a very crip- 
pled condition, with two of its professorships vacant. So, in 1868, as 
also in 1860, it held only a short summer session, 8 students being in 
attendance the first of these years and 10 the second. 

On December 1, 1869, Dr. Breckinridge, after having taught with 
great distinction and success in the seminary for about sixteen years, 
resigned his professorship on account of failing health. He died on 
December 27, 1871. A member of a celebrated Kentucky family, he 
had graduated at Union College, New York, in 1819, when 19 years 
of age. At first he turned his attention to the law, but in 1832 he 
entered the ministry and was for about thirteen years the brilliant 
and successful pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Balti- 
more, Md. He was then the president, for two years, of Jefferson 
College, Washington, Pa., after which he removed to his native State 
to engage for a short while in pastoral work in Lexington, but mainly 
to devote his great energy and ability to the cause of education in 
the service of the State and his church. We have already noticed 
that he was mainly instrumental in establishing the seminary, and 
shall see in another connection what a great work he did for the cause 
of common-school education in Kentucky. His influence was great 
not only in Kentucky but throughout the country, especially in church 
and educational circles. He was noted as a preacher, debater, and 
journalist, as well as a teacher. 



DANVILLE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 277 

the attendance has been at any time since the reopening, the amount 
and quality of the instruction given has not been diminished, a full 
faculty having been constantly maintained and a regular course 
offered. 

The facilities for instruction have also been kept first-class and the 
accommodations offered excellent. The library, which was already 
called extensive and valuable in 1856, has been added to from year to 
year, by donations and purchases, so as to meet the demands of mod- 
ern education. It has recently received the addition of the extensive 
private library of the late Dr. Yerkes, and of a special library of 
about 1,000 volumes of the best modern works, given by Mr. Anthony 
Dey, of New York City, and named the David C. Humphrey librarj'^. 
In 1890 the erection of a fine, new building, containing commodious 
lecture and library rooms, besides a dormitory for students, was 
begun on a site leased from Centre College, and more eligible than 
the old one. It was completed in 1893, at a cost of $25,000, and was 
named Breckinridge Hall, in honor of Dr. Breckinridge, the revered 
member of the first seminary faculty. 

The endowment of the institution, as at first contemplated, has 
never been completed, no important benefactions having been asked 
for or received by it in recent years, but its funds contributed 
originally, as has been seen, largely by Kentucky, have been care- 
fully managed and have accumulated by savings until, in 1896, its 
entire property, including its library, was valued at about $245,000. 

A number of changes have in recent years taken place in the semi- 
nary faculty. In 1887 John W. Redd, A. M., of the Centre College 
faculty, was added to it as professor of Biblical Greek and New Tes- 
ment history, and Clarence K. Crawford, A. M., as instructor in 
Hebrew, thus making provision for a more extended course of study. 
In 1888 Rev. W. C. Young, D. D., who had that year assumed the 
presidency of Centre College, became its professor of pastoral the- 
ology, a chair to which homiletics was attached in 1891. In 1890 
Professor Redd and Dr. Beatty^ retired from its faculty, and Rev. 
John M. Worrall, D. D., was elected professor of ecclesiastical his- 
tory, church government, and English Bible. Upon the resignation 
of the regular duties of his chair by Dr. McKee in 1891, most of these 
were assigned to Dr. Young, while at the same time Mr. Crawford 
was made professor of Hebrew and Biblical antiquities. 

On March 28, 1896, the seminary lost by death its senior professor. 
Dr. Yerkes, so long the honored and capable chairman of its facultj". 
Dr. Yerkes had graduated at Yale in 1837, when 20 years of age, in 
the class with Chief Justice Waite, Professor Silliman, Hon. Edwards 
Pierrepont, Hon. William M. Evarts, and other prominent public 
men. He had then taught in a Presbyterian high school near Balti- 
more, Md., until 1852, meanwhile studying theology under Dr. Breck- 

' Dr. Beatty has since died. 



278 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

iiiridgo, and oiipi^iii^ Koiiiewhat in the work of the ministry. In 
iS«*)2 ho was oi<M*to(l ]»n>foss<>r of ancient languages in Transylvania 
Univ(M*sit y at Lt^xin^ton, Ky., fn)iu which position he was called in 
1S"»7 to a profrssoi^ship in \hv Hcniinary, where lie remained for nearly 
tliirty-nino yoars, acM'onipiisliin^ then' the great work of his life, 
lie was s<'lH»larly, al>l(\ and faithful, and withal, warmly devoted to 
his work. lie has l>een rliara(*teri%(Hl as a stning man, an able divine, 
a wise (*ounseloi\ a riiM' sclioiar, and a grand teacher,^ and was one 
who left a stroni; inipr<\ssion for g(NHl uiMm all who came under his 
instruetion. On SeptemlxM* 1«I of the year of Dr. Yerkes's death, Dr. 
Young, thr distinguished an<l elVieient pi*eHident of Centre College, 
who had lM*en (connected with the s<'niinary faculty since 1888, also 
died. ('<nis«M|uently, in Septenil)er, 1807, two new members were 
addiHl to the faculty, William II. Johnson, M. A., and J. C. Ely, D. D., 
making tlio present teaehing Ixnly, with their chairs, to consist as 
follows: John M. Worrall, I>. !>., Hiblieal and ecclesiastical history 
and ehur<*li government; Claude l(. 11. Mailin, D. D., systematic the- 
ology and stutly of tin* Knglish Hible; Clai-ence K. Crawford, A. M., 
Old TestanuMit. languages and exegesis and Hiblical antiquities; Wil- 
liam II. Johnson, M. A., New Testament literature and exegesis; 
John i\ Kly, D. I)., homih»ties. Dr. Worrall, by virtue of his rank as i 

the oldest ivgular prof(»ssor, is chairman of the faculty. j 

The following is a list of all the professors of the seminary from its 
foundation, witli their chairs and terms of service: Robert J. Breck- 
inridge*, exegetical, <lidactic, and polemic theology. May, 1853, to 
December, ISO!); Edwjird P. Iluniplirej', Biblical and ecKdesiastical 
history. May, ISiMi, to .May, ISOC); Joseph (t. Reasor, instmctory Bib- 
lical and oriental literature, September, 1853, to May, 1857; Stuart 
Robinson, church g()V(Mnm(Mit and pastoral theology, September, 
ISoO, to April, ISoS; Stephen YcM'kes, Biblical and oriental literature, 
June, 1S57, to November, 1S()J), biblical literature and exegetical 
th(M)logy, N()vemlM»r, ISOl), to March, 1806; Joseph T. Smith, church 
govern nuMit and pastoral tbeology. May, 1800, to December, 1860; 
RolxMt W. Landis, church government and pastoral theology, May, 
18G7, to November, IS(JJ); Natlianiel West, Biblical and ecclesiastical 
history, June, ^S^)^, to June, 1870, didactic and polemic theology, 
June, 1870, to June, 1S7;5; George I). Archibald, church government 
and pastoral tbeology, June, 1870, to September, 1872, church gov- 
ernment and pastoral theology, June, 1874, to May, 1883; SamuelJ. 
McMullin, Biblical and ecclesiastical history, June, 1870, to Septem- 
ber, 1872; Nathan L. Rice, didactic and polemic theology, June, 1874, 
to Ai)ril, 1877; John S. Hays, Biblical and ecclesiastical history, Jane, 
1874, to April, 1883; Jonathan Edwards, systematic theology,* Sep- 



^ Minutes of the Synod of Kentucky for 1896, p. 44. 

'The name was adopted at this time instead of the former title of didaotio and 
polemic theology. 






■< 



i 



SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 279 

teinber, 1877, to May, 1880; Ormond Beatty, church history, Septem- 
ber, 1886, to May, 1890; Claude B. H. Martin, systematic theology, 
September, 1886 to date; John L. McKee, homiletics and pastoral 
theology, September, 1886, to May, 1891; John W. Redd, Biblical 
Greek and New Testament history, September, 1887, to May, 1890; 
Clarence K. Crawford, tutor in Hebrew, September, 1887, to May, 
1891, professor of Old Testament languages and Biblical antiquities, 
May, 1891 to date; William C. Young, pastoral theology, September, 
1888, to May, 1891, homiletics and pastoral theology. May, 1891, to Sep- 
tember, 1896; John M, Worrall, Biblical and ecclesiastical history and 
church government, September, 1890 to date; William H. Johnson, 
New Testament literature and exegesis, September, 1897 to date; John 
C. Ely, homiletics, September, 1897 to date. 

The course of instruction in the seminary embraces all the depart- 
ments of a modern theological education, and is strictly professional 
in character, being directed to the one end of properly preparing 
students for the ministry. The methods of instruction, besides regu- 
lar class-room exercises, embrace various practical exercises and con- 
ferences in different departments. Only those are admitted to the 
courses that have received a regular college education, or at least so 
much thereof as will enable them to pursue with profit the courses 
taken. The work of the institution is so coordinated with that of 
Centre College as to offer excellent advantages to those who wish to 
take special courses in the latter, to all of which the admission is 
gratuitous. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Collins's History of Kentucky. 

The Presbyterian Almanac for 1860, edited by J. M. Wilson, Philadelphia, Pa. 

Plan of the Danville Theological Seminary, Louisville, 1854. 

Plan of the Danville Theological Seminary, Louisville, 1873. 

An address to the Alumni Association of Centre College, by James Barbour, 
Cincinnati, 1874. 

The Presbyterian Encyclopedia, edited by Alfred Nevin, D. D., LL. D., and other 
eminent ministers of the church, Philadelphia, 1884. 

Minutes of the Ninety-Fifth Annual Session of the Synod of Kentucky, Mount 
Sterling, 1896. 

Considerable information was also obtained from catalogues, especially those of 
1853-54, 1874-75, and 1886-87. 

SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, LOUISVILLE. 

From the verj^ organization of the Southern Baptist Convention in 
1845, persistent efforts were put forth by some of the prominent mem- 
bers of the denomination to establish a general theological seminary 
which should furnish a professional education to the ministry of the 
church of wider scope and better adapted to the special needs of 
individuals than could be offered in the theological departments of 
the various church colleges, whose endowments were meager and 



280 HISTOKY OK HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

wh<>s<* iiisti'iK'tion was iic<'«*.s.s;irily liiiiit<Ml in character. Even at the 
fiixt iiKM'tiii^ of ilii- <'oiiv«'iition, h<*l(l at Atlanta, Ga., in May, 1815, 
a HiM'ciiil coiifrnMHM* IfNikin;; towanl this object was held by those 
]Mirti(Milarly intcr«*st«*<l, aii<1 siniihir discussions were held from time 
to time at various oth<'r denominational gatherings. Among those 
particularly activ<* in ur^in;; on the cnt«*ri)rise at the different chnrch 
in<'(*tiii;rs in wliich th«\v t<N)k paii may lie mentioned: R. C. B. Howell; 
John L. Waller: l>asil Manly, sr.: William B. Johnson; J. L. Bur- 
rows; .1. I>. Jeter; J. I>. Taylor: A. M. Poindexter; 6. W. Samson; 
J. W. M. Williams: J. <). I>. Dar^ran: K. Furman; Basil Manly, jr.; 
J. II. I)(* Votit*: J. .M. Pen(ll«*toii: and S. L. Helm. 

At tli«* meeting; of the^«*neral <*onvention in Charleston, S. C, in 
ispj, a lar^^eeoiiiiiiittee, with A. .M. Poindexter as chairman, was, after 
(JelilNMatioii, a|»]H>inted with the ol)jeet of getting the church colleges 
to favor aii<l assist tlie ^^eneral s<Mninary idea, but these were found 
not to In> prepared to unite in the enterprise at tliat time and so its 
friends were for a time dis<'oura;;ed, and by mutual consent agitation 
in its lN>Iialf was temporarily diseontinutHl. At length, in June, 1854, 
tlie (General Assoeiatioii of N'ir^inia, meeting in Richmond, proposed 
a eonveiition of the fri(Mids of theological education, to be held at 
Montgomery, Ala., on May II, ISo.'i, in conjunction with the general 
eonveiition of the ehiireh. The proposition was favorably received 
and the Montp)nuM'y convention was a decided success, being espe- 
cially noteworthy from tin* fatrt that James P. Boyce and John A. 
Broa<liis, iikmi afterwards so potent in shaping the destinies of the 
proposed stMiiinary, Iumm* became prominently identified with the 
inovenKMit for its (establishment. 

At. Mont^oiiK'ry it was dccidcnl to call another educational conven- 
tion to iiKM't; at Augusta, (4a., in Ma}^ 1856, to discuss the question in 
all its l)(»arings. Nuiikm-ous delegfites were present at Augusta, but 
th(3 <linieulties in the way of accomplishing the proposed object 
s(5eiii(»d so ^wiii that nothing further was done than to solicit bids for 
tli(^ location of the seminary, should it be established, after which 
th(^ wholes matter was refcrnMl to another convention, to assemble in 
Louisville, Ky., in May, 1857. At this time the Baptists of South 
(Jarolina, who, under Dr. Boyce's leadei'ship, had then become thor- 
oughly c()inmitt(Ml to tlu* plan of havinji: a general seminary rather than 
scatt(M*ed coll(^jj:es and ih(M)l()gical schools, proposed to give $100,000 
for its establishnKuit. at Cxreenvillo, in their State, provided a like 
amount shouhl be raised by the church in the other Southern States. 
This proposition was, aftiM* a full discussion, accepted by the Louis- 
ville eonvcMitioii and steps taken to raise the needed funds and open 
\,\n) institution in the autumn of the following year. A committee 
was api)oint(Ml to draw up a plan for its organization, which was to be 
(^fTect(Ml by a fourth (Mlucational convention to meet in Greenville in 
May, 1S58. Dr. iioyce reported to the CTreenville convention that he 



SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 281 

had raised in cash and good pledges the whole of the amount prom- 
ised by South Carolina, and that body, after adopting a plan for the 
seminary, elected its first corps of professors and arranged to inaugu- 
rate the institution on October 1, following. 

The plan to be used for the seminary had already been outlined in 
an inaugural address delivered by Dr. Boyee in June, 1856, while a 
professor in the theological department of Furman University. The 
instruction given was to be based on a certain declaration of funda- 
mental doctrine to which all professors were to be required to sub- 
scribe and conform their teaching, but which was not to be imposed 
by the seminary in any authoritative way upon its students. While 
instruction was to be offered of the widest scope and highest grade, 
such as should suit those prepared for advanced work in the original 
languages of the Scriptures, others of less scholarly acquirements 
were to be welcomed for shorter or longer times to courses designed 
to better prepare them for the successful performance of the active 
work of the ministry. To this end the usual range of studies was 
divided into a number of "schools," which might be taken by stu- 
dents according to their ability and desires, and different combina- 
tions of which, when proi)erly completed, would lead to various 
degrees in the different departments. This original plan has since 
been substantially maintained, its development leading naturally to 
the present English, eclectic, and full graduate courses. The control 
of the seminary was placed by the Greenville convention in the hands 
of the Church Board of Education Society, where it remained until 
1866, when it was by general consent placed under the management 
of the general convention of the church,^ 

The first faculty selected for the institution was composed of Rev. 
James P. Boyce, D. D. ; Rev. John A. Brqadus, D. D. ; Rev. Basil 
Manly, jr., D. D.; and Rev. E. T. Winkler, D. D.; but two of these, 
Drs. Broad us and Winkler, declined their appointments at first, and 
so the seminary was not opened as expected in 1858, Dr. Broadus, 
however, was led later to reconsider his declination, and Dr. WHIiam 
Williams having been elected in the place of Dr. Winkler, the seod- 
nary was opened on the first Monday in October, 1859, with a fealty 
of four professors, of which Dr. Boyce was chairman. 

The aim of the institution has always been to retain an able faculty 
rather than have expensive buildings, when it could not afford both, 
so its original equipment in the way of buildings, and indeed all it 
had in the way of general accommodations while in GreenviUe was 

^ This body elects the board of trustees, which is composed of one member from 
each State contributing as much as $5,000 to the seminary funds, and one mem- 
ber for each additional $5,000 contributed up to eleven members. There are at 
present 5 trustees from Maryland, 5 from Virginia, 11 from G^rgia, 4 from 
North Carolina, 3 from Alabama. 2 from Texas, 11 from Kentucky, 11 from 
South Carolina, 3 from Missouri, 2 from Mississippi, and 2 from Tennessee. 



SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 283 

As a sufficient endowment, which experience had shown must be 
largely local, could not be hoped for from the denomination in South 
Carolina on account of the great losses they had suffered by the war 
and the pressing need of other church enterprises located in their 
midst, the question of the location of the institution was reopened at 
the general convention in St. Louis, Mo., in 1871, when th^ Baptists 
of Kentucky proposed that, if it should be removed to Louisville, 
they would pledge $300,000 toward its endowment, provided the other 
Southern States would contribute $200,000 more. This proposition 
was accepted by the denomination in August, 1872, and was formally 
ratified by the general convention at Mobile, Ala., on May 10, 1873. 

The removal was not carried out until 1877, the interval being spent 
in raising the proposed endowment, to which work Dr. Boyce devoted 
himself, having removed to Louisville in 1872 for that purpose. Nearly 
tlie whole of this endowment had been secured in real estate, stocks, 
and individual pledges when the financial panic of 1873 made much 
of this unavailable, and it seemed in 1874 that the proposed plan 
would after all fail, but it was saved by the prompt subscription by 
some of its friends of $90,000, to be paid in ^ve annual installments. 
Meanwhile the sessions of the seminary had continued at Greenville 
and had Ijad an average attendance of something over 60 students, 
there being 68 present in 1876-77. Dr. Broadus had become acting 
chairman of its faculty upon Dr. Boyce's removal to Louisville, at 
which time Rev. W. H. Whitsitt, D. D., its present president, became 
its professor of ecclesiastical history and Biblical introduction, Dr. 
Williams being transferred to Dr. Boyce's chair of systematic theology. 
Dr. Manly had resigned his chair in 1871 to accept the presidency of 
Georgetown College, Ky., and from 1875 to 1877 Rev. A. J. A. Jaeger 
was an assistant professor in the seminary. On March 20, 1877, the 
institution was deprived by death of the services of Dr. Williams, who 
is described as ''a warm friend, a fervid and vigorous preacher, a 
teacher of singular clearness and attractiveness, a Christian of deep 
and simple piety. "^ 

The seminary was first opened in Louisville on September 1, 1877, 
when its faculty was constituted as follows: Rev. James P. Boyce. 
D. D., LL. D., jjrofessor of ecclesiastical history, church government, 
and pastoral duties; Rev. John A. Broadus, D. D., LL. D., professor 
of New Testament interpretation and the preparation and delivery of 
sermons; Rev. Crawford H. Toy,*D. D., LL. D., professor of Old Tes- 
tament interpretation; Rev. William H. Whitsitt, D. D., professor of 
Biblical introduction and polemic theology. 

In 1879 Professor Toy resigned to accept the chair of Semitic lan- 
guages in Harvard University and Dr. Manly returned to his old chair 
in the seminary, which he retained until his death. Eighty-nine stu- 
dents were in attendance upon the first session of the institution at 

» First Ihirty Years, p. 36. 



284 HISTOKY OF HIQHEK EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

its iu*\v locHtion, aiul an average of more than 1)0 were present dnring 
Iho iioxt thnM'yoars. Its niiiulM'rs sckmi iiic*rea8(Hl ho as to make it 
tho largost baptist t)uH>l<»gi(*al seminary in existonce, and it became 
necessary lo onlargt* its fa<*nlty, as was done in 1881, by the addition 
of (vc'orge W. Uiggan, 1>. !>., wlio at that time was made an instructor 
of Ih»bn»w, Gnn^k, and homiletirs. lie beeanie an assistant professor 
in 1SS3. Meanwhile tht* institution had again experienced financial 
difti(*ulties, from wlii<*h it was again happily i^elieved. In the latter 
part of 1S71», litth^ of the j)rosp<'etive en<lowment having been paid 
in, the seniiiniry was al)out to ])<>(*ome eml>arrassed financially, when, 
on February 11, 18S(), it reeeived from (iovernor Joseph E. Brown, of 
Geoi-gia, the unexiM»eted gift of ^^rM^iHM)' to endow a professorship. 
This movement to inerease the endowment was joined in by varions 
friends of the institution in Louisville, X(»w York City, and elsewhere 
to sueh an extent that its permanency was soon assured. 

The siime poliey in reganl to ])uihlings was pursued by the seminary 
in Louisville ais in (T^HMlvilh^ Tntil its ])uilding funds were supplied 
it oe(*upied temporary quart<'rs for a time in the public library build- 
ing on Fourth iH»ar Walnut stnn^t, whieh it us<h1 for lecture rooms 
an<l library purjwises, whih» the Waverly Hotel, on Walnut street near 
Sixth, was rent^^d as a dormitory for students. In 1885 eligible and spa- 
eious grounds on Hroadway lM^tw<»en Fourth and Fifth streets were 
purchased l)y Louisville fric^nds as a proiM)sed site for the early con- 
struction of suitable buihlings, and in the following yesLV very liberal 
contributions were made by Mr. John I). Rockefeller and other gener- 
ous friends in New Vork City and vicinity for the erection of the 
first. siMuinary l)uilding. This was (completed in 1887, at a cost of 
$80,()(M), an amount about (»qual to the cost of the seminary grounds, 
and was caUed, in honor of \\w home of its donors. New York Hall. It 
is a lino large 4-st<»ry building, located on Fifth street near Broadway, 
and was intended i^rimarily as a dormitory for students. It was also for 
a time furnished with h^cture-i'oom and library accommodations. In 
1800 a si^pai'ate and b(»autiful library building was erected at a cost 
of J50,()()(). It was given by Mrs. J. Lawrence Smith, of Louisville, 
as a memorial of four of her d(H*eased nephews and nieces. In 1893 
Norton Ilall, the imposing structure at i)resent used by the seminary 
for administrative and h^cture-room purposes, was built by the Nor- 
ton family, of Louisville, at a cost of 800,000. In 1897 the seminary 
was supplied with a handsome new gymnasium through the liberality 
of lion. Joshua Levering, of Baltimore, Md., by whom it was built 
and equipped with modern apparatus at a <»ost of J10,000, thus com- 
pleting a material equipment for the institution surpassed by few, if 
any, of its kind in the countr3^ 

' This was set apart to the chair of systematic; theology, which has since been 
called the Joseph Emerson Brown chair. 



SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 285 

Considerable additions to its supporting endowment have also been 
made in recent j'ears, among these ^ being the gift in 1893 of $70,000 by 
Mrs. Minnie Caldwell (nee Norton). The value of the entire semi- 
nary property and funds was estimated in 1896 at about $870,000, and 
is probably now^ approximately $900,000. The direct means of in- 
struction have in like manner been kept up to modern demands. The 
library, wiiich already had a good foundation, has been added to from 
time to time by the purchase of standard works, and has received 
valuable donations and bequests from the library of Columbian Uni- 
versity, Washington, D. C. ; from Prof. W. E. Bailey, of South Caro- 
lina; Rev. Dr. B. Manly, sr. ; Rev. Franklin Wilson; Rev. T. W. 
Tobey, and others, besides a large donation from Dr. Boyce and one 
from the library of Dr. Basil Manly, jr. ; so that it now numbers over 
20,000 volumes. 

The number of students attending the seminary in recent years has, 
however, kept pace somewhat with its enlarged accommodations and 
improved facilities. In 1882-83 its matriculation was 120, and since 
then there has been an almost uniform increase until the high-water 
mark was reached in 1895-96, when 318 students were enrolled. It 
is believed that it then became the largest theological seminary of any 
denomination in the whole country. In 1897-98, 301 students were 
present, w ho represented 31 States and 1 Territory of this country and 
thiee other countries ; 676 students were enrolled altogether in Green- 
ville, and 3,621 have been enrolled since the removal to Louisville, 
making a total registration up to 1898, inclusive, of 4,297, of which 
about 1,800 names are counted twice. Of the Louisville registration 
2,433 names have been enrolled since 1888 — a fact which shows the 
rapid growth of the institution in recent years. A considerable por- 
tion of the students who have attended the seminary have graduated 
in one of its courses. Its present faculty is composed largely of its 
own graduates. 

Its increase in matriculation in recent years has been so nearly com- 
mensurate with the enlargement of its funds that, although the latter 
has been quite large, the income derived from it has only been .lately 
somewhat equal to the additional demands made upon it, thus making 
the income of the institution meet its expenses. Indeed, for one pur- 
pose — to secure the funds needed to assist deserving students who are 
unable to fully meet their own expenses — it has been found necessary 
that annual contributions should still be solicited ; at least the prin- 
cipal part of the means the seminarj^ now has for this special object 
consists of the income derived from $15,000 bequeathed by D. A. 
Chenault in July, 1885, and $10,000 bequeathed by W. F. Norton in 
October, 1886. 

A number of changes have taken place in the seminary faculty in 
recent years. Assistant Professor Riggan died on April 18, 1885, and 

^ A lectureship foundation of $5,000 was also given in 1894 by Rev. William D. 
Gay, of Montgomery, Ala. 



28fi HISTORY OK IllOHKR RDrCATION IN KfiNTUCKy. 

was sium'»mh1»'<1 in lln» lalirr part of that year by J. R. Sainpey, D. D., 
at lii-st as instructor, hut after t wo yoai*s as AHsiHtant prof essor. Rev. 
F. II. Kerf<M»t, I). I)., was elect e<l (*o-i)ruf(M4Hor of s^'steiiiatic theology 
in 1SS7, and full ]>rof<\ssor of syst4>matie theology, pastoral duties, and 
church jrovernnient in iss«>. A. T. RoliertMon, A. M., was made an 
instructor of (irei'k an<l homih'tics in 1SKS and an assistant professor 
in IS!M». 

Tlie oflic(» of ])n\si<lent of tin* seminary was ereatoil in May, 1887. 
It wjLs wry appropriate that Dr. l>oy<*e, who had so long been the 
ehainuan of its faculty, sliould 1n' the 01*81 inc*uml>ent of the new 
ofhce, the duties of wliicli lie was, however, not long to discharge, as 
he was n»inove<l liy death on I)ecenilM»r 28, 1888. He had been eon- 
ne<*t<Ml with tlie institution for nioiv than thirty years, counting from 
the in(*ipien(*y of the movement for its establishment, and had devoted 
to its interests untiring <'.vertions and made great sacrifices in its 
Ixdmlf. He Iiad ^ra<luat(*d at Hrown Univeraity in 1847, when just 
ov(»r L*o years of aj^e. After liaving engagwl in religious journalism 
for somctliin^ over a year, he studied th(M>logy at Princeton, N. J., 
for two years, and tln'ii enten^l tln^ work of the pastorate until 1855, 
when he a<'(M»ptcd a call to the(*hair of theology in Furman University, 
at (THM^nville, S. C. While li< tiding tliis professorship he became 
prominently identified witli those lalK»ringto found a general seminary 
for the chun*h, liis efforts in behalf of which, both before and after its 
(»stal)lisliment, w(»liav<^ already in a general way largely recounted. He 
has Ikmmi called ''a sturdy, honest, (vodly man, an elevated and genial 
cliara(*ter, a safe* and wise counstdor/' * and his work in behalf of the 
seminary has been characterized as follows: Dr. Boyce was chairman 
of the faculty, tn*asurer of the board, general financial agent, and has 
been the lif(» i)ow(»r of the institution from its inception until the 
l)rcsent time.- 

Upon Dr. I>oyce\s death Di-. Broadus became chairman of the 
facuiUy, a iM)siti()n lu' had aln^acly successfully held for five yean at 
Gii^enville. In ^Nlay, 1S8!^ he was regularly elected president of the 
seminary, a position lie continued to occupy with honor to himself 
and th(^ institution until his death on March iG, 1895. He had taken 
his A. M. at the University of Virginia in 1851 ; had been an aasistant 
professor in that institution fnmi 1851 to 1853, and had been engaged 
in x)«istoral work until ho became connected with the seminary faenlty 
in 1850. His labors for that institution t'ould only be placed second 
to those of Dr. Boyc(% if to those of anyone. 

Dr. Manly, the only rcMuaining member of the original faenlty, who, 
as we have seen, after eijrht yi^ars' eflficient service as the president of 



1 First Thirty Years, p. JH. 

•^Cathcart's Encyclopedia, p. 1087. Dr. Boyce is the author of a text-book on 
theology and also of a number of addresses. He also wrote extensiyely ftar raligi- 
ous newspapers and reviews. 



SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINAKY. 287 

Georgetown College, had returned to the seminary in 1879, had died 
in office about three years before Dr. Broadus, on January 31, 1892. 
He was a tireless worker and fine teacher. It is through his efforts, 
combined with those of Dr. Broadus, that the funds of the seminary 
to aid needy students were for many years raised. 

The course of instruction, while, as has been said, in the main fol- 
lowing the original plan, has lately been considerably enlarged. A 
chair of ecclesiology was added to the regular course in 1896, as has 
also been a lecture course on the history of missions. The school of 
Latin theology has been replaced by a school of special theology 
taught in English, and many special courses for graduate students 
have also been established. The regular course of instruction is 
divided into the nine schools of biblical introduction. Old Testament 
interpretation. New Testament interpretation, systematic theology, 
polemic theology, homiletics and elocution, church history, ecclesi- 
ology, and pastoral duties. Each of these schools is entirely inde- 
pendent of the others, and is, with the exception of Hebrew and 
Greek, completed in one year. Combinations of the different schools 
lead to the degrees of English graduate, eclectic graduate, and full 
graduate. It requires three years for a student with a degree from a 
good college to complete the full course. A graduate course leading 
to the degree of doctor in theology is open to full graduates. 

We have already mentioned the addition to the seminary faculty of 
Dr. Kerf oot and Professor Robertson, whose elections were due partly 
to the illness and subsequent death of Dr. Boyce and partly to furnish 
additional teaching facilities to the institution. Other changes have 
since been made, owing to Dr. Broadus's death and the enlarged 
matriculation. In May, 1893, E. C. Dargan, D. D., became co-pro- 
fessor of homiletics, church government, and Latin theology; in May, 
1894, W. J. McGlothlin, A. M., instructor of Old Testament interpre- 
tation; in October, 1895, H. H. Harris, D. D., LL. D., professor of 
Biblical introduction and polemical theology; and in May, 1896, W. O. 
Carver, instructor in New Testament interpretation and homiletics. 
Professor Harris died in office on February 4, 1897. 

In May, 1895, soon after Dr. Broadus's death. Dr. Whitsitt was 
elected as his successor in the presidency of the seminary. Dr. Whit- 
sitt graduated at Union University, Tennessee, in 1861, and later 
studied one year in the University of Virginia. He Jbhen spent two 
years in the seminary at Greenville, after which he studied in Ger- 
many for two years, and then, after a short pastorate, became, as we 
have seen, a professor in the seminary in 1872. Under his adminis- 
tration the former prosperity of the institution has continued, and he 
has had the satisfaction of seeing it become the largest seminary in 
his church.^ On July 14, 1898, he offered his resignation as president 



* Dr. Whitsitt also has quite a reputation as a writer as well as teacher and 
administrative officer. 



288 HISTOKY OF HKiHER KDUCATION IN KENTUCKT. 

to thr iNiaifl of ti*iist<'('s. No dofiiiito arrHiigenit^iitii have yet been 
iiiado ill n'^anl to his sii(*(*ossor. 

Tbo pn»^M»I)t farultyofUHMiiHtitiitioii, with the (*hangeR in their chairs 
whirh havo n*ct»iitly lakon phict*, are as follows: William H. Whitsitt, 
1). I)., Lli. I)., prcsich'iit and professor of ecclesiastical history and 
polemic thoolojry; Fmiiklin 11. Korfoot, 1). D., LL. D., professor of 
pastoral <lii1i('s and Joseph Emerson Brown professor of systematic 
theology; John K. SamiK\v, D. 1)., professor of interpretation of the 
Ohl Tf^stament; An^hibald T. llolx^rtson, I). D., professor of inter- 
pretation of the New Testament ; Edwin C. Dargan, D. D., professor 
of homileti<»s and (»e<desiolo^y; William J. MeGlothlin, A. M., D. D., 
professor of Hiblieal intnMluetion and assistant professor of Old Testa- 
ment interpn^tation; William (). (-arv'er, Th. D., assistant instructor 
in New Testament interpi*utati(m and homiletics. 

ItlKLKUmAPHY. 

C'ollins's and Smith's History: Cath(*art*8 Baptist Encyclopedia; WilliamB'sOhio 
Falls Cities and their Conn ties. 

The First Tliirty Years (^f the Sonthern Baptist Theological Seminary, Balti- 
more, 1S90 (contains historical sketch by J, R. Sampey, D. D.). 

LOUISVILLF. MEDICAL ( OLLEGR, LOUISVILLE. 

The foundation of Loiiisvilh* Medical College is due to the con- 
viction on tlu* part of its promotei-s that the great popularity of Louis- 
ville as a inedi(*al center justified the establishment of a new, modem, 
and independent eolh^ge. A previous attempt in the same line had 
resulted in tlie in(»orporation of the Clay School of Medicine, the place 
of which was taken by LouisviHe Medical College, its charter being 
rejx^alcMl at th(» same tinu^ that of the latter was granted. 

Those mainly instrunu^ntal in th(^ founding of the new school were 
the nn^n who composed th(^ major portion of its initial faculty, viz: 
l)i*s. Henry M. Hullitt, Henry Miller, John Goodman, J. M. Holloway, 
J. A. InOand, John A. Ouchterlony, and E. S. Gaillard, whose aim was 
to esta])lish an institution which should l)e first-class in all its appoint- 
ments and should have a first-class teaching force. 

An organ izal ion of the faculty had taken place shortly before the 
application for a chartc^r, which was obtained from the State legisla- 
ture by an act approved January 20, 1809. This charter places the 
residuary control of the school in the hands of 8 self-x>erpetuatiDg 
trustees, who have a general supervision over its property and faculty. 
Its faculty has a large share in its management, as they elect to pro- 
fessorships which only have to be confirmed by the trnstees, and are 
perpetual unless severed by resignation, ejection, or death. The 
trustees are authorized to hold property for the benefit of the school 
to the amount of *1 00,000, and can also, by an amendment to the 
charter secured March 22, 1873, which has, however, never been taken 



LOUISVILLE MEDICAL COLLEGE. 289 

advantage of, bond its property, if necessary, to the amount of $25,000. 
The institution is empowered to confer the usual degrees in medicine, 
dentistry, and collateral sciences. 

The original faculty was composed of the founders mentioned above, 
supplemented by two other physicians,^ most of whom have either 
previously or subsequently been connected with the faculties of some 
of the other medical colleges of Louisville. Dr. Bullitt was made 
dean of the new school, which was first opened in September, 1869, in 
tlie old law building, on the southwest corner of Fifth and Green 
streets. The success of tlie institution was pronounced from the start 
and its classes soon grew to be quite large. It had 225 students and 
51 graduates in 1872-73, and up to that year, inclusive, had had 350 
graduates. By 1875-76 its classes were the largest south or west of 
Philadelphia. Its students came mainly from the South and South- 
west, but quite a number of them came from north of the Ohio River. 

By 1877 its classes had outgrown their first quarters, and space was 
secured for it in the autumn of that year in Odd Fellows' Hall, on 
First and Jefferson streets. Enlarged accommodations were soon 
again demanded, and in the summer of 1883 a large building on Third 
street was leased and fitted up for the institution. As the years went 
by this building was also found to be inadequate, and the faculty 
determined to erect one which would properly accommodate their ever- 
increasing classes, a resolution whicli resulted in the construction of 
the present fine building, on the corner of First and Chestnut streets, 
which is one of the handsomest and most commodious of its kind ii. 
the country and one of which the institution has a right to be proud 
It is pleasing in its architecture and splendid in its equipment, con. 
taining "every element necessary to give the student of medicine all 
the facilities which the ideas of the present day deem essential to 
thorough teaching. "2 

Tlie following description, taken in substance from a recent 
announcement of the school, will give some idea of its accommoda- 
tions: It is 184 feet long and 87 feet wide and four stories in height, 
with a basement under the entire structure. The first floor contains 
the facult}^ rooms, reception room, chemical laboratory, library, and 
janitor's rooms. On the second floor will be found the museum, maiit 
amphitheater, chemical room, clinical room, and professors' room. 
The amphitheater is 55 by 75 feet and extends up through two stories. 
It will comfortably seat 600 students and is perfect in its acoustic 
[)roperties. On the third floor are rooms for demonstrating histology, 
niicroscop3% and bacteriology. The fourth floor contains the dissect- 
ing room, 55 by 75 feet, floored with tiling and furnished with hard- 
wood tables and marble lavatories. It is perfectly ventilated and 



'These physicians were Drs. Birch and Logan, whose first names the writer has 
been unable to ascertain. 
2 Announcement of 1892-93, p. 5. 
2127— No. 25 19 



290 HISTORY OF IlIGIIEK EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

nightly IIiisIumI with water, s<> as t4> be well-nigh odorless. The dis- 
IN'nsiiry luiilding is ItN^atod at the noith end of the main building and 
iscDUiHTtofl with it Itya corridor. It is two stories high and contains 
a spacidiis rliniral ainpliitlusitcM', waiting rooms, etherizing room, drag 
roniiL spiMMal oiNM'ating iMMun, n'(M>very n>om, and reading room for 
stiidriits. Thr now building was <KM*upied by the college in Septem- 
1mm-, isi*)), tlio s<»ssinn i»l' 1SIIl>-i»;j having l>oen spent in the building of 
tin* K^'Mtiirky Sclioi)] of Mcdicino on Sixth street. 

TIh' institution had |)n*\ iousiy been pi*ogi*essive in its methods of 
instruetion and in its equipment. While located on Third street, just 
prior to iss'j, it had ereet<*d a disiKMissiry and had added a gymnasium 
to its outfit. It was also one of tin* first, if not the first, of the med- 
ieal eolleges in the South to use the method of having each dissection 
praetieally <lemonst ratted lM»fon? the class* prior to its being under- 
taken by the stu<ieiits, as it was also to add an infirmary annex, mak- 
ing it> ])<)ssible to ])erforni major operations under perfect asepsis in 
the pr(»senee of the entire class. The equipment of the institution 
in(*ludes, besith's a large, regular (*hcmieal laboratory, special labora- 
tories in histoh)gy, in jiathology, and bacteriology, and inoperative 
surgery. 

Its original <'ourse nMjuired tor graduation had been the one usually 
in vogue at the Wuw, of its (establishment — two years of lectures, with 
one year's previous olVice stu<ly. This was maintained up to the ses- 
sion of isj)2-i):j, wlien the college enteivd the Southern Association of 
Me(li(.*al Colh^ges, and with the oxiening of the next session in 1893 
adopted, in accordan<*e with the requirements of that organization, a 
three* years' course of study for all students then entering for a new 
course. In isth") it joined the Association of American Medical Col- 
leges, and in its next session re<[uired all students beginning their first 
course of ni(*dicin(* to tak<? a four yeai's' course before graduation. 
The association's x^i'^-li^^^^^^^T niatriculation requirements are also en- 
forcMHl. The institution has thus brought its graduation requirements 
u]) to those of the ])est and fon^most medical eolleges of the country. 

The nieihod of instru(»tion is one in wiiich lectures, clinics, reoita- 
ti(ms, quizzes, and prac1i<*al d<Muonstrations are all combined. The 
following are the d(ii)artnients of the course as at present offered: 
Principles and pra(^tic(» of medicine, anatomy, practical anatomy, physi- 
ology, nuiteria medica and therapeutics, obstetrics, gynsdcology and 
abdominal surg(^ry, surgery, (clinical surgery, chemistry, diseases of 
the (\v<% (»ar, nose, and throat, diseases of the nervous system, genito- 
urinary diseases, diseases of children, diseases of the rectum, physical 
diagnosis, hygiene, and mcMlical jurisprudence. 

As in all the other medical colleges of the country, the matricula- 
tion of Louisville Medical C -ollege has been somewhat reduced of late, 
owing to the advanced standai'd of entrance and the length and time 
necessary for graduation, but its attendance has been comparatively 



LOUISVILLE MEDICAL COLLEGE. 291 

well sustained. Its combined classes in recent years nave at times 
numbered more than 300 students, who have frequently represented 
as many as 25 States and Territories of the Union, besides several for- 
eign countries. It is estimated that about 7,000 students altogether 
have attended the school since its foundation, which would make a 
yearly average of about 240. The graduating class has numbered as 
many as 191 (in 1893-94), and the total number of graduates, xij) to 
1898 inclusive, is 1,974, a yearly average of about 68. The graduates 
are distributed in every State of the Uniticd States, especially in the 
South and West, and particularly in Texas, Indiana, Kentucky, Illi- 
nois, and Ohio. Recently a larger number have been residents of 
the North, Northwest, and East. 

Much of the prosperity of the college has been due to its efficient 
deans who, with their terms of office, have been as follows: Dr. Henry 
Bullitt, 1869-70; Dr. E. S. Gaillard, 1870-79; Dr. J. A. Ireland, 1879- 
1895; Dr. C. W. Kelly, since 1895. Dr. Ireland was an emeritus pro- 
fessor in the institution until the present year, and was the last of its 
original faculty to be connected with it. Its present faculty is com- 
posed mainly of comparatively young men who are, however, well to 
the front in their profession. 

The professors and their chairs are as follows: C. W. Kelly, M. D., 
C. M., professor of descriptive and surgical anatomy and clinical 
medicine, dean; Geo. M. Warner, M. D., professor of materia medica, 
therapeutics, and diseases of children; A. Morgan Cartledge, M. D., 
professor of gynecology and abdominal surgery; 11. B. Ritter, M. D., 
professor of obstetrics and hygiene; Wm. Cheatham, M. D., profes- 
sor of ophthalmology, otology, and laryngology; John G. Cecil, B. S., 
M. D., professor of principles and practice of medicine, clinical medi- 
cine, and neurology; Wm. C. Dugan, M. D., professor of surgery and 
clinical surgerj^; Fouchee Warren Samuel, A. M., M. D., professor 
of principles and practice of surgery and operative surgery; Adolph O. 
Pfingst, M. 1)., professor of physiology and histology; Harris Kelly, 
B. A., M. 1)., professor of chemistry and toxicology; August Schach- 
ner, M. I)., associate professor of anatomy, demonstrator of anatomy. 

There are besides 14 lecturers, directors, and instructors, who serve 
as assistants to the faculty proper in the various departments. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The material for this sketch has been obtained almost entirely through corre- 
spondence with Dr. George M. Warner, secretary of the faculty, and from cata- 
logues and other sources of general information. A few facts have been secured 
from Collinss History; Williams's Ohio Falls Cities; and Louisville, past and 
present. 



2!)2 IIISTOKV OK IIIUHKK KDUCATIUX IN KENTUCKY. 

l.nrisVIIJJ-: ('niJ,K<;K OK PHARMACY, LoriSVILLE. 

T]w |)r(>liiiiiiiary i)HM>tin<; l(M)kin^ towaitl the organization of the 
I.ouisvilh' Colh'jje of IMiariiiary was held in the office of J. B. Wilder 
S: Co., at Sixlli aini Main streets, in Louisville, on July 25, 1870, when 
tlir r<>asil)ility of ostahlishiii^ such an institution, ''to supply a want 
that Iia<l loiij; l)o<'ii felt in tin* Southwest," * was fully discussed. This 
iiKM^tin^ wasatt('n<l(Ml l)y l<>a<lin^ pliannacnsts of Louisville, Ky. , and of 
JefT<M-snnvill(» and N(»w Albany, Ind., among whom maybe mentioned 
as osjMMMally active in furthering the i)roiK)sed enterprise Dr. C. Lewis 
I)i(»IiK (J(H)rj:t» A. X(»wiiian, Thomas E. Jenkins, Dr. Emil Scheffer, 
L. I). KasttMihine, S. F. l)aw<»s, F. V. Miller, R. J. Snyder, Edward 
Wild<M-, and R. A Kohins(m. 

As a rrsult of tlie jn'evious <liseussion a corpoi^ation known as The 
I^ouisvillr ('olU»^(» of Pharmacy was instituted on August 16, 1870, its 
first hoard of dirc^ctors IwMng eomx)osed of Thomas E. Jenkins, B. F. 
SerihiHM*, (rror^e A. Xewnuin, S. F. Dawes, John Colgan, Louis Eich- 
rodt, Dr. ('. Lowis Dielil, (ieor^e A. Cary, J. A. McAfee, Dan B. 
(irablr, F(M'd. J. Plingst, and Fred. C. Miller. Of this board Dr. C. 
Lewis I)i(»hl was eh»(*t<Ml j)ivsid<»nt and F. 0. Miller and Louis Eich- 
roclt se(*r(»tarics. Dr. Kmil Si'lieffer was made chairman of one of 
the important committees. Dr. Scheffer had already a national repu- 
tation as a i>harmacist, as had also Dr. Diehl, the latter being one of 
\\w c<litors of th(» Pharmacopceia, the standard for compounding drugs 
in the rnit(Ml Statos. 

A (charter for tlio institution was later secured from the legislature 
of th(» Stat<'. It l)(»ars the date of February 10, 1873, and by its terms 
tli(» college is emi)owcrcd to confer the degree of graduate in phar- 
ma<*y, whih^ its numagement is i)laced in the hands of a board of 12 
(linH'tors, one-third of whom are to be elected each year by the mem- 
bers of the corporation. All its funds in excess of its expenses are 
also to go to its further improvcnnent and enlargement, and are not to 
be divided among its members, as it was not intended to be a sonroe 
of profit to anyone but its students. According to this charter the 
school is also made, in a certain sense, a jself -supporting State institu^ 
tion, as, if for any (*ause it should <»ease to exist, all of- its property, 
both personal and n^al, is to go to the i)ublic school fund of Kentucky. 

Th(^ funds for the opening of the i)roposed college in a modest way 
w(»re secured by subscription from the members of the corporation, 
the apparatus needed to illustrate its lectures being at first either 
furnislu^d by tln^ pr()f(\ssoi*s or borrowed from the Louisville Female 
High School. Its first lecture rooms were in the Preston Pope Build- 
ing, on Third sti'oc^t between Walnut and Guthrie streets, where its 
first session was op(^ned <m Xovember 13, 1871. Its first faculty was 

^ First announcement, p. 4. 



LOUISVILLE COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. 293 

constituted as follows: Thomas E. Jenkins, M. D., professor of mate- 
ria medica; L. D. Kastenbine, M. D., professor of chemistry; C. 
Lewis Diehl, professor of theory and practice of pharmacy. 

The opening had been delayed about one month longer than the 
date that had been arranged for, and consequently the first session 
lasted about one month longer than usual, ending in the first week in 
April. Attendance upon two such sessions, together with four years' 
apprenticeship, was made a requirement for graduation. 

In 1872 Dr. Jenkins resigned his chair, which was then denominated 
the chair of materia medica and botany, and it was filled b}" the appoint- 
ment of Emil Scheffer, Ph. G. Dr. Scheffer held the chair until 1881, 
when he resigned, and Edward Goebel, Ph. G. , was elected as his suc- 
cessor. Dr. Scheffer becoming an emeritus professor. Upon the death 
of Professor Goebel, in 1889, the chair of botany was separated from 
that of materia medica and Oscar C. Dilly, Ph. G., elected to the 
latter, while Otto E. Mueller, who had already been teacher of botany 
for at least a session previous, was selected to fill the former. Pro- 
fessor Diehl held the chair of pharmacy until 1882, when he retired 
on account of poor health, and B. Buckel, Ph. G., M. D., was chosen 
to fill the vacancy. 

Meanwhile the institution had continued to prosper. Early in its 
history, through the liberality of the druggists of Louisville and the 
neighboring cities, it was furnished with apparatus and specimens 
sufficient to abundantly illustrate its lectures. In 1873 it sent out its 
first graduating class of 6 members, and in 1875-76 its means had so 
far enlarged that complete practical laboratories in chemistry and 
pliarmacy were instituted. It soon outgrew its original quarters, and 
in 1878 moved to a larger and better adapted building on Green near 
Second street. In 1880-81 it had a class of 45 students, and at the 
end of that session had graduated 55 young men. In 1888-89 its 70 
matriculates represented 8 States and 1 Territory, mainly in the South 
and West, and its graduating class of that year contained 17 mem- 
bers. Up to 1888, inclusive, it had had 129 graduates from 11 different 
States. 

In 1889 the college removed to its present excellent building, on the 
corner of First and Chestnut streets, which had been purchased for the 
institution, and in which chemical and pharmaceutical laboratories, 
equal to any in the country, were established. Its faculty was then 
composed of veteran teachers of recognized ability. In 1890 women 
were admitted to all the privileges of the school upon the same terms 
as men, and the equivalent of a grammar-school certificate from a 
public school was made a necessary prerequisite to matriculation. In 
1891 the faculty was enlarged by the appointment of the following 
assistant professors: Edward R. Constantine, of chemistry; 11. Otto 
Haeusgen, of pharmacy; Burr Overton, of materia medica; and Louis 
Rominger, of botany. 



294 HISTORY OK IIIOIIEK KDl^ATION IN KKNTUCKY. 

I iitil August, ISIM, lN)tli lirM and srcond yoarstiulents had attended 
thr saiiH* l<M*tiin's, but at that timr tli<M*<>iirs<' wah ivarmnged and the 
students — ox<M»pt in Initaiiy, whirli was kept a^ befoi-e — divided into 
junior and senior <'hiss<\s. 'Flu* junior instruction was phiced in the 
rliarp' of tlit' junior prot'c^ssors, who, under the new management, 
wrn* II. otto IhuMis^rn, in <*h(Muistry: (rordon L. Curry, in pharmacy, 
and Williani <i. ZubnNl, in niat<M*ia nuHlioa. A new microscopical 
bilMiratory was iImmi roniph'ttMl an<l the chair of microscopy created 
and assi^nc(l to IM'ol'i'ssor Honiin^cr. At the same time Prof. C. 
Lewis Dit'hU wlio is one ol* tli(* most gifted pharmacist's and expert 
trarhers in Ann»ri<*a, having rcM-overcd his health, ivturne<i to his old 
position as i)rotVssor of pharnia<*y, in place of Dr. Buckel. The office 
of <i(»an of the coUcj^e was also <'ivat(Kl, and was filled by the election 
of Profi»ssor Curry, who has since efficiently discharged its duties. 
In isi»r» a summer <M)urs(» in botany was ^established, which has since 
l)«*(»n niaintainetl. In lS!i7 II. II. Koelder, .M. 1)., succeeded Professor 
Roinin^er as jirotessor of nii<*roscoi)y. 

Tln^ averap* niatri<Mdation of th<» <H)llcp» in I'ecent 3*ears has been 
rtl)oul «*)n annually, an<l its stud(»nts have fivquently represented as 
many as '.' States. The av(M*ajj:e numl>er of graduates of late has been 
about IS «»ach year. Tin* institution has altogether, up to 1898, inclu- 
sive, ;3)^"» alumni, who have come from as many as 18 States, principally 
in lh(» South and \V(?st, but mon^ largely from Kentucky and Indiana 
than any otht^i-s. Th(» college points witli pride to its alumni as an 
(evidence of tli(* high character of its faculty and curriculum. Profess- 
ors Dilly, MuelhM*, Ilaeusgen, Zuhnnl, and Curry of its present fac- 
ulty an* graduates of tlu* institution. Whatever it has been able to 
accomplish has Imm^u due to the excellence of its own work, as it has 
risen from its liumble ])eginnings without any endowment or other 
sources of r(»v<Miue than the tuition fees of its own students. Its 
course still extends through two sessions of six months each, running 
from the 1st of ()cto])er to 1st of March, as originally established, 
but tlic h^ngthening of the coui-sc has been favorably discussed, and 
while no definite action has yet been taken, it is probable that the 
period of graduation will soon be made three or four years instead of 
two. The system of instruction has recentl}^ been put more distinct- 
ively upon a university basis, in order to better adapt it to the needs 
of individual students, and the lengthening of the required coarse in 
clKimistry for tli(^ coming session is at present under advisement. 
The course, as now constituted, requires attendance upon two years' 
lecture courses in the departments of chemistry, pharmaoy, materia 
medica, and botany, together with tw^o years' practical work in the 
pharmaceutical laboratory and one jx^ar each in the laboratories of 
chemistry and microscopy. 

The present college corporation is composed of 72 members, of whom 
Oscar A. I>eckmann is president, and Gordon L. Curry and Albert J. 
^^^^oettlin, secretaries. 



THE SOUTHERN NORMAL SCHOOL. 295 

The college faculty, as now constituted, is as follows: E. Schef- 
fer, Ph. G., emeritus professor of materia raedica and botany; L. D. 
Kastenbine, A. M., M. D., prof essor of chemistry; C. Lewis Diehl, 
Ph. M., professor of theory and practice of pharmacy; Oscar C. Dilly, 
Ph. G., 13 rof essor of materia medica; Otto E. Mueller, Ph. G., pro- 
fessor of botany; H. H. Koehler, M. D., professor of microscopy. 
Junior professors: H. Otto Haeusgen, Ph. G., chemistry; Gordon L. 
Curry, Ph. G., pharmacy; William G. Zubrod, Ph. G., materia medica. 
Dean : Gordon L. Currv, Ph. G. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Catalogues and other sources of general information, with some reference to 
Williams's Ohio Falls Cities. 

THE SOUTHERN NORMAL SCHOOL, BOWLING GREEN. 

The usual title of this institution, as at present managed, is The 
Southern Normal School and Business College, as it is composed of 
what are really two separate schools under one management. Its 
normal department is worthy of being given a place among the pro- 
fessional institutions of the State. Its business department, being 
without the scope of this monograph, will only be noticed incidentally, 
the two schools being closely allied in management, and also, to some 
extent, in faculties. 

The Southern Normal Scliool is the only distinctively normal school 
in Kentucky that has had a continuous history for any length of time. 
It was organized as a training school for teachers at Glasgow, Ky., in 
the autumn of 1875 by Prof. A. W. Mell. Professor Mell was an 
enthusiastic teacher and was very much interested in normal work, 
having graduated at the National Normal at Lebanon, Ohio. His chief 
aim in establishing the Southern Normal was the education of teachers 
for higher professional service. As the school grew, the business 
department was later added as a further feature. 

Soon after its opening the institution was chartered by legislative 
action. This charter provided for courses in music and art, as well as 
the usual literary course, and allowed the granting of the customary 
college degrees. Professor Mell conducted the school successfully for 
a number of years in Glasgow, having, after a time, associated with 
himself Prof. J. T. Williams, as joint proprietor and coprincipal. 
Professor Williams had more especial charge of the business depart- 
ment, w^liich had grown to considerable proportions, although always 
subordinate to the normal idea. 

In 188-1: the school was moved by the proprietors to Bowling Green, 
which could furnish better accommodations than Glasgow, and was in 
some other respects a more desirable location. In its new situation 
the institution occupied the buildings formerly used by Bowling Green 
Female College, which had for many years been a flourishing female 



2!W; HISTORY OF nK;iH:i{ KDICATION IN KENTrCKY. 

schooK ImH Iiad Immmi lal<*ly siispriuhMl on atMMMiiit of financial diffi- 
<Milti«\s. TIk* Uiiilciiiijrs cost firi^inally over Ji52n,(KM) and were well 
arran^tMl and wj'll siiittMl for (Mliiratioiial i)nri)<)S<»s. In Janiiarj^ 1880, 
a iiiorr lilM'ral rliarlor for tin* srliool was nM'oived from the legislature, 
wlii<*li y:raMt(Ml to ilir lioldrrs of its lii^lier <h*gn»e8 the riglit to teach 
ill any coiMily in tin* Stall* witlioiit further li<»ens<\ This privilege 
was siihs<M|ii<'ntly wiilidrawn Ijv tlu* legislature, as it was from all 
siniihir schools in the State. 

Tlie institution was fairlv sueeessful at its new lo(*ation until 1800, 
wlien Professors Mell and Williams retinMJ from its management. Dur- 
ing the fifteen years whieli liad (^lapsed sin<*e its fouu<lation the school 
had liad (|uit!» an ahh* faeidty whieh, lM»si<l<\s Professor Mell, who had 
nion^ than a loeal re|)utation as a tea<'her, ineliid<Ml such men as T. F. 
M(d>eatli in natural seien(M>, <i. \{. Klinkanl in languages, and Florence 
Reese in <*loe.ution. During this [xM'iod its average annual matncu- 
lation was ahout '2M) students, and it turne<l (mt many well-equipped 
tea<*hers and business men, among wlunn are numlH^red all of its later 
proprietoi^ an<i managers. 

In ISOO II. A. Kvans and \V. J. Davis, who wei'e graduates of the 
school, sueecMMJed Professors Mell an<l Williams in its management, 
hut hefon* the end of the school V(»ar the\ w(M'e succeeded bv II. McI. 

• • • 

FhMcluM" and J. K. Alexand<M'. During the scholastic year 1801-03 
Professor Alexander had sole charge of the institution. During this 
time, in shifting its proj)rietorship from one to another, it had natu- 
rally lost much of its former [)restige. In September, 1802, H. H. 
C'lierry and T. ('. Cherry, tog(»th(M' with Professors Alexander and 
Kletclu^r, alumni of tin* school, b(»came its joint x^roprietors under the 
tith^ of ('herry brothers, and have sin(*(^ managed it very successfully. 
Professor Alexan<ler is still a j)rominent member of its faculty.' 

Tlie last six years in the history of the school have been a i)eriod of 
eonsiderabh^ (expansion, so tliat, wliih* its atttmdance had during the 
ten years prior to 1S:h; averaged about 4(M) annually, in 1896-97 it 
was about. Oon, and from September to May of 1807-08, 683 students 
were enrolled in the various departnuMits. 

Cherry 13roth(M-s, while maintaining the standing and reputation of 
the normal scrhool, have (Muphasized tlu^ business department for 
which they hav<' s(»cured a charter which ei^ects it into a separate 
instil u1 ion undcM- the sann* mana<j:ement. It lias been given the title 
of tin* i>owlin<:: Ghmmi business ('Ollcire. Besides the usual business 
courses in l)ookkeei)iug in all of its various practical forms, in short- 
hand, tc^legraphy, tyjx'writing, and penmanship, it has also an 
Knglish couise for those who wish to take some literary work in addi- 
tion to thcMi* commercial course; and all of its students are allowed to 
attend any of the classes of the normal school without extra expense. 
Th(^ business college has of late had about 80 graduates a year in all 
departments. Its scissions continue throughout the entire year and ith 



THE SOUTHERN NORMAL SCHOOL. 297 

work is so arranged that students can enter with profit at any time. 
The normal school has eacli year four terms of ten weeks each and a 
summer term of eight weeks. This last term is especiall}^ intended 
to furnish normal training to public school-teachers during their 
vacation. 

In 189()-97 considerable improvements in the buildings of the insti- 
tution were made, as well as additions to its educational apparatus. 
Its faculty was also materially enlarged, among the additions being 
Prof. J. ('. Willis, who has considerable reputation as a teacher, espe- 
cially in normal school work. He resigned the presidency of Southern 
Indiana Normal School, at Mitchell, Ind., to accept his present posi- 
tion. In January, 1898, superior accommodations were secured for 
the business college in the new Neale Building, centrally located in 
the business portion of the town, where it occupies the entire upper 
story of a large and handsome building, and has an excellent equip- 
ment. 

The Southern Normal School has been coeducational from its 
foundation. It has also, throughout its history, been entirely unen- 
dowed, and has depended solel3^ upon tuition fees for its support. Its 
objects and methods, in a general way, may, perhaps, best be seen 
from the following extracts, taken from a recent catalogue : 

The objects set forth in the founding of the Southern Normal were 
twofold, viz: (1) To furnish the elements of a liberal education, under 
the following conditions: (a) The advantages of the school are shared 
by whites only — both male and female — without distinction; (b) the 
time required is the least possible consistent with thorough work in 
all departments ; (c) classes and studies are so arranged that students 
who may not be able to complete a full course in any department may 
enter at any time, study what is most desirable, and get full credit 
for what they accomplish ; (d) students in the Southern Normal can 
leave off at any stage, recruit their health or finances, and return to 
complete the course at any future time. (2) To bring the expense 
within the reach of all classes who may desire an education, and sub- 
ject to the following conditions : (a) Tuition rates are kept sufl&ciently 
high to provide adequate facilities in all departments; (b) rates for 
board and other accommodations are kept at low figures of cost, as 
based upon the lowest wholesale cash rates for large quantities of 
goods. ♦ 

By the use of such methods the institution has undoubtedly been 
able to do an important educational work in bringing better educa- 
tional facilities within the reach of many not otherwise able to secure 
them. That there is a demand for instruction of this character is 
shown by the comparatively large matriculation of the school. This 
has grown so of late that the institution, probably with good founda- 
tion, claims to be the largest normal school in the South. Its students 
come from many of the States of the South and West outside of Ken- 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL AT FRANKFORT. 299 

location of the institution from Owen sboro, Knottsville, ITopkinsville, 
Bowling Green, Danville, Lexington, and Frankfort, considered the 
offer of Frankfort the most advantageous, and accordingly located 
the school there. The State supplemented the donation of Frankfort 
b}^ an appropriation of 18,700, and a substantial and commodious 
main building was soon erected on the land granted, which contained 
about 25 acres and was situated about a mile from the town limits. 

John H. Jackson, A. M., a graduate of Berea College and a teacher 
of several years' experience, liaving been elected principal, the school 
was first opened on October 11, 1887. It was made coeducational 
from the beginning. Only a normal department was maintained for 
the first three years, during which time Principal Jackson had only 
one assistant. Tuition was free in the department to residents of the 
State who pledged themselves to teach twice as long in the public 
schools of the State as the period of their attendance. Fifty- five stu- 
dents, from 21 counties of the State, wei-e present the first year, 
while in 1888-89 there were 87 from 32 counties, and in 1889-90, 74 
from 26 counties. 

The institution received its proportionate part ^ of the Congressional 
act of July 30, 1890, commonly known as the Morrill Act, and a con- 
siderable enlargement in its faculty and in the scope of its work was 
soon brought about. Its faculty was soon increased to five teachers, 
and by a legislative act, approved May 22, 1893, agricultural, mechan- 
ical, and domestic departments were regularl}'^ organized. At the same 
time the direction of the school was transferred to three trustees, 
selected from the county in which it is located, instead of the superior 
court districts, as before, thus securing more direct and therefore 
more intelligent supervision. Students in the new departments were 
also about this time relieved of the pledge to teach in the public 
schools of the State, to which only normal students were to be required 
to subscribe. The latter were also, upon graduation, to be granted 
State certificates, which entitled them to teach in any county of the 
State without further examination. The course of study wgs further 
systematized in such a wa>j as to require a uniform period of three 
years for graduation in all the departments. 

The equipment of the school was soon afterwards improved by the 
erection of a dormitory for girls, at a cost of $3,000, $2,000 of which 
came from a legislative appropriation and $1,000 from the trustees of 
the Slater fund. A mechanical shop, a laundry, and two neat cottages 
had either already been added or were soon afterwards. These 
increased facilities soon led to a considerably larger attendance, there 
being 122 students in 1895-1896 and 152 in 1896-97. Up to the end of 
1896 the average attendance in the normal department had been about 



' This is 14.5 per cent, and amounted to $3,175 in 1893, since which time, accord- 
ing to the provisions of the bill, it has increased $145 a year, which it will do 
until 1900. 



30() HISTOKY OF IIIGIIKU KhrCVTIOX IN KENTUCKY, 

hN), in tho iiirrhaiiicai dispart inriit alN>ut 1l\ and in the agricultnrHl 
(lt*|iartiiirnt, inrliidin;; thoso to whom UM*tiiiv8 wero jjiven, about 40. 
Now diMiiands liavo hmm^iiI ly IimI to a further enlar|j:cnient of the equip- 
ment an<l means of instrii<*tion. In I8IH1 a profoRSor's cottage was 
en*rt«Ml, and in ls!»7, Tiaeros of additional land wore purchased for the 
a;ri'i<'nltiiral d<'])artm('nt. Also, in the autumn of the latter ^'^ear an 
addition was made to tlie main building, at a cost of 48,000, the appro- 
])riatioii forwliicli liad Imm'ii |)rovidcd for by a legislative act of March 
r», Isjm;. Ill ls*»s tlie s<'liool n»c(Mv<Ml its shaiv of the land-grant fund 
of I scrj tor agrieult iiral rollegcs. This gives to it a permanent endow- 
ment fund of *•-*:}, 1»J'». Its pro|MM*ty in 1S!I7 was estimated to he worth 
about *11>,(MM>. 

The institution oilers a n»gular threi* years' normal course, also a 
eoui-se of tlie same l<»ngtli in agri<»ultuiv, in the nuK^hanic arts, and in 
doin(>st i<* eeonomv . It has also reeently ad<led a depai*timent of music, 
and maintains besides a pn^paratory <*oui'Sc» of two years. For the 
convenienee of tea<*h(M's who ean only attend for two out of the three 
terms of tlie s<'hool year, it maintains a special teachers' course of four 
3^ears, ail of tin* last of whi<*li must 1m' siH»nt in the institution. Its 
means of instruetion are ample, as it has very good workshops and a 
good eomplemeiit of educational apparatus generally. It has also laid 
the foundations of a good working library. 

The school has had, uj) to isj»s, inclusive, altogether G6 graduates, 
mostly, if not (»ntin»Iy, <*onfined to tlie normal department, which is 
(h>ing an ex<*elhMit work in furnishing the colored public schools of 
the State with w(»ll-e(iuippcd teachei-s. The industrial departments of 
the scliool iivi'. also an imiK)rtant feature, as they are nowin a position 
to l)(M*(mu» a strong factor in d(»veloping the colored population of the 
State industrially by furnishing to them the opportunity for acquir- 
ing the rudiments of useful trades. The institution is doing much to 
raise the prof(^ssi()nal standard of the colored teachers of Kentucky as 
well as stimulating the colonMl youth of the State to greater indus- 
trial useful n(»ss. Much of its succ(»ss is due to the well-directed efforts 
of Principal Jackson, who enjoys a national reputation as a teacher 
among his ])eopl(\ The following is t he present faculty, with the chair 
of each member: .Jolin II. Jackson, A. M., president, and professor of 
didactics, mathematics, and civi(*s; \V. D. Thomas, prof essor of nat- 
ural sciences and of agricultur(^; Moses A. Davis, professor of mechan- 
ics and of manual training; Mary E. Jackson, professor in the normal 
d(»partm(»nt; T. Augustus Reid, pi-ofessor in the pi*eparatory dejMtrt- 
ment; Bettie M. Bailey, matron, and professor of domestic economy. 
The chair of vocal and instrumental music is at i)resent unoccupied. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Reports of the State superintendent of public instruction, together with the 
usual sources of general information. 



LOUISVILLE NATIONAL MEDICAL COLLEGE. 301 

LOUISVILLE NATIONAL MEDICAL COLLEGE, LOUISVILLE. 

As colored men were excluded from all of the other medical col- 
leges of Kentucky, and, indeed, from those of most States of the 
Union, this institution was founded to furnish them the proper facili- 
ties for acquiring a medical education, but its advantages have not 
been offered to men only, as it has been coeducational from its estab- 
lishment. One of the chief promoters of the enterprise was Dr. H. 
Fitzbutler, who was probably the first colored man in Kentucky to 
enter upon the regular practice of medicine. He has been dean of 
the institution since its organization. He had, as early as 1874, 
begun giving instruction to students in the rudiments of medicine. 
Dr. Rufus Conrad, also of Louisville, and Dr. W. A. Burney, of New 
Albany, Ind., had several years later become similarly engaged to 
some extent. 

These preceptors, in 1886, applied to the State legislature for an act 
authorizing them to establish a regular medical college for their race 
in Louisville. The bill looking toward this end was introduced late 
in that legislative session and so was passed over in the rush of other 
business at the end, but it was taken up at the next session and 
approved on April 24, 1888.^ This act incorporated the proposed 
institution under the name of the National Medical College of Louis- 
ville, made the 3 teachers above mentioned its first board of trustees, 
or regents, and conferred upon it the power of granting diplomas 'Mn 
medicine or surgery, or in both medicine and surgery." This charter 
also required the students of the school to have studied medicine for 
three full years and to have taken two full courses of lectures prior 
to graduation. The practice of the institution from the beginning 
seems to have required three full courses of lectures for graduation. 

Its incorporators constituted the principal part of the first faculty 
of the school, which was regularly opened in the fall of 1888 in a hall 
on the corner of Ninth and Magazine streets. Instruction had been 
carried on by the faculty for the past two years in anticipation of the 
granting of the charter, and so 6 students, all of whom had attended 
other medical colleges as well and had studied under preceptors for 
at least four years, were graduated at the first commencement in the 
spring of 1889, when, for the first time in Kentucky, the degree of 
M. D. was conferred on a colored man. 

In the summer of 1889 the faculty was enlarged, chiefly by the 
addition of graduates of the school, for which a new and much more 
suitable building was purchased by the trustees. This building is 
situated on Green near First street, and had for the previous eleven 
years been used by the Louisville College of Pharmacy. It was occu- 
pied by the National Medical College in the autumn of this year and 
has since remained its home. Soon after the change of location the 



Chapter 1234, acts of 1888. 



302 III^TOKY t)F IIUfllKK KDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

family completed nrranpMuoiits for a free dispensary in oonnection 
witli thr iiistitutioii, wlion* all disease's might be t.*eated and medi- 
<'iiirs fiirnislKMi frrr of chai'^s tlnis furnishing clinical advantages to 
its siud<*iiis. N(>\v students ontorcd the second session, but, as none 
of thrsr lia<l by its rlosr vnnw up to the riKjuired standard, onlj' 2 
honorary dcj^riTs won* <*oiitVriHKl in IHIM) upon 2 aged practitioners. 
In ls<(i thcrr wt^n* 4 ro^ular gra<luates, one of whom was the first 
woman in KiMilucky to if •<•«'{>«» tlM» degree of M. D. In 1891-92, 22 
students from 7 Statt's, mainly in the South, were in attendance, and 
at tin* rnd of tin* y<»ar i\ <le«irn»es were conferred. 

In A[)riK lsi»t, tin* institution was officially ivcognized by the Ken- 
tucky Stat<* hoard of health as one of the i*egular medical colleges of 
th<» Stale. In September of this year a preliminary course of about a 
montirs durati<»n, ])rior to the o^K'ning of the regular session, was 
established and has sin(*e In^en maintained. The regular session 
extends from ()(*1oIkm* to April. 

He^innin^ with IS! Mi, the e(dleg(* ivquiivd of all its students attend- 
anei* upon four yiNirs of Noctures as a prei*equis:te to graduation. 
It also, in this year, in onler to furnish pi*oi>er hospital privileges to 
its stuth'nts, o|KMied an auxiliary hospital at 1027-1029 West Green 
street. This hospital has 12 lar^e n>omH, with a capacity for 40 
patients, and is open throughout the year. 

The numlH'p of students in attendance upon the institution has 
j^radually inereasiMl in re(*ent yeaix until in 1897-98 there were 42, 
who n»i)res«Mited in Statics of the Tnion, and Jamaica. There have 
IxM'u from 1 to S graduates (»aeh year, the total number of degrees 
conferred up to ISDS, inelusiv(», numbering 54. The school has 
received some contributions, but has no regular endowment. It was 
])ut into operation by funds obtaiuf^l by subscription and has since 
Ix^en maintained practicallv entirely by tuition fees. 

The course^ olTered by the school embraces the departments of chem- 
ist ry and toxic()loii:y, materia medica and therapeutics, theory and prac- 
tice^ of nKMlicine, [)hysical (liaji:nosis, obstetrics, gynecology, pathology, 
bacteriology, principles and piactice of surgery, physiology, pharma- 
<*ol()gy, and anatomy and liistolo^y. The faculty as at present con- 
stituted is composed of: II. Fitzbutler, M. D., dean, professor of prin- 
cipl(\s of surjifery and materia medica, surgeon-in-chief to auxiliary 
hosi)ital; \V. A. Uurney, M. 1)., j )rofes8or of gynecology, gynecologist to 
auxiliary hospital : \V. (). V"anc(s A. M., M. D., professor of chemistry 
and diseases of ear, throat, and nose; E. 1). Whedbee, A. M., M. D., pro- 
fessor of obstetrics; WilliamT. Peyton, A. M., M. D., professor of theory 
and i)ractice of medicine; K. R. Gaddie, M. D., professor of physiology 
and diseases of the skin; James II. Fitzbutler, M. D., professor. of 
anatomy, liistology, and clinical surgery; Charles F. Maxwell, M. D., 
professor of i)athology and bacteriology; B. F. Porter, M. D., pro- 
fessor of neryous diseases and insanity; H. B. Hall, M, D., professor 



SOUTHWESTERN HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL COLLEGE. 303 

of ophthalmology; R. F. White, Phar. D., demonstrator of chemistry 
in laboratory and professor of inorganic chemistry; H. W. Conrad, 
M. D., professor of electro- therapeutics; J. A. Agnew, D. D. S., pro- 
fessor of dental surgery; James R. W. Smith, LL. D., professor of 
forensic medicine. There are also 2 instructors and 1 demonstrator. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Historical notes in various catalogues have been the sole source upon which 
this sketch has been based. 

SOUTHWESTERN HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL COLLEGE, LOUISVILLE. 

The Southwestern Homeopathic Medical College is the latest candi-: 
date for public favor among the medical colleges of Louisville, and is 
the only one of its kind in the section of the country in which it is 
located. It was organized for the promulgation of the principles of 
homeopathy, especially in the Southwest, whose students of medicine 
had hitherto been largely deprived of the opportunity of a regular 
study of this branch of the science, since, as a rule, they preferred 
for climatic reasons not to attend a Northern homeopathic college. 

The proposed school had been talked of for perhaps two years prioi 
to its actual organization in 1892. Its articles of incorporation were 
filed on August 30, 1892, under the general statutes of Kentucky, its 
incorporators being August Scheffel; A. L. Monroe, M. D.; C. P. 
Meredith, M. D. ; S. M. Norman; Adam Given, M. D. ; R. W. Pearce, 
M. D. ; J. H. Dunn; J. A. Lucy, M. D. ; Sarah J. Millsop, M. D; G. O. 
Erni, M. D. ; M. Dills, M. D. ; J. T. Bryan, M. D. ; A. G. Smith, M.D. ; 
S. B. Elliot, M. D. ; and Allison Clokey, M. D., who may also be said 
to be those who were mainly instrumental in its establishment. The 
affairs of the corporation are by this charter placed in the hands of 
9 stockholder trustees, elected, 3 each year for a term of three years, 
by the stockholders. The course was required to be a graded one of 
three years, and a first-class teacher's certificate, or ability to enter 
college, was made a preliminary requirement for matriculation. 
Women were also to be admitted upon the same terms as men. It was 
the first medical college for white students in the South to make such 
an arrangement. 

With funds obtained by subscription from the members of the cor- 
poration a suitable building on Sixth street was leased and properly 
fitted up for the opening of the college, which took place on October 
■1, 1894. 

The following were the members of the initial faculty, which, as 
will be seen, was largely composed of the incorporators of the insti- 
tution: C. P. Meredith, M. D., and J. A. Lucy, M. D., professors of 
materia medica; A. Leight Monroe, M. D., professor of gynecology 
and orificial surgery; Adam Given, M. D., professor of theor}' and 
practice, pathology, and physical diagnosis; H. G. Bayless, M. D., and 



304 IIISTOIJY OF IIKillEK EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Malcoiii Dills, M. ])., protVssors <»f o|M»rativi» and clinicHl siii'gery; 
<i. (). Kiiii, M. I)., jirolVssor of anatomy; J. T. Uryan, M. D., profes- 
sor f>f oUstrtrics; \V. I.. Ilai'tnian, M. I)., professor of ophthalmology 
and otolojjcy; .1. M. Ili^^ins, M. I)., professor of chemistry and toxi- 
colojxy: Allison ('lokoy, M. 1).. professor of i)hy8iology; Sarah J. Mill- 
sop, M. 1)., proft^ssorof liyj^iene an<l sanitary s<*ien(*o. Edward Herzer, 
M. 1)., was (Icnionslrator of anatomy; and Judge James H. Bowden, 
lecturer on medical jurispru«len<*e. Dr. Meredith was dean of the 
faculty, and Dr. Clokey n»gistrar or secretary. A dispensary was 
attacl»e<l to tin* institution, in charge of A. (t. Smith, M. D. 

The appointments of the college l)uilding were ample for its pur- 
poses, its l(»ctun» and <lisse<'ting rooms being of good size and well 
lighted an<l ventilat<Ml, while its other apparatus was sueh as was 
neede<l. The method of instruction used from the beginning was that 
in which lectures and n^'itations went hand in hand, accompanied by 
demonstration, all stud<»nts being required to iwrform all the opera- 
tions for themselves during tln^r coui-se. Seventeen students, repre- 
s(»nting 4 States, were in attendan<*e during the first session. Eight 
of thes(^ wen* women, an«l J of tlnMii, who liad pi'cviously taken medical 
courses (^1s(»w1umv, were granted diplomas in April, 1894. 

In June, lSi)4, tln^ colleg(» was n^cognized officially by the American 
Institute of Ilonu»()i)athy as coming under that body's jurisdiction, 
with whos(» d(Mnands in n»gard to mediciil education it« requirements 
liave sinc(» been mad<' to c( mi ply. The institution was also early given 
r(»(»ognition by State l)oard8 of health, esx)ecially those of Kentucky 
and Illinois, as a re])uta])l(^ nuMlical college. In 1895, after having 
experienced <M)nsiderable opjmsilion, it was gi*anted equal privileges 
with th(» other medical <»()ll<»ges of Louisville in the city hospital, one 
of th<' largest and lM\st e(iuipx)ed in the West, having 500 beds, for 
whi(^h it annually ai)i)oints 2 of its graduates as internes. In 1894 
the clinical advantages of the institution had been considerably 
onlarg(Ml by the addition of a liosi)ital, with accommodations for 12 
patients, (established und^M- the management of the Ladies' Homeo- 
pathic League, and in ISOf) its (»<[uipment was otherwise improved by 
th(^ purchase of a complete outiit for demonstration in microscopy and 
bacteriology. In tln^ latter year also, in compliance with the regula- 
tions of th(^ American Institute of Homeopathy, a four years' graded 
course was re([uired for graduation of students entering upon a new 
course of stud v. 

I n 1804-1)0 1 here were 47 students, who I'epresented 8 States, 16 of the 
students IxMug wonuMi. Two degrees were granted at the end of this 
session, but , as in the previous year, were conferred on graduates of 
other medical colleges. In 1 8 J)5-00, 45 students were in attendance, 
and at the close of the session the first regular class, consisting of 2 
men and 4 women, was graduat(Ml from the institution. The matricn- 
latioj] duj-ing the past twn) years has been scmicwhat reduced, owing 



SOUTHWESTERN HOMEOPATHIC MEDICAL COLLEGE. 305 

probably, as in the case of the other medical colleges, to the greater 
requirements demanded for graduation, but larger classes have been 
graduated during the period — 11 in 1897 and 13 in 1898. The college 
corporation is negotiating for the purchase of the building the insti- 
tution now occupies, and should the change in proprietorship take 
place, it is probable that the equipment of the college will soon be 
considerably enlarged. 

The departments of instruction in the institution are those of a 
modern medical education and will be sufficiently indicated by the 
chairs of the various professors as given below. The college has 
special laboratories for investigations in histology, microscopy, and 
bacteriology, as well as a regular chemical laboratory. The scholastic 
year is six months in length (extending from about the 1st of October 
to about the 1st of April). A number of changes have from time to 
time taken place in the faculty of the institution. In 1894, Drs. G. S. 
Coons and R. W. Pearce were also made professors, respectively, of 
surgery and gynecology, and obstetrics; and Dr. Herzer, professor 
of pedology and dermatology ; Dr. Hartman resigned, and Drs. G. D. 
Troutman and G. W. Redmon were made joint professors of opthal- 
mology, otology, and laryngology^ In 1895, Drs Lucy, Bayless, and 
Redmond severed their connection with the faculty. Dr. Higgins was 
transferred to the chair of mental and nervous diseases, and J. F. 
Elsom was made professor of medical chemistry, microscopy, his- 
tology, and bacteriology, while Dr. H. C. Kasselman became professor 
of pathology and physical diagnosis, and Dr. J. W. Clark of dental 
surgery. In 189G, Professor Elsom's chair was divided, chemistry 
being assigned to Dr. T. Cecil Hicks, while Dr. F. C. Askenstedt 
received microscopy and bacteriology; at the same time, Dr. Robert 
G. Reed became Dr. Troutman's successor. In 1897 the connection 
with the faculty of Drs. Given, Emi, Hicks, and Reed was dissolved, 
Dr. Meredith being transferred to the chair of theory and practice, 
Dr. William Pinkert becoming professor of descriptive and general 
anatomy, and Dr. M. H. Brown, who had previously been lecturer on 
embryology, being made also professor of chemistry. In the matter 
of administration Dr. Monroe, in 1894, was elected dean of the faculty, 
a position he has since capably and acceptably filled. 

The following list of the present faculty will show the changes 
which occurred in 1898 : A. Leight Monroe, M. D., professor of materia 
medica and clinical gynecology; H. S. Keller, M. D., adjunct professor 
of materia medica; C. P. Meredith, M. D., and C. A. Mayer, M. D., 
professors of theory and practice; H. C. Kasselman, M. D., professor 
of pathology and physical diagnosis; M. Dills, M. D., professor of 
operative surgery and genito-urinary diseases; Greorge S. Coon, M. D., 
professor of clinical surgery and didactic gynecology; John H. Bald- 
win, M. D., adjunct professor of sui^ery and demonstrator of minor 
surgery; William Pinkert, M. D., professor of descriptive and general 
2127— No. 26- — 20 



;{<U; IIISTOKY OK lIKillKK KDlCATlDN IN KENTUCKY. 

aiialoiiiv: .1. T. IJry.iii. M. I).. im»ft»ss<»r of t>l)stotrios; II. L. Lotl, 
M. I)., a<l.jiiii<*t prof«*sMir *►!' ohst4*tri<-s and l«M*tun»r on embryology; 
Kllis II. Milton, M. !>.. i»rof«»ssor tif rli«*niistry, toxicology, and uri- 
nalysis: Allison C'lokt'y, M. I)., pn»ft»ssor of physiology and visceral 
anatomy; V. ('. Aski»nst«Mlt, M. I)., pnifcssor of microscopy, histology, 
and hartt'i-iology; Kdwanl Ih^rzer, M. I)., professor of pedology; 
.1. M. Ili^jrins, M. !>., pn»r«»ssor of nu^ntal and nervous diseases; J. E. 
Mann, M. !>., professor of (»plithalmology, otology, laryngology, and 
rhinoltj^y: Sarah .1. Millsop. M. I)., pn»fessor of hygiene and sanitary 
srioncf; \{. W. I N»a rce, M. D., enieritns pmfess<ir of obstetrics; J. W. 
(lark, I). I>. S., jM'ofessor o( d<*ntal snrgery. The faculty contains 
in addition •> UmM niters and <ltMnonstrators. 

KIltLliNiKAPHV. 

Information furiiislie<l by Dr. Allison Clokey, rejristrar of the facility. The 
Louisvillt> rinu»s ol" Si-pteniU'r MK ISt*'^. and catalogues. 

LoriSVlLl.K IMiKSnVTKKlAN THKOLOiUCAL SEMINARY, LOUISVILLE. 



Tlu» Lonisvillo l*n»sl)yterian Theological SiMninary, although the 
most ro(MMitly fstahlislHMl institntion of higher education of its own 
oranvothrr rank in Kminckv, is not reallv new in idea, but dates 
back in spirit and concM^jMion to the earliest attempts of the Presby- 
terians of the State to establish a theological seminary in their midst 
which culininat(Ml, as wc have seen, in the foundation of the Danville 
Theological Seminary in IS/):J. The new seminary really stands in 
the same rehition to the seminary at Danville as Central University 
do<^s to Centre College, Louisville Theological Seminary and Central 
Univei'sity being rei)resentative institutions of the Southern P^resby- 
terian C1inr(*h, whili^ Danville Seminary and Centre represent the orig- 
inal organization, ordinarily called, in contradistinction, the North- 
ern Presbyterian Church. Both seminaries are, however, wider in 
their church reflations than the colleges, as the former in a certain 
sense represent the whole of their respective churches, while the lat- 
ter only represent the respe(*tive synods of Kentucky. As Louisville 
Seminary ineludes, as it were, in its jurisdiction any theological 
department which might be attached to Central University, it is not 
now probable that a department of that character provided for in the 
charter of that institution will ever be organized. 

As a result of the establishment of the Southern Presbyterian 
Church in 1861 and of the division of the Synod of Kentucky between 
the two churches in 1860, the Southern Church, although representing 
by far the larger part of the former constituency of the institution, 
lost control of Danville Seminary, which had been founded for the 
whole church in the South and West, but in the disruption had 



LOUISVILLE PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 307 

remained under the original assembly. Thus deprived of any general 
institution in its midst for the higher professional education of its 
ministry, the Southern Synod of Kentucky, after an unsuccessful 
attempt to obtain an interest in the control of Danville Seminary 
upon what was deemed by them a desirable basis, determined, in the 
spirit of the fathers of the church in Kentucky, to establish a semi- 
nary of their own as early as practicable. The contemplated plan 
was held in abeyance for some time on account of the demands upon 
the church's resources of more pressing needs, but was never lost 
sight of, and finally reached its fruition in the establishment of the 
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1893. 

About 1891, Rev. I. S. McElroy, D. D., as the financial agent of 
Central University and the Synod of Kentucky, began to take active 
steps to raise funds for the proposed institution. He succeeded in 
the next two years in obtaining in various parts of the State pledges 
for an endowment fund of $104,311 and for a building fund of $43,000.^ 
In securing the latter fund especially, which was given by the denomi- 
nation in Louisville on condition that the seminary be located there, 
he was very efficiently assisted by Rev. L. H. Blanton, D. D., chan- 
cellor of Central University. Among others who may be mentioned 
as especially instrumental in furthering the plan of the proposed 
school are Rev. E. M. Green, D. D. ; Rev. T. D. Witherspoon, D. D. ; 
Rev. C. R. Hemphill, D. D. ; Rev. J. S. Lyons, D. D. ; Col. Bennett 
H. Young; Col. T. W. Bullitt; A. J. Alexander, esq.; William T. 
Grant, esq. ; and George W. Swearingen, esq. 

The preliminary steps looking toward the immediate opening of 
the seminary were taken, in 1892, by the synods of Kentucky and 
Missouri, which agreed to join in the control of the institution. 
They invited the participation of the synods of the other Southern 
States, and appointed a provisional board of directors, with Rev. E. M. 
Green, of Kentucky, chairman, whose duty it was to draw up a charter 
slSl a legal basis for the school and frame a constitution for its organiza- 
tion and administration. The charter and constitution were adopted 
in the early part of 1893 by the associated synods of Kentucky and 
Missouri, by whom the first regular board of directors, composed of 
10 members from each synod, was chosen. This board was soon 
afterwards organized in Louisville, Ky., where it was decided by them 
to locate the seminary on account of the large building fund offered 
by the city, the strength of its Presbyterian churches, its accessibility, 
and its admirable advantages in other respects. The organization of 
the institution may be said to have been complete when the super- 
vision over it, provided for by its charter and constitution, was 
accepted by the General Assembly of the church, meeting at Macon, 
Ga., in the latter part of May, 1893. 



' Minutes of the Synod of Kentucky for 1893, p. 502. 



308 IIISTORV OK MhiHEK Ebl'CATlOX IX KENTUCKY. 

Thr rhartrr lM.»ai*s tli«» <latr of May iJ, 1S1I3, and constitutes the sem- 
inary a piM'potual (MH'porat ion un<hT tln» pMu^ral statutes of Kentucky, 
<l<*<*larin|Lr ils purpose 1(» 1m» — 

Tho (•(lucation und tniiiiiiiK of youii^ men 218 ministers of the gospel according 
to tho Confession of Faith. caUM'hisms, ami other standards of the Presbyterian 
rUurdi in the rnitoi States, commonly known as the Southern Presbjrterian 
('hur(-]i. and their support and maintenince while in attendance, as far as may 1:e 
di-emed advisable and pnu^ticable.' 

It puts the prnposod institution under the management, tempo- 
rarily, of a boanl of <linM*tors consisting of 10 members from each of 
tlu' synods of KiMitncky and Missouri, as ali*eady constituted, but 
provision is made that tliis hoani in tlu» future may consist of not less 
than 10 nor more tlian 50 nuMnlwrs, c1ios(mi by the synods joining in its 
(Mintrol, on(»-(iftli of whom shall b(» elected each year. All dii'ect con- 
trol of IIh» inslilntion, both as to its pro^jerty and other affaii'S, is 
v<^st<Ml in this board, but tlie (i(»neral Assembly of the church is given 
the pow«M* to veto th(» (»l(M*tion of any professor or his transfer from 
on(» chair to another. 

Aeeordinjj: to its eonstitntion, tlie funds l)elonging to the seminary 
an^ <lesignated as (1) the buihlinj; fund, (:2) the endowment fund, (3) 
\\w library fun<l, (4) th(» currcint expenses fund, (5) the scholarship 
fund, and (<») tlieleeture-eourse fund. Its courae of instruction is to 
be modeled upon th(» university plan in distinction fromafixed curric- 
ulum of study, and as orijjfinally outlined was divided into the 9 inde- 
pendent schools of Biblical introdueti(m. Old Testament exegesis, New 
TestanuMil. ex(»^esis, Englisli I>ible and Biblical theology, systematic 
tlii'ology, cliurcii history an<l polity, homileticsand pastoral theology, 
ai)olo^et ics, and elocution. Students are required to be graduates of 
(M)lloji:(»s or to pass a prescrib(»d (examination. Each professor upon 
entering oflico is reipiired to publicly subscribe to the standard of the 
(diurcli. There ari^ no (listinctions in the faculty, except that the 
senior i)r()fessor is its chairman. Dr. Marquess thus became the 
(•hairman of the first faculty of the institution, which was constituted 
as follows: Jiev. William IIog(» Marquess, D. D., professor of Old 
Testament (»xeg(»sis and of the English Bible and Biblical theology; 
Rev. C/harles K. Ilenipliill, I). I)., professor of New Testament exe- 
gesis; Rev. (i. I). WitluMspoon, 1). 1)., LL. D., professor of homi- 
letics, pastoral theol()<!:y, and of Biblical instruction; Rev. Francis R. 
Beattie, Ph. i>., I). I)., [)rofessor of systematic theology and apolo- 
getics; Rev. T. M. Ilawes, professor of elocution; Rev. Edwin Muller, 
adjunct professor of church history and church polity. 

I'he scMuiuary was first opened on October 2, 1893, a commodious 
house on Second street near Broadway being purchased for it, while 
another near by was rented and fitte<l upas a dormitory for students. 



^Section III of charter, given in the minutes of the Synod of Kentacky for 

1893, p. 478. 



LOUISVILLE PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 309 

'J' he Sunday-school and Bible-class rooms of the First and Second 
Presbyterian Churches were at first used for lecture rooms and for 
eliapel exercises. Three valuable libraries especially suited to its 
needs, the gifts of Rev. Dr. J. B. Adger, of Rev. Dr. Symington, and 
of the heii*s of Rev. Dr. Stuart Robinson, furnished it with 3,000 vol- 
umes as the foundation of a future collection. Twenty-five students 
were present at the opening, and before the end of the first session 
31 were in attendance, who represented 9 States of the Union and 3 
other countries. In 1895-96 the number had risen to GO, from 12 
States and 1 foreign country. This has continued to be about the 
average attendance since. In 1895 the institution had 5 graduates; 
in 1896, 15, and in 1897, 13. 

In 1895 Mrs. N. W. Muir, of Bardstown, Ky., donated to the insti- 
tution an outfit of gymnastic apparatus of the latest and most 
improved designs, while other friends fitted up for it a reading room 
and provided it with current literature. Recently there have been 
numerous valuable contributions to the library. In the summer of 
1896, through the liberality of one of its warm friends, it came into 
possession of a handsome property at the corner of First street and 
Broadway, which provides a chapel, lecture rooms, and additional 
rooms for students. Its endowment had also been added to until, by 
this time, it was about $200,000. 

No material changes have since been made in the regular course of 
instruction of the seminary as originally outlined, but a number of 
advanced optional courses have recently been added. All the nine 
schools of the regular course must be completed for the student to 
obtain the degree of bachelor of divinity. This usually requires 
three years, the sessions extending from the 1st of October to the 1st 
of May following. The regular faculty also remains as at first, the 
instructor in music attached to it being the only member of the teach- 
ing force who has been changed. There have been only two changes 
in the personnel of the board of directors, which still consists of 10 
members from each of the synods of Kentucky and Missouri. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Minutes of the sessions of the Synod of Kentucky, at Louisville, March, 1893, 
and at Winchester, October, 1893; Louisville, 1893. Other sources of general 
information, principally catalogues. 



Chapter VIII. 

EXTINCT COLLEGES OF SOME IMPORTANCE. 



HKTIIKL ACADKMY, .IKSSAMINK (HH-XTY. 

As alriNuly inMictMl in trtNitin^ <»f tlioliistory of Kentucky Wealeyan 
Collop* and Tnion C\)IU»j^o, thosi» institutions, as well as Vanderbilt 
rniv<»rsity, in a srnso, are tlie pn^sent representatives of the early 
e<lu(*ational etTorts of tlie Meth(Miist Kpiseopal Church in Kentucky, 
wliirli liav<' tinally found expression in them after the trial of several 
otlKM' (MJucational experiments. The principal institutions, besides 
thos<» i)reviously d<»seril)ed in other connections, established in Ken- 
tucky, eitlier by tlie chur(*h as a wliolc or by its branches, have been 
Bet hoi Academy, Au«rusta Colh^^e, and Warren College, a general 
view of each of whi<'h will be j^iven heit?, lH)th l>eeause of its own 
imiM)rt.anc(» an<i that the movement just referred to may be given in 
all of its general outlim^s, Warren C'Ollege being treated out of its 
chnuiolojjfical order that this may l)e dime. 

The l)c«>:innin^ of this movement and the second^ educational Insti- 
lion establisluKl by the Methodist Kpiscopal Church in America was 
i>ctlH»l Aca<h»my. It has been claimed* that the Methodists were the 
lirst Christian denomination in Kentucky to undertake a movement 
'oward the cstal)lishnu»nt of an institution of learning. This claim is 
.)nly true if it has reference* to the undertaking of such an enterprise 
hx a distinct iv(Oy denominational capacity, as the date given for the 
Jnau<i:uration of the movement to establish Bethel Academy, 1790, is 
/)rior to that of any other educational enterprise which may be called 
dfMiominational in the State, although it is antedated ten years by the 
movement to establish Transylvania Seminary, which was, as we have 
seen, under Presbytc^rian auspices. 

Collins =^ tells us that when Bishop Asbury first visited Kentucky, in 
May, 17!H), and held the first annual conference, "a plan was fixed for 
a school called l>ethel and £'M)() in land and money subscribed toward 
its (establishment." The academy was located in Jessamine County, 

'The first was Cokesbury College, at Abingdon, Md., planned as early as 1784, 
but not opened until December, 1787. It was chartered on December S6, 17W, 
about the time of Bethels first incorporation. (See Steiner's Higher Edncatioii in 
Maryland, pp. 229-239.) 

•Redford's Methodism, Vol. I, p. 84. 

•History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 446. 
310 



EXTINCT COLLEGES. 311 

on a high bluff of the Kentucky River/ on a tract of about 100 acres 
of land donated to it by Mr. I. Lewis. Here, in a fine native grove^ a 
brick building, quite spacious for the time, being 80 feet by 40 feet 
and three stories high, was erected, and although never completely 
finished was used for school purposes for several years. 

The institution was under the control of the Western Methodist 
Conference, whose ministers are said to have been kept poorer than 
usual for several years by having to beg for its support as well as their 
own. The conference often met in the academy building, many of its 
members f i-om the distant settlements, such as those on the Holston 
River, in Tennessee,^ having to travel to its sessions for several days 
on horseback along the Indian trails, subsisting on the way upon 
biscuit, broiled bacon, dried beef, and tree sugar. 

We know comparatively little of Bethel Academy for the period of 
about twelve years, during which it seems to have been in active oper- 
ation. Rev. Francis Poythress was mainly instrumental in having 
its building erected, and he, with Col. Thomas Hinde, Willis Green, 
I. Lewis, Richard Mastersen, and Isaac Hite, were its incorporators. 
It was first incorporated in the latter part of 1794,^ and was reincor- 
porated by an act of February 10, 1798.* By this act, although still 
remaining under denominational control, it became a part of the gen- 
eral academy system, and received from the State a donation of 6,000 
acres of land. This put it upon exactly the same basis as Kentucky 
Academy, the Presbyterian school, was at the time. The records of 
the conference^ show that the building had been erected in April, 
1792, and that the school was probably in operation at that time. It 
was certainly in operation in 1794, when it had as its principal John 
Metcalf, who remained at the head of its English department for sev- 
eral years, probably until 1803. 

The academy's course of study was intended especially to train 
ministers for the church, and was afterwards of a high classical order; 
but for the first few years of its history it only imparted the ele- 
ments of a good English education, and its English department was 
always one of its prominent features. 

In 1799 Rev. Valentine Cook, one of the famous pioneer Methodist 
ministers of the State, described by Collins^ as ** scholarly, profound, 



^ Near the present High Bridge on the Southern Railway. 

'' The conference of which Kentucky was then a part embraced practically all 
the country west of the Alleghenies. 

*In giving this date as that of the first incorporation of the academy several 
authorities have been followed, but since the act can not be found in several collec- 
tions which have been carefully examined and are otherwise quite complete, it 
appears quite probable that no regular legislative incorporation occurred at this 
time. 

* For references to^his act, see Chapter II. 

* Given in Alexander's Earliest Western Schools of Methodism, pp. 363-364. 
•History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 451. A sketch of Mr. Cook is also given in 

Sprague's Annals, Vol. VII, p. 153. 



312 insTuK'V «»r III«iMKK KIHTATIOX IX KENTUCKY. 

itiastcrly in :iii ar;:iiiiitMit, :iii(l ovcrwlit'liiiiii;; in the eiiforoement of 
tlh" ;ri*«'«*n triMlis nf ( 'liristianiiy," Imm'uiih* <Mmneete<l with the acad- 
(Miiy as tlic lH'a«l of its liiirh<'r or (•l2issi<*al dfimrtiiient, then fir8t or^an- 
i/(Ml. Mr. Cook was ili(> most ilistiii^iii8he<l ^nuliiate of Cokesbury 
('i»ll«'jx«', Maryland, and was notrd as a toachor as well as preacher. 
Il<', Iiowi»\rr, oidy r«Miiain<M| at I>«Mhol for one year. In 1803 a new 
<*liart4*r was simmipmI tor tin* institution, <Miiiferring upon it the full 
|M»w«'rs and privilr^rs of a literary institution, which its other acts of 
in(*or|H>ration had, it apfMNirs, not hcstowrd upon it. 

W«* an* not inforincd of th<» t»xa<*t numlHM' of students in attend- 
anr<' upon ilw a<*ad<Mny, Init aiv told that there went a considerable 
nuinlM'r, <»sp<MMally <hirinjtr thr in-esidency of li*»v. Valentine Cook. 
'I'll*' (M»idVn»iuM» n';riilationsov<*r tin* stud<'nt6, espiH.»ially, we presume, 
ow'v thos<' pn»i)arin^ for tlio ministry, were very strict and would he 
r<)nsid<*nMl qiiit<* an anomaly nowadays. They were compelled to rise 
at T) (M«lo<*k in iIk' morning and n'tire at U oVIock at night, while no 
jjamrs of any kind wrro allow<*d, and idleness was punished by con- 
liiM'nuMit in a room <*onstrn<'t<Ml esjM'cially for that purpose. 

Tlio institution s<M'ms to havr Immmi fairly prosx>erous for a time, 
l)ut lli<» pov<'rty of tilt' chiirrh, (*()mbined with the unsettled state of 
tlie countrv, du<' to Indian hostilities and its own rather inaccessible 
position, <*aus(Ml its altrndancr to decline and resulted in its practical 
abandonment by the conforon^M* about 1S04. Its building was after- 
wanls used for a tinn* for a nei^iiborh(K)d school, but was finally dis- 
mantled, a portion of it lM*in^ used to construct an academy building 
in Nicholasville. 

1U»1J(K*RAPHY. 

Collins'H and Smith's History: acts of the lep^islature: Spragnd's Annals; Bed- 
ford's M("tliodisin in Kentucky. 

A few facts have b(?en taken from Karliest Western Schools of Methodism, by 
(iross Alexander. S. T. I).. Nashville. 18J)7. 

Ar(;rsTA collecje, au(justa. 

Although tlu* M<»thodists of the West had been compelled by the 
f()re(^ of eireunislanees 1o abandon Bethel Academy as a denomina- 
tional institulion, y<'t Ihe idea of a Methodist college for that section 
had nol he(Mi given uj) by ili(^ ehurcli and soon took definite shape in 
the foundation of Augusta Oollege. 

AVhen the K(»ntueky eonferenee held its fii"st session at Lexington, 
in Septenil)er, JSl>1, ont^ of the* most lu'omincnt questions before it was 
the establishment of an institution of learning for the church. The 
Ohio conference^ had a f(^w days before appointed a commission to 
prei)ai"(» the foundation of a college under the joint control of the two 
bodies. This plan was ap])roved by Kentucky conference, and com- 
missioners^ wen^ appoint(^(l by it to act in conjunction with those 
already a])poiiite(l by Ohio conference in inaugurating the enterprise. 

' For the names of the \ cotuniissioners from the two conferences, see Alezan- 
rio- , ^T--.,.^^^,, Snhools of Methodism, p. m:. 



EXTINCT COLLEGES. 313 

These commissioners, by agreement, met on the loth of the following 
December, at Augusta, Ky., iu a conference with the trustees of 
J^racken Academy, an institution established in that town and given 
an endowment of 6,000 acres of land by the State legislature in 1798. 
An arrangement was then made, whereby the proposed new college was 
to have the use of the funds arising from the sale of the academy 
lands, amounting to about 1510,000, and was to be assisted by the lat- 
ter's trustees in securing suitable ground and buildings. Consider- 
able donations for this last purpose were also obtained from other 
local friends of the enterprise, especially Mr. James Armstrong. By 
reason of these inducements the commissioners located the college at 
Augusta, which was also otherwise desirable on account of its being 
somewhat centrally located with reference to the two conferences. 

The aims of the church were now more ambitious than in the case 
of the inauguration of Bethel Academy, and so a .regular college 
charter was obtained for the new enterprise from the Kentucky legis- 
lature on December 7, 1822,^ which declared that '' said seminary of 
learning shall be conducted on free, liberal, and enlightened princi- 
ples," and placed it under the control of a self -perpetuating board of 
twenty -three trustees, twenty of whom were from Ohio and Kentucky 
conferences, while the other three were the trustees of Bracken Acad- 
emy. The funds of Bracken Academy were also transferred by the 
instrument to the new institution, whose trustees were empowered to 
admit students free of tuition and whose property was exempted from 
taxation. Thus was chartered the third ^ Methodist college, at least 
under the name of college, in America, and one which was for a time 
the only real Methodist college in operation ^ in the world. 

While Augusta bore the name of college from the beginning, it was 
really an academy^ for the first three years of its existence. By the 
appointment of Conference in 1822 John P. Finley became the first 
president of the institution, and in the latter part of that year he 
opened its preparatory department, although its building was not 
entirely completed until October, 1823. This building was an excel- 
lent one for the time, and was a brick structure 80 feet by 42 feet and 
three stories in height. In 1825 Rev. J. S. Tomlinson, who had just 
graduated from Transylvania University and was lat^r to become a 
doctor of divinity in his church and to remain connected with the 
institution for the most part during the remainder of its history, 
became a member of the college faculty, as professor of mathematics 



'Acts of 1822-23, pp. 163-171. 

Ut wa^i9|^y antedated by Cokesbury (1787) and Asbnry (1816) colleges, in 
Maryland. 

3 Cokesbury College went out of existence in 1796, and Asbury College, while it 
may have had a formal existence until about 1830, did not amount to anything 
after 1818, and Wesleyan University, Connecticut, did not originate until 1831. 
Madison College, Union town, Pa., had a desultory existence from 1827 to 1832. 

* Barnard's American Journal of Education, vol. 27, p. 335. 



314 HISTORY OF HIGIIKR EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

and iiat ural pliilosoph y. aii<l shortly afterwanls John P. Durbin, A. M., 
lMM*aino prolVssor of I^atiii and (iivok. 

In 1Sl>7^ Ii<»v. Martin Kut<*r, 1). D., became president of the college, 
a position which he n^taincMl until 1S32. College classes seem to have 
lxM»n or<^anizo<l at th<» tinio of the accession of Phrofessor Tomlinson to 
th<» fanilty, as tho lii'st chiss was gra<luat4>d in 1829. This class con- 
tained 4 ineiiih(M*s. In 1S31 Professor Durbin, who had resigned, was 
su(*(MH»d<Ml l)y li<*v. 1^. 11. McC'Own, A. M., a graduate of St. Joseph's 
(\)lloge, Kentucky, who was a noted professor at Augusta for eleven 
yeai*s and aft<?rwanls at Transylvania University for several years. 

V\Hni the n»signatioii of IVesidont Rutor, in 1832, Rev. Joseph S. 
Tomlinson,*-* 1). I)., aln»ady mcnticmed as an early professor in the 
college, lM»eam(» his successor in tlie presidency, an office which was 
h(»l<l by Iiim thi'oughout. the future history of the college,^ except for 
short intervals when lie was relieved of its duties on account of bad 
health. At the oiMMiiiig of his administration. Rev. H. B. Bascom, 
aft(M'wards so promim^ntly (*onnect<^d with Transylvania University, 
became a member of t h<» Augusta faculty, as professor of moral science 
and lj<»lles-letti'<*s, tlius <»onstituting a strong faculty, which, in 1833,^ 
was composed as follows: Rev. J. S. Tomlinson, A. M., president and 
pr()f(^ssor of matlu^nrntics and natural philosophy; Rev. H. B. Bascom, 
A. M., pr()f(»ssor of moral science and l)elles-lettres; Rev. B. H. Mc- 
Cown, A. M., professor of languages; Fred. A. W. Davis, M. D., pro- 
fessor of chemistry and lK)tany; Solomon Howard, assistant in 
academic* department; John Vincent, teacher of primary school. 

Pn»sid(»nt Tomlinson wa>i a veraatile teacher and was often known 
to discharge the duties of many different departments, .while Pro- 
fessor Hascom was noted for both energy and ability. The latter at 
once became prominent in the affairs of the institution, although he 
would never accept its presiden(\v, which, we are informed,** was sev- 
eral times offered to him. As the agent of the two patronizing con- 
ferences, about 1837, he raised $10,000 in each of them toward the 
endowment of the college. These, together with other funds of the 
institution, seem, however, to have been soon afterwards lost by the 
mismanagement of its authorities. It was also soon hampered in its 
usefulness by differences which sprang up between the two confer- 
ences, especially in regard to slavery. These led, before! long, to the 
practical withdrawal of the Ohio Conference from patronizing Augusta, 
because of its being in a slave State, and later to the establishment 



1 This date is given as 1828 in the sketch of Dr. Ruter in Sprague's Annals, Vol. 
VII, pp. 327, 329, but the date in the text seems best authenticated. 

'^Dr. Tomlinson 's connection with Augusta has been taken mainly from 
Sprague's Annals, Vol. VII, pp. 706-707. 

^According to the American Almanac, Nathan Bangs, D. D., was presidait of 
Augusta in 1835. 

* From the American Almanac for 1834. 

^ By his biographer, Rev. M. M. Henkle, in his Life of Basocxm. 



EXTINCT COLLEGES. 315 

by that body first of academies in its own midst and then of a college 
of its own in the Ohio Wesleyan Universit}^, which necessarily became 
a rival institution. 

This state of affairs led Dr. Bascom and other friends of Augusta 
to lose hope in its success, and when the proposition came from the 
trustees of Transylvania University fco turn over its academic depart- 
ment with all its funds and equipments to the church, they thought 
it mse and right to accept this offer, which they considered to have 
in it much greater prospects of advantage to the church than were 
likely to be realized from Augusta. Many friends of the latter, how- 
ever, did not hold this view and resisted the proposed change. After 
this was carried out the college, although practically abandoned by 
the church as a whole, and still further weakened as was the univer- 
sity also by the divisions soon to begin in that body, was able to main- 
tain itself in a decaying condition for several years, indeed as long as 
the new Transylvania University experiment, as its charter was 
repealed in 1849, the year in which Dr. Bascom gave up Transylvania 
as an unprofitable undertaking. 

The repeal of the charter of the college was probably due to the 
conviction of the local community that its property would be of greater 
educational utility in the hands of the trustees of old Bracken Acad- 
emy, to whom it reverted upon the withdrawal of its charter, than it 
was on its denominational basis. These trustees leased the property 
for a number of years to various teachers who conducted it as a high 
school or academy. Under this plan it was leased from 1879 to 1887 
to Rev. Daniel Stevenson, D. D., who operated it as a collegiate insti- 
tute for the Methodist Episcopal Church, thus in a sense returning 
it to its original denominational connection, but without the same 
conditions as to property rights. When Dr. Stevenson gave it up to 
establish Union College for his church it was made a part of the public 
school system of the town of Augusta. Quite recently ^ its building, 
which had been burned on January 29, 1852,^ and been replaced by a 
plainer one, was demolished to make way for a modern public school 
building. 

During the quarter of a century that the college was in operation 
in its best estate it maintained a high-grade classical curriculum and 
had in its faculty several able and prominent professors, particularly 
Dr. Bascom and Professor McCown; it had for the time an excellent 
building and a good equipment, having a library which at one period 
contained 2,500 volumes. The institution was never properly 
endowed and had to depend largely for its support on tuition fees, 
but, notwithstanding discouragements and embarrassments, was able 
for a time to make good progress and to fill an excellent educational 
sphere. In its most prosperous days it had from 100 to 150 students 



* Alexander's Earliest Western Schools of Methodism, p. 371. 
^Collins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 64. 



31 <! niSTnljY OK HMIIKK KDl'CATION IN KENTrCKY, 

aiiiiually, and s<'nl forlli a iiuiiilN'r of graduates who afterwards 
iN'caiiK' ()istin^iiish(*d. Among these may lie mentioned Hon. William 
S. (JnM*sh(M'k, lion. W. 11. Wadsworth, lion. E. C. Phisten, Rev. 
(Teorjr<» S. Savage, .M. I)., l^ishop liandolph S. Foster, and Rev. John 
.Mil<\v, I). 1)., wlio witli manyoth<M's hav<M)cciipied high positions in 
elnir<*li and statr. Dr. I{edf(»rd ^ speaks of the services of the institu- 
tion as follows: 

Uiulfi* all tlio eiul)arrasKmentH to which snch enterprises are exposed, the vast 
aiuoiiiit of ^ihmI that reRaltcd to the chnrch and the country from Aagnsta College 
can never Im* estiniiitiMl. < >ver itH fortunen Home of the noblest intellects have pre- 
sidtHl: its faculty was always conijiosed of men of piety, of genius, and of learn- 
ing; and in all tho learneil prof ensions in almost every Western and Southern State 
its alumni may yet [ISTOJ be found. It gave to the medical profession, to the 
bar. and to the pulpit many of their brightest lights. 

BIBLIOC»RAPHY. 

CoUins's and Smith's History. 

Acts of the leprislature. 

The Gosi)el Herald for Novemlwr 30, !«:}(). 

A communication from the Kentucky Conference Commissioners in reply to a 
memorial from the trustees of Augusta College. 

Redford's Methodism in Kentucky. 

Sprague's Annals. 

Barnard's American Journal. 

The American Almanac. 

A small amount of additional information has also been obtained from Alexan- 
der's Earliest Western Schools of Methodism. 

WAKREN ( ()LLE(JE, BOWLING QREEN. 



This institution representcMl, until com paratively recent years, the 
efforts of Louisville Conference of tlie Methodist Episcopal Church 
South in K(»ntucky to establish in its midst an institution of higher 
education after it and Kentucky Conference'^ had withdrawn, in 1850, 
from th(^ joiut control of Transylvania University, 

Louisville* C()nferen(*e was litth* behind her sister conference in 
att(»niptin^ to supply Ikm* educational needs, as, while the latter began 
in 1 858 to lay t Ik* foundations of Kentucky Wesleyan College at Millers- 
bur^, the foruKM', at. its session at I>ardstown in 1859, appointed 10 
(*ommissionors to lake* steps to establisli a similar institution at Bowling 
(Treen. 

Tliese (fonnnissioiKfi's, aeting under the authority given to them by 
the eoTiferene(% soon secured the transfer of the charter of the South- 
ern College^ of Kentucky, an institution chartered at Bowling Green 
in 1810 and having a desultory existence there for several years but 



'Methodism in Kentucky, vol. 3, i)p. 100-101. 

' These two conferences are separated by a line running in general north and 
south just east of Louisville, Kentucky Conference being east of this line, and 

Louisville Conference west. 



EXTINCT COLLEGES. 317 

long since suspended. If; still, however, possessed property and funds 
amounting to about $17,000, and the terms of its charter were full and 
liberal. The income from its funds was secured for the conference, 
and under the provisions of its charter the commissioners proceeded 
to organize a new institution, for which, by the autumn of 1860, they 
had laid the foundations of a fine new building to cost about 130,000. 
The advent of the civil war, however, soon after caused them to have 
to abandon for several years the erection of this building, and indeed 
the whole enterprise, which was never revived on the same basis. 

A new charter was obtained from the legislature in 1806 under the 
name of Warren College, and in 1867 a board of education was incor- 
porated to cooperate with the trustees of this college, seven in number, 
in securing funds for its endowment, the sale of the former site of the 
institution having been authorized in the latter year. Several agents 
of the board of education, chiefly Rev. J. F. Bedford, secured, within 
the next three years, cash and subscriptions amounting to about 
$24,000, for the endowment of the proposed college, for which the 
property now occupied by Ogden College, then a large and handsome 
private residence, was purchased and improved in such a way as to 
become well adapted to educational purposes. 

A preparatory school, which had been conducted in a rented build- 
ing since 1866 by Prof. S. T. Scott, was, in February, 1872, transferred 
to the new building, Prof. G. B. Doggett becoming its principal at 
the latter date. In the autumn of 1872 the college proper w^as organ- 
ized. It opened its doors on September 5, 1872,^ and had as its first 
president, and indeed its only one. Rev. J. G. Wilson, D. D. Dr. 
Wilson was assisted the first year, at the beginning of which 80 
students were enrolled, by Professor Doggett and Wilbur F. Bar- 
clay, A. B. 

By this time the pledged endowment of the institution had reached 
about $30,000, of which only about $11,000, however, seems ever to 
have been paid in, with the aid of the income from which an addi- 
tional professor. Rev. Gross Alexander, S. T. D., now of the theo- 
logical department of Vanderbilt Univei'sity, was employed in 1873. 
An excellent faculty of four members was maintained by the college 
and a good educational work done by it for the next three years, but 
the opening of Vanderbilt University on the one hand and the pro- 
posed early establishment in Bowling Green, according to the terms 
of the will of its donor, of Ogden College, an institution which was 
more largely endowed and would offer practically free tuition, caused 
the board of trustees of Warren College in 1876 to decide to close that 
institution whose work was already much crippled for lack of endow- 
ment and whose field in the future would necessarily be largelj^ occu- 
pied by the institution just mentioned. The work of the college was 
therefore in that year finally discontinued. Its property was rented 



^ CoUinss History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 231. 



31S Ii:sT<)RY OF IIKiHEK EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

tlio iM'Xt yi'ar to tin' triisttM»s <»t' Ogdeii College, by whom it was not 
long afterwards ])iir(*has<Ml. 

Ill isso, thr iiironic from \\w iMulowment fund of the board of 
(Mliicaiiun, \vhi<«li had g(»ii<' to tli<^ aid of Warren College during its 
exist <»ii(M», was set apart by the eonforence to assist its theological 
students in N'anderhilt Tnlvei-sity. This arrangement led to a very 
wise st<'p in 1SS4 whereby, inst«»a<l of attempting to establish foritself 
a n<»w eoll(»^e, t Ih' <'<)nreren<*e adopted the university as its educational 
institution, and was given in r<»turn a ivpresentation of two members 
in the hitter's lN»ard of trust, tin* eonfeivnee being admitted as one of 
the eight ** i)atronizing <*onf<»reiiee8" whose I'epresentatives control the 
univei-sity. Thus the Louisville C'(mfen»nce has become joint owner 
of one of the great <»st universiti(\s in the South, and has no real need 
for an additional institution for higher education. The confei'ence has, 
sinee 1SS4, taken furtluM* steps to supply its educational needs. These 
have very i>roi)erly taken the form, not of establishing another college, 
but of a training school, known as the Vanderbilt Training School, 
whi(*h was hM*ated at Klkton, Ky., in 1892, and is intended to furnish 
propcM- preparation for the lower ehisses of Vanderbilt University, 
and also to give the elements of a good English education to those 
who liave not the d(»sire or opportunity to pursue a college course. 
The seluM)! has an excellent e(|uipment in the way of buildings and 
apparatus and has Witu doing a gowl work. Prof. R, E. Crockett has 
Ikmmi its ettici(»nt i)rincipal since its establishment. 

BIBLUXIRAPHY. 

This sketch is based almost entirely on Alexander's History of Eklaoation in the 
Louisville (Conference, with Home information f rom Collins's History and Hender- 
son's Centennial Exhibit. 

ST. .joskph's COLLECJK, BARDSTOWN. 

St. .losepirs Colh^gc is worthy of a place in this monograph, both 
because of its own imix)rtance, having been long one of the principal 
collcgfss of the State, and also because its history, in a sense, still 
continu(»s in that of St. Mary's C-ollege, which has been made its suc- 
cessor. It was also the first college established in Kentucky by the 
Roman Catholics, and was one of the earliest denominational institu- 
tions in \]n) State. 

The Catholic cbiirch early established in KentucKy a seminary^ for 
the education of its priests. This was, after a time, removed to Bards- 
town, then oni^ of the most flourishing towns in the State and, as the 

'This seminary was organized in 1811 on the Ohio River in the boat which 
brought Bishoi) Flaget to the State. It was conducted at St. Stephen^s (Loretto) 
for a few months, but was moved in November, 1811. to St. Thomas, near Barda- 
town. It was moved to Bardstown on April 31, 1819. It was continned at Barda- 
town. St. Marys, St. Thomas, and Louisville until quite recently, when it 
discontinued in favor of the larger seminaries of the church. 



EXTINCT COLLEGES. 319 

cathedral town, the center, as it remained for some time, of Catholic 
influence in Kentucky and the West. In the basement of the build- 
ing of this seminary was opened, near the close of 1819, a day school, 
from which, as an humble beginning, soon sprang St. Joseph's Col- 
lege, the first Roman Catholic institution in the State for the higher 
education of young men. The school was maintained in the seminary 
building for about a year. 

The one mainly instrumental in establishing this school and the 
president of the college for some time was Rev. G. A. M. Elder, who 
was born in Kentucky in 1793, and at the time of the establishment 
of the school had just finished his studies for the priesthood at Emmits- 
burg and Baltimore, Md. Just after his ordination^ at Bardstown in 
the latter part of 1819, he received from Bishop Flaget, the pioneer 
Catholic bishop of the West, the commission to establish the school 
just referred to, the foundation pf which had been long desired by 
the bishop, who had previously, however, not had the clergy to spare 
from other more pressing church enterprises for its proper supervision. 

Father Elder's ability, combined with his amiability, made him 
popular with his students, and under his careful management the 
school soon grew in numbers. Largely from the proceeds of tuition, 
at first partly anticipated, a building was soon erected for it, and a 
boarding department added. The south wing of this building was 
completed at the close of 1820 and the school moved from the seminary 
at that time. The north wing was erected in 1823 and the front soon 
afterwards,^ the whole costing about $20,000 and constituting one of 
the largest and best appointed educational buildings in the West at 
that time. Pupils then came in large numbers, about 50 being brought 
at one time, in 1825, from a Louisiana college by Rev. M. Martial. 
This was the beginning of a large patronage, which was long retained, 
from the South, especially from Louisiana and Mississippi. 

The increasing attendance had caused Father Elder and other 
friends of the enterprise to become more ambitious in its behalf. So, 
on December 27, 1824,^ a charter was obtained from the State legisla- 
ture conferring upon it full collegiate powers and privileges, under 
the name of St. Joseph's College. It was by this instrument placed 
under the control of six trustees, of whom the bishop of the diocese 
was the moderator or chairman. 

Father Elder became the first president of the new college, whose 
course, early in its history, became a high-grade, classical one, in com- 
parison with similar institutions throughout the country. At his own 
request. Father Elder was relieved from its presidency from 1827 to 



^ This, as noted in connection with the history of St. Mary's, occnrred at the same 
time as that of Father Byrne, the founder of that institution. 

-Niles's Register, vol. 28, p. 416 (August 27, 1825), says the college has nearly fin- 
ished a new brick building, four stories high and 120 feet long, and that it is in a very 
prosperous condition, having 200 students. 

=*Acts of 1824-25, pp. 65-68. 



.■{20 UlSTOkY OF nUillKK KIHTATIOX IX KEXXrCKY. 

]h:>o, <liiriii;: wliirh time iIk* <liiii(*s of iIm.' oftice wen* ably discharged 
hy K«'v. I. \. KfyiiohN. siil>s4*qu<*iitly liishop of Charleston, but in 
tli<* latitT ycarilK' tir>i pn*Ni«l<Mii ivsuiiumI his former position and 
iiiis4*ltisli)y (li'volcd tin* n'liiainder of his life to the further building 
lip of the rollr^r. On .hiniiary J5. ls:is, the institution suffered 
tilt* iiiisforiiiiii' of losiii;: iis main building by fire, and eight months 
aftfM'wards siiirtM'rd t)i<* additional l<»ss of its faithful president and 
foiiiid<M'. \vlios«* doaili was largely broiiglit alH)ut from overexertion at 
tli<' tiiiH* of the fin*. TIk* building was s<H>n iverected, but the result 
of tli<* fin* long nMiiaintMl in th<* sliap<» of d«*bt, which hung heavily over 
tin* diocrso for a nunilMM' of virars. 

My tin* end of FatluT Kldor's administration, St. Joseph's was I'ecog- 
nizod as one of IIm' fii-st literary institutions of Kentucky and the 
Sout.li grncraily. It had annually, during this period, from 100 to 250 
students, and soon b(*gan to s<'nd out g(KMl-sissed graduating classes 
for tho tiuH*, th(* class <»(' \XX\ numbering eight mem bet's. 

Father Klder was su<'(M*(MbMl in the presidency of the college by Rev. 
M. .1. SpaidingJ then (|uite a young man, but destined later to become 
a very pn»niitient (igurn in his ehureh. lie remained at the head of 
St. Joseph's lor two years, becoming afterwards bishop of Kentucky, 
and lat<>r the s<*v<'nth archbishop of Baltimore. 

lie was succe(Mi(Mi in is4n in the presidency of St. Joseph's by Rev. 
J. M. Iian<'aster, who was in turn succeeded by Rev. Edward McMa- 
hon, (he <*()mbined a<bninist rat ions of these two presidents extending 
to Isis. Under their exceUent and careful management the college 
(•onlinued i,o prosp<>r. C'ollins tells us in his Sketches^ that it had 
lAO students in 1S47, during the administration of Father McMahon. 
It had then a i'a<'ulty of four professors, besides the president, and a 
library of "),()()() volumes. Tlu* faculty had been making self-denying 
elVorts to |)a.v olT the d(d)t weighing on the institution, of which 
*^*;j,(M)() still remaiiKMl in 1S4S. For a number of years they had each 
nMMMv<Ml from #7r» to $1^)0 a y(»ar for their services. We are informed^ 
(luit up to about, the end of Father McMahon's administration about 
(),()()() young men, coming from nearly all of the States in the South and 
West, had spent at least, a year in study at St. Joseph's. Between 
IS:3ISaud I SIS the college had sent forth many graduates who after- 
wards became distinguished in t he ditTei*ent professions. During this 

' Archbishop Spalding was born in Kentucky in 1810, and graduated at St. Mary's 
when 1() yt'ars oKl. havini^ l)een a professor there at 14 years of age. He then 
stiuliod theology at Hardstown and Rome until 1884, and was then pastor, editor, 
and prcsid<Mit of St. Joseph's for several years. He became bishop of Kentucky in 
IsriO and archbishop of Baltimore in IS(M. He died in 1873 greatly beloved and 
adniiivd. Moiv oi>niplete sketohrs of his life are to be fonnd in Smith's History of 
Kontui'ky. p. .Vm, and C'ollins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, p. 400. 

•Skt'trhos of K»Mitucky. p. 47.'>. 

•'Spaldiuir's Skotclu's of Bishop Tlairet. !>. ODD. 



EXTINCT COLLEGES. 321 

portion of its history the institution was conducted by the secular 
clergy of the church, and was for most of the time operated in close 
connection with the diocesan seminary. 

In June, 1848,^ the Jesuits of the province of Missouri, at the solic- 
itation of Bishop Flaget, who was always much inclined toward their 
order as a teaching organization, and had offered to them the control 
of the college in 1829, just prior to their assuming the administration 
of St. Mary's College, took charge of St. Joseph's, which was opened 
under their management in the following September, with Rev. Peter 
J. Verhaegen, formerly president of the University of St. Louis, as 
its new president. There was a fair showing of students at the open- 
ing of the new administration, and their numbers increased during 
the first session. The college afterwards had numerous students, par- 
ticularly from the South, and was uninterruptedly prosperous until 
closed by the civil war in 1861. 

The other presidents during the period of Jesuit control, besides 
Father Verhaegen, who remained at the head of the institution for 
three years, were Fathers Emig, D'Hoop, Coosemans, and de Bluck. 

In 1852, during the adininistration of Father Emig, a large addi- 
tional building, to be used as an infirmary and for class-room pur- 
poses, as well as to furnish splendid quarters for the college museum, 
was erected. A number of other additions and improvements to 
buildings and grounds were also made during this period, and the old 
college debt was finally fully expunged. The institution had con- 
tinued to grow in public favor, but in 1861 its buildings were seized 
and occupied for some time by the Federal authorities for hospital 
purposes, and its exercises were not resumed for several years. The 
college was never reopened by the Jesuits, who, in 1868, owing to a 
misunderstanding with the bishop of the diocese in regard to a new 
college which they were proposing to establish in Louisville, gave up 
the management of St. Joseph's and withdrew from the State. The 
college property had only been held in trust by them, and upon their 
departure was transferred to the bishop free from the old debt which 
they had liquidated. It reverted to its former plan of management 
and was placed under the direction of the secular clergy. 

From 1869 to 1872 the buildings were occupied by the preparatory 
Theological Seminary from St. Thomas, with Rev. P. de Fraine as 
superior. In 1872 a limited number of students, besides those study- 
ing for the priesthood, were again admitted, and Rev. M. M. Coghlan 
became president and remained at the head of the institution until 
his death in March, 1877. In September, 1877, Rev. W. J. Dunn 
became his successor and was in turn succeeded by Rev. C. J. O'Con- 
nell at the end of the next year. During this period of the college's 
history no regular degrees were conferred, but there were two regular 

1 This date is given in Maes's Life of Nerinckx, p. 476, as Jnly, 1848, 
2127— No. 25 ^21 



322 IIISTOKY OF HIGIIKK KDrfATlON IN KENTUCKY. 

ooiirsos niaiiituiiKMl — tin* rlassii-al for tho ministry and learned profes- 
Hioiis j^<»iH»rally, and th«» roiiinuMvial for niorcautile pursuits. 

At tlio lM>^innin^of Fatlior O'ConneU's tidminiHtration the privi- 
lop's of llir institution wrn^ fully oiHjnod to all young men who were 
pro|M»rly pn»panMl, and wIkmi, in 1S80, llev. W. P. Mackin l)ecame 
I)n'sich«nt tli<' A. 15. do^n't* was rostoivd and a scientific course also 
instituted. Tlw i-oih»jr«» lia<l at that linn? a good libmry and extensive 
sci(>ntiti(' apparatus, ami was wt»ll pn?i)ared to supply the educational 
uimmIs of tin* tiuH*. Its faculty lM»twccn 1H73 and 1885 eontiiine<l from 
5 t(» 7 nH»nilM*i-s, and its students varied in number from 70 to 108. 

During tln^ lat<'r pt^rtion of the institution's history it had been 
undor tin* eliargr of tliosorular rh»rgy of the diocese, while St. Marj^'s 
('(ilh'gts tlio other male college of the chuivh in Kentucky, was being 
conduetcMl by the FatluM's of the Iii»surrection, a stix)ng and well- 
organiyj»d teaching onlcM*. As both of these institutions necessarily 
dn»w th(»ir studc»nts hirgely fn)m the same territory, the comx)etition 
of <sieh was a e(»nsiderable hindrance to the other, so, in August, 
IS'.M), the bishop of Louisville, thinking it wise to concentrate the 
e<lueational elTorts of the ehureh in one institution, which might thus 
1h» IxMter c»([uipiMMl and in 4»v<»ry way moi-e efficient, caused St. Joseph's 
to 1m' elos(Ml ami St. Mary's nm<h» the official college of the diocese as 
the sueeessor of both institutions. So while St. Joseph's has ceased 
to (»xist as a s(»parat4» institution, it yet, in a sense, lives in St. Mary's. 
The buildings of St. Josexili's since it was suspended have been used 
as on<^ of the male orphanages of the diocese. The college has been 
closed in such a way as not necessarily to remain closed entirely in 
the futui-e, and if future circumstances shall render its reopening 
advisable* it nuiy ivsunic? its historic career. 

Its histoi-y, <^specially for about thirty-five years prior to 1861, is 
quit^^ a distiiiguishe<l one, and is the moi-e i*emarkable from the fact 
that all of its work was accomplished without any endowment and 
8()h»ly uinm the incfomo deriv(»d from tuition fees. During its exist- 
ence it graduated a number of students who afterwards reached posi- 
tions of gi'eat pi*omin<»nco as governoi's, members of Congress, bish- 
ops, (editors, pi-<»aeh(»rs, jurists, physicians, lawyers, and x>olitician8. 
United States Attorney-(Ten(»ral Garland; (Tovernor Powell, of Ken- 
tucky; (Tovernor WieklitTe, of Louisiana; lion. Thomas C. McCreeiy, 
and others are among its not(»d alumni. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Colllns's Sketc^hes, Allen h, Collinses, Smith's, and Perrin, Battle and Kniflfen'a 
History. 
Spalding's Sketches of Early Catholic Missions. 
Spalding's SkoUrhes of the Life and Times of Bishop Flaget. 
Biographical Sketch of Hon. L. W. Powell. 
Maes's Life of Nerinckx, 
Webb's Centenary of Catholicity in America. 
The American Almanac. 
Sadlier's Catholic Directory for 1878. 



EXTINCT COLLEGES. 323 

CUMBERLAND COLLEGE, PRINCETON. 

Cumberland College was established at Princeton, Ky., in 1826 by 
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, from which it derived its 
name. It was one of the first, if not the first, of the institutions in the 
State to make anything like an adequate test of a system of manual 
labor as a part of its regular work. A large farm was attached to 
the college, upon which all students were required for some time to 
labor two hours each day. They also all took their meals at a general 
boarding house. 

The preliminary steps looking toward the establishment of the insti- 
tution were taken by Kentucky Synod of the Cumberland Presbyte- 
rian Church in 1825, when it was resolved by that body, with great 
unanimity, to found a college in which its ministry, especially, might 
be properly educated. The manual-labor system was ingrafted upon 
the institution in order to diminish the expense ^ of attendance and at 
the same time promote health and practical habits. The college was 
chartered by an act of the State legislature approved January 8, 1827,^ 
by the terms of which it was placed under the management of a board 
of not more than eleven nor less than seven trustees, who were to be 
appointed by Kentucky Synod. The students also might be required 
to labor as much as three hours a day " on the farm attached to the 
college. " The institution was later taken under the care of the gen- 
eral assembly of the church, and became the representative institu- 
tion of the whole denomination instead of Kentucky synod simply. 

The college had been opened before its charter was secured, in 
March, 1826, and had as its first president. Rev. F. R. Cossitt,^ D. D., 
who was assisted by Daniel L. Morrison, as professor of mathematics 
and natural philosophy, and by several young men as tutors. Dr. 
Cossitt was a native of New Hampshire and was educated at Middle- 
bury College, Vermont. He was a man of culture and a writer of 
merit. He remained at the head of Cumberland College as long as it 
remained under the care of the whole church. 

The original college building was a substantial two-story brick 
structure, 60 by 22 feet. To this was added in 1832 another similar 
building, 70 by 40 feet. There was at that time also a dormitory for 
students. Professor Morrison had resigned in 1830, but his place had 
been supplied, and another regular professor had been added to the 
faculty, which in 1833 * was composed as follows: Rev. F. R. Cossitt, 
president, mental and moral philosophy and belles-lettres; Rev. R. 

' The American Almanac for 1833 gives the total expenses of a student tinder 
the system as $80 a year. 

2 Acts of 1827-28, pp. 21-27. 

3 A sketch of Dr. Cossitt is to be found in CoUins's History of Kentucky, Vol. I, 
p. 435, where the name is incorrectly spelled Cassitt. 

* From American Almanac for 1834, 



324 HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Boanl, aiiciout languagoH; Livingston Lindsay, mathematics and natu- 
ral pliilosophy ; Rev. A. Shelby, steward and superintendent of farm. 

In onler to carry out ono of the si)eeial objects of the institution, 
instruction in theology was also given by President Cossitt and P^- 
fesHor Bc^ard. 

T]w coll(»go had early in its history a library of several hundred 
voluHM's and a n'sp<Hf table clHinii(*.al and philosophical apparatus, and 
did niucli ('xcHnllent (Mluoational work, particularly in furnishing its 
cliun*h with woll-trainod ministers. It had up to 1842 an annual 
avi'ra^t^ attiendancM^ of a]M)ut <>() students, and its graduates up to 
that, time ninnbi^nMl 52. J\h nianiial-lal)or feature, although we are 
infonn(»d it wjis (uinsidcMi^d a groat l)enefit in 1832,* had before long 
X) roved not Huit.ed to tho ideas and habits of those who could be chiefly 
de]xaided on to x^atronize the institution, and so was not a success, 
while much financtial embarrsissment had also arisen and a number of 
ehang(\s in the faculty had tiiken plae«. 

The state of its affairs had become such as to cause the church as 
a whole to lose hope in its success under the conditions then existing 
at Prin(*eton, and so the general assembly of 1842 gave up the insti- 
tution as a general cluirch enterprise and transferred its patronage 
to C'umberland University, then founded at Lebanon, Tenn., which 
places had offeivd considerable financial inducements and was consid- 
ered in other respects a moit^ desirable location than Princeton for a 
general church institution. Dr. Cossitt, who became the president 
of the new university, with all of the professors at Princeton but one, 
removed to Lebanon in February, 1843, and so old Cumberland Col- 
lege may ])e said to exist yet in the newer Cumberland University, 
still the leading educational institution of the Cumberland Piresby- 
terian Church. 

The college at Princeton, after having been abandoned by the 
churcth at large, was taken charge of by Green Biver Synod, and, 
with its manual labor depailment discarded, remained until 1858 a 
church (^nt(MX)rise. It was, however, during this period never able to 
become iiiu(*1l more than a local high school, depending on tuition 
fees for a rather x>]'('C*arious existence, and was finally abandoned 
altogether ])y the church. 

BTBLIOORAPHY. 

CoUins's Sketches. 

Collins 8 History. 

Davidson's Presbyterian Church in Kentucky. 

Barnard's American Journal. 

The American Almanac. 

Acts of the Legislature. 

Higher Education in Tennessee, by L. S. Merriam, Ph. D.; Washington, 18861 



Barnard's American Journal of Education, voL 27, i>. 885. 



■ t 



EXTINCT COLLEGES. 325 

SHELBY COLLEGE, SHELBYVILLE. 

The facts obtainable in regard to the history of Shelby College, at 
one time somewhat prominent among the educational institutions of 
the State, can be stated in a comparatively few words. 

The college was founded at Shelbyville in 1836,^ and in 1841 took 
on the denominational feature characteristic of most of the colleges 
of the State by coming under the management of the Episcopal 
Church. It was controlled by that church for thirty years, although 
it seems not to have been supported by the denomination with very 
great unanimity. ^ 

The college building was a handsome brick structure, 142 feet long 
by 70 feet wide, and its grounds embraced 18 acres. There was also 
a president's house in addition to the main building. 

The president of the institution during most of its history was Rev. 
W. I. Waller, M. D., a prominent Episcopal clergyman. The Epis- 
copal Seminary, formerly associated with Transylvania University 
during the presidency of Rev. B. O. Peers, seems to have been oper- 
ated for a time in connection with the college, which during its exist- 
ence educated many young men for business life and for the various 
professions. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Collins's Sketches. 
Collins's History. 
Acts of the Legislature. 

Historical Sketches of Christ Church, Louisville, by Bev. James Craik; Louis- 
ville, 1862. 

EMINENCE COLLEGE, EMINENCE. 

Eminence College furnishes in its history a good example of what 
can be done by individual ability and enterprise in the field of educa- 
tion. It is also an excellent illustration of the result of all educa- 
tional undertakings which depend solely upon personal initiative. 
The history of Eminence College is an epitome of a large part of the 
educational services of its president, W. S. Giltner, and when he sev- 
ered his connection with it the institution ceased to exist. 

The college grew out of a high school established at Eminence by a 
number of public-spirited citizens of the community, who in 1855 
had organized themselves into a stock company and founded a school, 
which was opened in September, 1857, with Prof. S. G. Mullins as 
principal. The school had been regularly chartered in 1857, but con- 
tinued only one year under its original management, as the not 

' The college was given the right on February 16, 1837 (acts of 1836-37, p. 219), 
to raise $100,000 by lottery. We have no account as to how much was thus 
realized. 

* Craik, in his Sketches of Christ Church, Louisville, page 106, says that the vestry 
of that church on August 10, 1846, recommended that the college be abandoned 
by the church. 



326 HISTORY OF HIGHKR EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

uncoininon iiiistak<' had Ih'oii made by those interested of going beyond 
tlioir int^anN in oroetinj;: and equipping the commodious building of 
the institution, ho the property liad to be sold and was acquired by 
a n(»w (M)ini)any with Vn)f. W, S. Giltner, a graduate of Bethany Col- 
h*ge, \Vc»st Vii'jjinia, at its liead. 

Tncler tho ih»w ordiT of things, Professor Giltner, who had already 
had s(»V4»ral yoars' successful (»xjM»ricnce Jis an educator, was made, in 
IS.'iS, the principal of the institution, whose patronage, chiefly through 
his pcrscmal efforts an<l ability, soon ]>ecame large and well sustained. 
So, in the natural onlcr of things, the high school soon blossomed out 
into a colleg4», through an amendment to its charter secured in 1861. 
It alsos(M>n lM»came pra(?tically a private enterprise through the acqui- 
sition of at least a large part of its stock by its president. 

Th(» institution had sent forth its first graduating class of seven 
memlK^rs in ISOO, from which date it continued in successful opera- 
tion for alH)ut thirty-five years, during which its annual matricula- 
tion was (*omparatively larger, having l>een quite good even during the 
civil war. Tp to 1S77 it had an attendance annually of from 126 to 
204 students, and its graduating class each year numbered from 1 to 
18. Its attendance* declined considerably after 1877, but continued 
fairly go<Ml (»ven down practically to its close. During its existence 
its niati'icnilates, who were about equally divided between the sexes, 
representwl as many as eleven States of the Union and one foreign 
count i*y. 

The original high school had been coeducational, and this feature 
was ingrafted upon the college, which claims to have been the first 
collegia in K(Mitucky^ to advocate and adopt the policy of coeducation. 
Separates boarding departments and study halls were maintained for 
tlu^ two s<»xes, but th(^ general educational privileges of the institution 
w »ro slianKl equally by them. The college maintained a special 
c()uis(^ for girls who did not wish to take the longer and stronger 
course; inl ended primarily for boys. In this course diplomas and not 
d(^gre<»s w<;r(^ conferred. The more advanced course, which was taken 
by many of the girls with eminent success, led to the degrees of bache- 
lor of arts and bachelor of science, and embraced the departments of 
ancient languages, mathematics, physics and chemistry, mental philos- 
oi)hy, biblical literature, and modern languages. To suit the needs 
of individual students, departments of music and art were inaugu- 
rated from 11i(* ])eginning, while in 1880 a commercial department was 
instituted, and in 1885 a normal department, intended especially to 
train l(»achers for the i)ubli(», s(».hools of the State, was added* The 
institution had early in its history a fair amount of chemical and 
physical apparatus, a good mineralogical cabinet, and a moderate- 
sized reference library. The faculty of the college contained as a rule 

* Sketch of Eminence College, page 3. 



EXTINCT COLLEGES. 327 

from seven to nine members, and throughout its history it main- 
tained four regular academic professorships. 

Eminence College never had any endowment, and its prosperity, at 
least during most of its history, was due entirely to the personal 
exertions of its president. That it performed ef&cient educational 
services is shown by the success achieved by its graduates, who num- 
bered altogether, up to 1893, inclusive, 235, and were pointed to by the 
institution rather than "magnificent buildings and munificent endow- 
ments in proof of the hale and vigorous life " ^ prevailing there. Many 
of its alumni have taken an honored rank in the various learned pro- 
fessions, there being among them prominent teachers, editors, minis- 
ters, lawyers, and physicians. 

The college was closed in February, 1895, principally because it 
had ceased to be a financial success. President Giltner determining 
at that time to retire from active participation in its management. 
Its property has since been used for private purposes. When Pro- 
fessor Giltner's forceful personality was withdrawn and no similar 
impetus was at hand, nothing was left upon which the perpetuity of 
the institution might be based. On the other hand, if its equipment 
had been owned and controlled by some permanent organization, as, 
for instance, a religious denomination, it would have been much more 
likely, independent of any question of endowment, to have had a con- 
tinuous existence and to have perpetuated its educational usefulness, 
although its efficiency at any given time would, of course, have largely 
depended upon the one actually in charge of its executive affairs. In 
the history of such institutions as Eminence College lies a useful 
public lesson. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky. Historical Sketch of Eminence Col* 
lege, Eminence, 1876-77. 

^ Historical Sketch, page 8. 



Chapter IX. 

THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 



K^UiLY IDEAS. 



\V<) hav<» s(^oii, ill troatin^ of tlio oarly university system, that the 
loaih'rs of <'(lu<*atioiial lliought in Kentucky, especially Judge Wal- 
la<M\ t'arly ('onteniplatiMl a system of popular elementary education, 
as tlu^ academy plan, (loul)tl(^ss in the mind of Judge Wallace, at 
least, had in view an extension of tlio system to include more elemen- 
tary schools, which, as we liavo s(»en, came last in such a system, 
accord in«^ to the i(h»as then prevalent in Virginia and Kentucky. It 
was pi'o])a])ly with the o])ject of later adding the more elementary 
schools that sucli advanced steps were taken in appropriating pubUc 
land for educational purposes to the academies. We have observed, 
however, that the academy plan, even as far as it was carried out, 
was in advance of the public opinion of the day, absorbed as the peo- 
1)1(3 generally were in the engrossing pursuits of a pioneer agricultu- 
ral community and scattered as they were in a wilderness of forests 
in wliich lurked a savage foe, ever to be watched, and thus having 
little time or opportunity to think of such questions. 

]\[ost of the leaders themselves also seem to have been occupied 
with the i)ractical (xuestions of the day or devoted such time as they 
could spare from these to the promotion of higher education in the 
denominational form that it had early taken in the State. The higher 
educational feature was then considered much the most important 
part of the system, and in its development the educational energy of 
th(^ State was for a considerable time mainly engaged. So we see lit- 
tle or no public notice of popular education in the early years of the 
State's history and no mention is made of it in the messages of its 
early governors or in the first two constitutions of the State, adopted 
in 1792 and 1709, respectively. 

One of the first public utterances, if not the first, on the subject is to 
be found in the message of Governor Gabriel Slaughter, of December 
3, 1816, in which he advocated the establishment of a State school 
fund by taxing banks and other corporations and by setting aside for 
that purpose the dividends on the bank stocks held by the State and 
328 



THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 329 

the income from all escheated lands, provided this could be done 
"without materially increasing the public burdens." Again, in his 
message of December 2, 1817, about half of which he devotes to this 
subject, he says: 

I beg leave again to bring into view the subject of education, one of the first 
unportance that can engage our attention, whether we regard its influence on 
human happiness or the permanency of our republican system. 

He then recommended that the State be divided into districts of 5 
or 6 miles square, in which schools should be supported, in part if not 
entirely, by the State and should be free to all poor children, saying 
in connection: 

We have many good schools, but nothing short of carrying education to the 
neighborhood of every man in the State can satisfy the just claims of the x)eople 
or fulfill the duty of the Q-ovemment. 

In his message of December 8, 1818, he does not urge further his 
educational system, because the previous legislature seemed to "have 
thought it better to accommodate the country with a number of banks 
than with good schools," although he said: 

We neither have free schools for the education of the poor, nor colleges, nor 
universities suf&ciently endowed to vie with the literary institutions of our sister 
States. 

Again, however, on December 7, 1819, he advocated the setting 
apart for educational purposes of the public lands recently acquired 
by the State from the Indians and all other public lands then held 
by the State, to which were to be added all fines and forfeitures, 
together with all escheated lands and all other sources of revenue not 
actually needed for the expenses of the State. 

These ideas were certainly quite liberal for the time and surround- 
ings and were doubtless considerably in advance of public opinion, as 
they seem to have awakened no adequate response on the part of the 
legislature. They had, however, one deficiency not thoroughly rem- 
edied in Kentucky until comparatively recent years — the idea that 
the public schools were to be primarily not for the masses, but for the 
poor, thus giving to them an idea of charity and a tone of caste which 
necessarily resulted in their inefficiency, especially when coupled, 
as it was for a considerable time, with meager revenues. 

THE FIRST SYSTEM, WITH THE STEPS PREPARATORY TO ITS INAUGU- 
RATION. 

The recognized failure of the State academies by about 1820 began 
to call the attention of the State authorities and the people generally 
to the need of some other means of public education. So we find 
Governor John Adair, in his message of October 16, 1821, again urg- 
ing upon the legislature the importance of a public-school system, as 



330 HISTORY OF HldHKU EI)l'CATIpN_ IN KENTUCKY, 

he had x)revioiisly iir^ed xiinm thoiii the liberal support of Transyl- 
vaiiia and tlie academies. He Hays of iK)pular education: 

It is necessary to the purity and permanency of our civil and x>oliticaI institn- 
tions and to our relative dignity and inflnence in the council of the nation that it 
sliould succeed. 

The legislature of this session thought somewhat in like manner, 
and aftcM" having, in <*on,j unction with a similar action by Maryland 
and other States, instructed the representatives of Kentucky in Con- 
gress to ai)i)ly for i)ul)lic hind for educational purposes at tiie hands 
of i\w. General Government, took the first step in establishing a public- 
scliool system for the State by setting aside by an act approved 
December 18, 18:31, one-lialf the net profits of the stock held by the 
State in the Bank of the Commonwealth for a permanent public- 
school fund. 

It also took an additional step at the same time in appointing an 
able commission, comx)osed of AVilliam T. Barry, J. R. Witherspoon, 
D. K. Murray, and John Poi)e, to collect information and prepare and 
report a system of comnum schools suited to the peculiar circumstances 
and liabits of th(^ i)eople, whicli report was to be presented to the legis- 
latuie of 182:3. This commission sought to ascertain the actual con- 
dition of the schools of Kentucky, and also inquired in regard to the 
success of t\u} systems of other States, especially those of Massachu- 
setts, Connecticut, and New York. In tlie course of its investigations 
it conducted a correspondence with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, 
James Madison, Kobert Y. Ilayne, and other prominent public men 
in regard to x)ubic schools in their respective States. 

Its report made in the latter x)art of 1822 ^ was an able one and fav- 
ored the State fostering Transylvania University and the academies 
as training schools for teachers, but advocated a public-school system, 
supx^orted by State appropriations, augmented by local taxation, as in 
the Xew York system. The schools were to be for the public gen- 
erally, and not for the poor only, and were to be made free as far as 
possible. The commission believed such a system practicable in Ken- 
tucky, although the State was then sparsely settled and the existence 
of slavery was likely to be somewhat of a hindrance. It was also 
recommended that there should be a State superintendent of sohoolSi 
who might also at the same time hold some other State office, as that 
of secretary of state, and who should act in conjunction with the 
local judicial oilicers in inaugurating and carrying on the system. 

Barnard 2 speaks of the report of this commission as "one of the 



^ The first report of the commission was issued November 30, 1822, and an addi- 
tional one on December 2 following, to which the two additional names of David 
White and William P. Roper are attached. 

'^ American Journal of Education, vol. 16, p. 353. The report of the oommiflBioa 
was drawn up by Amos Kendall, subsequently Postmaster-Gtoneral of the United 
States, then a teacher in Frankfort. 



THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 33 1 

most valuable documents upon common-school education that had at 
that time appeared." The only thing that seems to have been done 
in regard to it by the legislature of the time is that the committee on 
education highly approved of it, and it was .ordered to be printed for 
general distribution. This was done soon afterwards, the letters of 
Adams, Madison, Jefferson, and Hayne being appended, and through 
its general circulation in the State it doubtless later had a favorable 
influence on public opinion. 

The income from the bank stock set aside by the act of 1821 was at 
the time about $60,000 per annum, but this seems neither to have 
been applied to public education nor to have been properly husbanded. 
Rev. B. O. Peers tells ^ us that in 1829 it only amounted to a total of 
1150,000, and Barnard says ^ that in 1833 there was only about $141,000 
of it remaining. Most of it had gone where the rest of it then threat- 
ened to go — ^fco defray deficiencies in the general revenues of the State. 

Meanwhile several other preparatorj^^ steps looking toward the estab- 
lishment of a general system were taken. By an act approved Decem- 
ber 21, 1825,^ any five persons were given the right to associate them- 
selves together and hold property for school purposes, trustees for its 
management being appointed by the county court. Governor Desha, 
in his message of December 4, 1826, recommended that in addition to 
the fund already created the remainder of the bank stock held by the 
State, the proceeds from vacant lands, and certain other funds should 
be invested in building turnpikes, the dividends from which were " to 
be forever sacredly devoted to the interest of education." This rec- 
ommendation does not seem to have been adopted by the legislature; 
but had it been it is not probable that much income would ever have 
been realized from this source, as Kentucky seems never to have 
received much return financially from her investments in internal 
improvements. The preoccupation of the State in these improve- 
ments and the absorption of its revenues in carrying them out is one 
great reason why no more attention was paid to public education at 
this time. 

On January 29, 1829, probably as an outcome, partially at least, of 
the report of the commission of 1822, the committee of the legislature 
on education called upon Rev. Alva Woods, D. D., then president of 
Transylvania University, and Rev. B. O. Peers, already a prominent 
advocate and exponent of advanced educational ideas and methods, 
for an expression of their opinion on the subject of common schools. 

The report of this committee, published in January, 1830, had 
appended to it a letter from Rev. Mr. Peers, purporting, as far as pos- 
sible, to give "the collective experience of the nation." It contained 
an able examination of the systems of the Middle and New England 

1 Letter of 1829. 

2 American Journal of Education, vol. 27, p. 335. 

3 Acts of 1825-26, p. 118. 



332 HISTORY OF HIGHKH EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

StaU's in coinparisoii with thoHO of Ohio and Virginia, and again, as 
in the (*aH<' of the coniniiHsion of 1822, indorsed the New York plan of 
having the State appropriation conditioned upon the levying of at 
least an ec^ual amount by local taxation, especially in a State where 
pulilie opinion was laggani. It also showed the necessity of legis- 
lative ])ati*onage and eontn)l as well as of an enlightened public 
sentiment for tlie suexjess of any system. 

Mr. \\h'}*h was also in iulvanee of the country generally at the time 
in advocating the training of teachers by the State through the estab- 
lishment of a State normal school. His letter and his subsequent agi- 
tation of the subject, by public discussion and through the press, 
awakened the public mind on the question. lie was thus largely 
instrumental in arousing the people, and by his influence, in various 
ways, l)ot.h Iwforcs <luring, and after his presidency of Transylvania 
University, may \>e considered, i)erhaps more than any other one man, 
the father of the public-school system of Kentucky. 

He took a x)rominent part in various State educational meetings held 
at this iM>riod, and use<l other powerful means in influencing public 
opinion. The first of these w^as the State educational convention, 
which met in Lexington on November 7, 1833, and formed plans upon 
which a State common-school society was established at Frankfort 
in January of the following year. This society memorialized the 
legislatures in In^half of common schools and a normal school, and took 
other steps to bring the matter of public education to the attention 
of the people of the State generally. Governor Breathitt, James T. 
Morehead, Rev. John C. Young, Rev. H. B. Bascom, Thomas Mar- 
shall, and Daniel Breck were, among others, prominently associated 
with Mr. Peers in these conventions. 

At the same time that Mr. Peers had been called on by the legisla- 
ture for his report on common schools the Representatives of the 
State in Congress had been again requested to ask for an appropria- 
tion of public land for the aid of schools, but before anything was 
received from the General Government an act was passed by the 
State legislature on January 29, 1830,^ which bears the rather grandil- 
oquent title of "An act to encourage the general diffusion of ednoa- 
tion in this Commonwealth by the establishment of a uniform system 
of public schools." This act provided that the county courts might 
lay off the various counties into school districts, which were to be 
under the management of three commissioners elected by the district 
and empowered to collect a poll tax of not over 50 cents per capita for 
school purposes, while a tax of not over Gi cents on the $100 might be 
voted by the district for the same object. No material result appears 
to have come from this act, as local sentiment was not in most oases 
sufficient even to inaugurate the system, much less to vote the tax 
needed for its support. 



'Acta of 1829-30, pp. 273-381. 



THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 333 

Not long after this the petitions of the States to Congress led to a 
tangible result, as that body, by an act approved June 23, 1836, deter- 
mined to distribute the surplus then in the Treasury among the various 
States. This distribution was, partially at least, in lieu of the grants 
of public land requested, and was to begin on the 1st of the following 
January. Soon after the reception of the first installment, Kentucky, 
which had asked for the grant for educational purposes, established the 
foundation of its present public-school fund by an act (February 23, 
1837) which declared that $1,000,000 of the amount received from the 
General Government should be "set apart and forever dedicated to 
the founding and sustaining a general system of public instruction." 

As the amount received from the United States did not turn out to 
be as large as had been expected, an act of February 16, 1838,^ reduced 
the amount previously set apart from $1,000,000 to $850,000, which was 
declared to be "dedicated and forever set apart to the purposes of 
education." By this same act what is really the first public-school 
system of the State was organized. The outlines of this system were 
as follows: 

(1) The fund created by the act was to be distributed to the coun- 
ties in proportion to the number of children of school age. 

(2) A board of education was established, consisting of the secretary 
of state, the attorney-general, and a new ofl&cer — the superintendent 
of common schools, who was to be appointed by the governor and was 
chairman of the board, his duties being principally to prepare reports 
and apportion the school money. 

(3) The State was to be divided into districts, each containing not 
more than 50 nor less than 30 children of from 5 to 16 years of age. 

(4) Each district was allowed to tax itself to an amount equal to 
what it received from the State fund. 

(5) Five commissioners were to be appointed in each county whose 
principal duties were to report the number of schools, the number of 
children of school age, and to distribute the money to these schools. 

(6) Five trustees were to be elected by each district who were to 
build schoolhouses and organize schools, being, however, only em- 
powered to levy a poll tax of 50 cents per capita for the former pur- 
pose. 

To Judge William F. Bullock, of Louisville, is to be given a large 
part of the credit for the passage of this law, which was certainly not 
enacted before it was needed, as we are told that there were in Ken- 
tucky at the time 175,000 children of school age, about half of whom 
were without any previous opportunity for a common-school educa- 
tion, and one-third of the adult population of the State at the time 
were unable to write their own names. 

The system was based largely upon Mr. Peers's ideas, although con- 
siderably below these, and had some excellent features. It was, how- 

' Acts of 1837-38, pp. 374-283, 



334 HISTORY OP HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

over, <lofo(;tivo in many ways, as in not giving the districts sufficient 
in(lu<MMnont and x)()wer to lay local taxcH; not making adequate provi- 
Hion for snp])lying 8(;hoolliouseH, inspecting schools, and securing the 
l)roiRu- ([iialifications of teachoi's, ])ut especially in making the super- 
intondent a minor Stat<> officer and not giving to him the proper pow- 
ore and privilege's. The law was, moreover, cumbersome in many 
ways, and, most of all, wjis not y(»t ])acked by a proper state of public 
opinion, as was soon to 1m' shown. It had great difficulties to contend 
with, duo to the population of the St^te being scattered and its system 
of local government being somewhat defective, but its greatest obsta- 
cle was x)ublic indifTenMice and lack of information in regard to the 
law an<l its operations. Tlieni was, on the part of the people at large, 
the lack of a pro|M)r standanl of education and of a consequent de- 
mand that the law lx> properly (enforced. 

THE SOLIDIFICATION OF PUBLIC OPINION AND THE IBfPROVElEENT OF 

THE ORCiANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM. 

As has boon noted, the law of 1838 established in form a fairly good 
publics-school system for the time, but we shall see that, owing to a 
lack of appreciation on the part of the people, and especially of the 
public men of the State, it was practically entirely inoperative for a 
dozen or more years. This time was not, however, wholly lost, as 
during the period, through the efficient labors of the sui>erintendents 
and other friends of the system, public opinion, already somewhat 
educated, became more strongly solidified in its favor and made it 
possible for its organization to be so improved as to become really 
effective. 

The first superintendent under the new system was Rev. Joseph J, 
Bullock, D. 1)., who wont into office about February 28, 1838, and 
labon^d earnestly and faitlifuUy to make it a success, but for some 
time the school system had only a nominal existence, for as early as 
18rtO the State refused to pay the interest on the school fund, owing 
to her system of public improvements having depleted her treasury 
and impaired her credit. Up to 1843 only $2,504 of this interest had 
been paid, while $116,375 remained unpaid, and by a legislatiye act 
of February 10, 1845, all the State school bonds wereactually destroyed. 

Superintendent Bullock had been succeeded in 1839 by Bev. H. H. 
Kavanaugh, D. I). , who served until 1840. The office was held during 
the next seven years by B. B. Smith, D. D., who served from 1840 to 
1842; George W. Brush, who served from 1842 to 1843, and R. T. 
Dillard, I). I)., who served from 1843 to 1847.^ These were able and 
conscientious superintendents, but, owing to the difficulties already 
noticed, combined with crude and unsympathetic legislation, fhe 



1 B. B. Sayre, A. M., was appointed to fill a vacancy on March 1, 1848, Imt Boon 
declined. Bev. Robert Davidson, D. D., was appointed on Apiril 86, 1848, but 

declined on May 15, 1842. 



THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 335 

school system made little apparent progress, although public senti- 
ment was somewhat cultivated in its behalf, as shown by the support 
given it in the next administration. 

Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, D. D., was appointed superintendent 
on September 14, 1847, and at once took up the cause of popular edu- 
cation with enthusiasm. It was largely through his indefatigable 
efforts that the next important steps in the progress of the system 
were made. He first secured, in 1847 and 1848, the issue of a new 
bond for the State school fund, which included all the arrears of 
interest due and made the bond a total of 11,225,768. Also, by an act 
of February 26, 1849, he secured the submission to popular vote of the 
proposition to levy a tax of 2 cents on each $100 of property in the 
State to furnish additional revenue for the school system. This 
proposition was ratified by the people at the polls in the following 
August by a large majority. 

Dr. Breckinridge also, by the help of such members of the consti- 
tutional convention of 1849 as Larkin J. Proctor, John D. Taylor, 
William K. Bowling, Ira Root, Thomas J. Hood, Charles A. Wick- 
liffe, and Thomas J. Lisle, succeeded in making another great gain 
for the system by having the school fund declared inviolable for the 
purposes of common-school education by the new constitution and 
also by having the superintendent of public instruction made a regu- 
lar State ofl&cer, to be elected by the people. Article XI, section 1 , of 
this constitution, proclaimed on June 11, 1850, declares that the 
former common-school fund, "together with any sum which may here- 
after be raised in the State, by taxation or otherwise, for purposes of 
education, shall be held inviolable for the purpose of sustaining a> 
system of common schools." 

Another advance in progress was accomplished by Dr. Breckinridge 
when, in March, 1850, against the strenuous opposition of Governor 
Helm, he succeeded by legislative action in having the school fund 
considered a part of the regular State debt, the interest of which was 
payable out of the sinking fund and was one of the first charges 
against the State revenues. The year 1850, in which the last of these 
important gains was secured, may be said to be the one in which the 
public-school system of Kentucky was first regularly organized. Dr. 
Breckinridge's services in its behalf were certainly very great, and he 
may as truly be called the father of the actual system as Rev. B. O. 
I^eers is of the public opinion which called it into existence. 

Dr. Breckinridge's labors were indorsed in 1851 by his being 
elected superintendent by the vote of the people, and during the 
remainder of his administration he endeavored especially to bring 
the people as far as possible to a proper appreciation of their public 
schools. Like Mr. Peers, he made use of educational conventions for 
the purpose of bringing public opinion into line with his educational 
policy. A large convention of the friends of the public-school system 



33fi HISTORY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

mc»t under liis le^ulcrship at Frankfort in November, 1851, and another 
in 1852, which, by their discussion, did much for the cause throughout 
tlie State. 

Dr. Breckinridge resigned liis x)osition as superintendent on Octo- 
ber 22, 185:3, to a<5cept a chair in Danville Theological Seminary, of 
wliich he was one of the principal founders, and whose work he con- 
sidered as of a liigher character of usefulness. His services as sui)er- 
intendent may, in general, after the manner of his last report, be sum- 
marized as follows : He had had restored and augmented a large school 
fund, which had been made sacred to its object by the State constitu- 
tion; had inaugurated a complete system of schools in their lowest 
stage; had luul hundreds of schoolhouses erected, and had aroused a 
deep i)ublic int-erest in favor of education throughout the State. His 
pred<3cesMorH had done much to create a healthy public sentiment, 
and upon the foundation th(^y had laid he had built wisely and weU. 

In 185:3 the common-school system was in operation in every county 
in this State, but its workings were crude and the quality of education 
it furnished poor, as the salaries it offered could only call into its 
service an inferior grade of teachers. The State educational fund at 
that time consisted (1) of the bond of the State, amounting to $1,326,- 
770; (2) of $73,500 in stock of the Bank of Kentucky, purchased by 
the suiKu-intendent in 1839; (3) of the 2 cents ad valorem tax of 1849, 
wliich had since been supplemented by some other small taxes. The 
income from the fund was about $80,000 a year, and that from taxes 
in 1852 $133,G80. The combined revenue from all sources only fur- 
nished a per capita allowance of 60 cents to each child of school age 
in the State. How much the system lacked of being in anything like 
complete operation was shown by the fact that of the 207,210 school 
children reported as being in the State, only 76,429 were in schooL 

THE PROVISION OF AN ADEQUATE STATE REVENUE. 

Dr. l^i'eckinridge's able and persistent efforts had converted the 
public-school system from what had been largely a mere form into an 
organization which possessed the elements of vitality. The system, 
however, still lacked two things essential to its highest efficiency. 
One was the passage of laws needed to perfect the details of its organi- 
zation and adapt it to the special educational wants of the people of 
the State ; the other was to provide for it an adequate general revenue. 

The State common-school laws had been revised in 1852, contrary to 
the desires of Dr. Breckinridge in a number of respects, but, although 
the important principle that all schools should be free was introduced, 
no material advance was made in organization and none was made 
for a number of years. The educational energy of the State for the 
next seventeen years was mainly absorbed in supplying the second of 
the above-mentioned needs, the lack of an adequate revenue, which| 



THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 337 

however, carried along with its most progressive step in 1869 a con- 
Biderable improvement also in the legal status of the school system. 

Dr. Breckinridge's successor as superintendent was John D. Math- 
ews, D. D., who served from 1853 to 1859, having been appointed to 
fill out his predecessor's term and then elected by the people, in 
August, 1855. During his term of office, by an act approved March 
10, 1854, and ratified b}' a veiy large popular majority in August, 1855, 
the ad valorem scliool tax was raised from 2 cents to 5 cents. We 
have already recounted in another connection how in 1856 Transyl- 
vania University was converted into a State normal school, as a much- 
needed head of the State public-school system, an experiment which 
was at that time a failure. 

Robert Richardson, A. M., was superintendent from 1859 to 1863, 
and Daniel Stevenson, D. D., from 1863 to 1867. During this period, 
in which no material organic changes were made in the school system, 
it was ably and faithfully administered and made some progress, at 
least in public regard, if not otherAvise. Its operations during part 
of the time were considerably disturbed by the civil war. The loss of 
property due to the overthrow of slavery had also caused its income 
to decrease, the per capita in 1867 being 72 cents, whereas in 1863 it 
had been S^l.lO. Dr. Stevenson said of the system, just before the 
close of his administration, that its condition was very much what it 
had been twenty-five years before. 

In 1867, after peace and comparative order had been restored, anew 
era of progress began, under Supt. Z. F. Smith, who had been elected 
in August of that year, and served until 1871. Mr. Smith began his 
administration with a progressive programme of action, which he sub- 
mitted to the i^eople in a special report, accompanying Governor Ste- 
venson's message of December 2, 1867. His ideas were based on 
having the means of the system increased and its organization 
improved. 

The main features of his plan were as follows: To have the ad 
valorem State tax increased from 5 to 20 cents on the $100, to which 
a poll tax of from $1 to $2 per capita was to be added; to grant to 
districts the right to vote an additional tax of 30 cents on the $100, in 
order to provide schoolhouses, lengthen the school term, and pay 
better salaries to teachers. Also to have the school law so recon- 
structed as to secure improved schoolhouses, uniformity of text-books, 
better qualifications of teachers, greater power for local school officers, 
and other desirable results. His programme also included more 
advanced ideas, such as the establishment of a State normal school, 
the formation of teachers' institutes and associations, and other pro- 
gressive features, many of which have since been adopted. 

His proposition to submit the question of an additional tax of 15 
cents to the people was passed by the legislature on Januaiy 22, 1869, 
and was approved by the peoi)le in the succeeding August. Soon 
2127— No. 25 22 



338 HISTORY OF higher education in KENTUCKY. 

after, a greatly improvcwl school law was adopted, although it was not 
yet what Superintendent Smith would have had it, as it contained 
many objecitionable features of the old law. When this new law 
went fully into effect, on July 1, 1870, the public-school system of 
Kentucky may be said U) have entered upon a fourth era of progress. 

Within a year a great and vital impetus was imparted to it, as may 
be clearly seen by a comparison of the statistics of the school years 
1808-011 and 1870-71, the last full year under the old system and the 
first one under the new. The numl)er of schools taught had increased 
from 4,477 to 5,177; the amount expended for schools from $275,113.61 
to 8770,()72, th(^ latter making a per capita allowance of $2 "per scholar 
instead of 7.*3 cents, as under the former, although there had been an 
increase from »370,8C8 children of school age to 389,836. 

Besidc^s thes<^ oi'ganic advances during Superintendent Smith's 
administration, the discussion of the cause in the legislature and the 
arguments advanced in its behalf by the superintendent and other 
zealous friends, through the State press and otherwise, did much to 
awaken in its behalf a deeper and more widespread public interest 
than formerly, and one which would later demand a more liberal 
and efficient system. The work accomplished during the administra- 
tion may be summed up in general, acjcording to Collins, as follows: 
The amount of State funds distributed had been greatly enlarged; the 
number of schools taught increased, as well as the average attend- 
ance on these; and the character of the teachers, and consequently 
the quality of education given, greatly improved. 

LATER DEVELOPMENT. 

The condition of the public-school system of Kentucky for the last 
twenty-eight years has been one of uniform and steady progress in 
almost all directions, particularly in the matter of the perfection of 
its organization and the continued growth of a healthy public senti- 
ment, especially locally. Some notice will now be taken of the various 
progressive steps that have occurred under the different superin- 
tendents' administrations. 

In 1871 H. A. M. Henderson, D. D., LL. D., succeeded Mr. Smith 
as superintendent and served efficiently for eight years, being indorsed 
by the people, by reelection, in 1875. Superintendent Henderson did 
much toward perfecting the statistical blanks of his department, in 
more completely organizing institutes, first inaugurated in the pre- 
vious administration and very efficient in improving the qualifications 
of teachers, and also in remodeling the school law to suit the wants 
of the State. The general statutes of 1873 made important and vain- 
able changes in this law, especially by reintroducing the plan of 
district taxation as supplementary to the income derived from the 
State. 

In 1879 J. D. Pickett, LL. D., was elected superintendent. He 
served continuously until 1891, dunng which time several laws of 



I 



THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 339 

importance were passed. By an act approved April 24, 1882,^ the per 
capita for white and colored schools was equalized and a vote on an 
additional 2 cents ad valorem tax authorized, while at the same time 
the school fund secured its just proportion of the tax on railroads and 
other corporations. The additional 2 cents tax was ratified at the 
polls in the following August. 

An act of May 12, 1884, secured quite an advance for the system 
by substituting county superintendents, elected by the people, instead 
of the previous county commissioners appointed by the county courts. 
It also improved the course of study, made better arrangements for 
building schoolhouses, reduced the size of districts, and provided for 
State as well as county institutes. It was amended on May 17, 1886, 
in such a way as to improve the qualifications of teachers. Several 
steps of advancement outside of these laws are noticeable during 
Superintendent Pickett's administration, such as the lengthening of 
the school term, the improvement in average attendance, the increase 
in the amount of local taxation levied, and the establishment of 
graded schools in a number of towns and cities. 

E. P. Thompson became superintendent by popular election in 1891. 
The new State constitution adopted in this year, besides putting the 
former school fund, and its additions as well, on the old basis of being 
inviolably devoted to public schools, added, by section 188, to the pre- 
vious school fund the direct-tax fund of $606,641.03, which had been 
returned to the State by a Congressional act of March 2, 1891. A new 
State bond, bearing 6 per cent interest, was issued for this amount on 
March 12, 1892. On July 6, 1893, the school laws were systematized 
and codified in conformity with the new constitution. Superintendent 
Thompson says^ of this law: "Under its express and constructive 
provisions an organization is assured that will be not only symmetri- 
cal and consistent, but adapted to present needs and promotive of 
normal development." The principal new features of this law were, 
that it required all schools to be graded and to be at least five months 
in length each year; that it made county teachers' associations obliga- 
tory, and provided for county teachers' libraries. 

The administration of Superintendent Thompson is marked espe- 
cially by the establishment of well-organized graded schools in almost 
all the populous communities in the State. The average school 
attendance also considerably increased during his term of office, while 

'Schools for the colored population of the State were first provided by the act 
of February 14, 1866, which appropriated for their schools all the taxes i)aid by the 
race in the State except enough to support their paupers. By an act of March 9, 
1867, a poll tax for school purposes was laid on all males of the race over 18 years 
of age. By an act of February 23, 1874, all fines and forfeitures paid by the race 
were added to their school fund and all moneys from the sale of public lands set 
SLp&Tt by the United States until the per capita of the race should equal that of 
the whites. 

•Report of 1893-94, p. viii. 



340 HISTORY OF IIIOHEB EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

Ib<»n» was a considorablo onlargoineiit of local taxation supplementary 
lo tlio Stato fund, aln^ady augmented by the direct-tax fund. These 
additional moans made it possible^ for tho average wages of teachers 
to bo advan(*od somewhat, and consequently their qualifications were 
to some* d(»gr(M» improv(»d. 

In January, IS'.XJ,^ Suporinfondont Thompson was succeeded by 
W. .1. Davidson, who is th(^ present oflicial head of the State public 
school syst^'m. T]w ])i'in(*ipal c»vent of Superintendent Davidson's 
administration has Ixmmi tho passage by the legislature of a compulsory 
school law, approved ^Iar<*li L^'^, ISOO, which requires at least eight 
weeks' continuous attendance at s(*hool annually on the part of all 
children Im^Iwcmmi 7 and 14 years of age. Statistics seem to indicate 
that this a(^t has, during the past two yeara, considerably increased the 
av<»rage attendance of the ])ublic schools of the State. 

T\w. progrc^ss of tlie public school system of Kentucky in recent 
years may be readily scmmi by a comparison, in a general way, of the 
school statistics for the years 1870-71 and 1895-96. The number of 
schools taught had during this time increased from 5,177 to 8,143, 
and the amount expended for schools from $779,072 to $3,028,432.^ 
This gave a considerably larger i)er capita allowance, although the 
number of children of school age had increased from 389,836 to 
730,109. 

The sources of State school revenue in 1897 were the following: (1) 
The interest at per cent on the permanent school fund, composed of 
the fund of $1,327,000,3 and the bank stock of $73,500 held by the 
State in 1870, and the direct-tax fund of $006,641.08 of 1891;* (2) of 
a State tax of 22 cents on each $100; (3) of forty-four eighty-fifths of 
all taxes on railroads, banks, and some other corporations. 

The organization of the system, during the period referred to above, 
has also been greatly improved in almost all respects, especially in 
the raising in dignity and importance of the ofl&ce of State superin- 
tendent and the conferring of greater powers upon its incumbent. 
The greatest weakness of the organization at present is the local 
trustee system, which is of such a character that, at least until public 
sentiment is greatly improved, it does not guarantee the appointment 
of efficient teachers for the schools, especially in the country districts. 
Local public opinion has much improved of late years, as is shown by 
the large? increase during that time of local taxation for school pur- 
poses. The further enlargement of local taxation is, however, the 
one thing needful, in a financial way, for a larger general success of 



' Under the State constitution of 1891 the superintendent goes into office in Jan- 
uary, instead of in the summer, as before. This made Superintendent Thompeon^i 
term a little more than four years. 

'^Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1896-97, p. LXIX. Of this 
amount $1 ,079,254 came from local taxation and $1,804,360 from State taxation* 

'Fixed at this amount by act of March 21, 1870. 

^ There is also a surplus fund going to the various counties of |881 ,986.08. 



THE PITBLIC'SCHOOL SYSTEM. 341 

the public schools of the State. Kentucky already grants as a State 
one of the largest per capita allowances to her public schools of any 
State in the Union, and further increase of State taxation is, by those 
who are well informed on the subject, not thought to be desirable. An 
improvement in the local support of schools, which will cultivate the 
proper public interest, is, however, much needed in the State. 

According to the recommendations of Mr. Davidson and other recent 
superintendents, other improvements are neec^.ed to bring the system 
up to what it should be and to make it compare to the best advantage 
with the more advanced systems of other States. Among these may 
be mentioned the lengthening of the required school year to at 
least seven months, the establishment of not less than two additional 
training schools for teachers, in addition to the one already connected 
with the State college, and also the introduction of better methods of 
employing teachers. This last object would be largely brought about 
by a proper change in the method of selecting local school trustees.^ 
It can probably be fairly said that few, if any, of the States of the 
Union have, in recent years, made more rapid or better progress than 
Kentucky in the organization of an efficient system of public schools. 
Her school system is doubtless much less advanced than that of a 
number of the States more favorably situated in various ways, but 
its condition for the future is one of great hopefulness. 

STATE ELEEMOSYNARY INSTITUTIONS. 

The public-school system of Kentucky in its legal organization 
includes not only the public schools proper, but also the Agricultural 
and Mechanical College, the State Normal School, and the various 
institutions intended for the education of the children of the State 
who are defective in such a manner as not to be able to attend with 
advantage its public schools. Kentucky has provided well for these 
classes by the establishment of institutions for the education of the 
blind, of deaf-mutes, and of feeble-minded children. The other parts 
of the system having been described, a general idea will here be given 
of these institutions, in order to give a complete view of the State's 
educational policy. 

The Kentucky Institution for the Education of Deaf-Mutes was 
established in 1823 and is located at Danville. It is open to all chil- 
dren who are deaf, between 8 and 18 j^ears of age, to whom it gives a 
public-school education, in addition to which the boys are given 
manual-labor training and the girls are taught the domestic arts, all 
being required to labor two hours and a half each day. A department 
for colored children was added to the school in 1885. The institution 

'An improvement in this regard was provided by the legislature of 1898 by hav- 
ing the trustees elected after the schools begin, therebj' preventing to some extent 
the attempt of prospective teachers to influence their election. 



342 HISTOKY OF HKiHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

usc's th<' eoin])iiuMl oral and inannal iiuafiods of instruction. Augustus 
Uojjors is the pn»Ht»nt sup<»rinteii(lent. 

Tin* Kontueky IiiHtitution for the Education of the Blind was 
found(*d in 1H42 and is hu^atod in Louisville. It has a fine main build- 
ing, with acoomnKMlations for KM) pupils, usc^d for white children, and 
a s<*|mrat<' building for t'olorod children, which will accommodate 25. 
]^)th buildinp^ are splendidly l<K*atod in a l>eautiful park of 25 acres. 
The seh<M)l is under the eharp^ of a lM)ard of nine citizens of Jefferson 
County, apiN)inted by the* j^overnor. It receives all children between 
and IS years of ajre who (•an not S4»e well enough to study in the 
publie soh(M)ls. To these it aims to furnish a good grammar-school 
edu(*ation, with s^MMMal instruction t-o all in manual training and 
domestic* economy, and a ^0(mI musical education to those who are 
ciipable of t^ikinjr it. The pn»sent supt^rinttmdent is B. B. Huntoon. 

TIh' KentU(*ky institution for the training and education of feeble- 
minded <>hildren is situated near Frankfort, and was organized in 
18<>(>. Its grounds eontain 0;5 aen^s of good blue-grass land. The 
institution receives children Ix^tween and 18 years of age who are so 
d<»feetive as not to l)e abh» to pursue with success the educational 
metlKHls ordinarily used in the public schools, and yet are capable of 
rtM*eiving some mental training. To these it imparts such elementary 
instruction as they are able to receive, while at the same time teaching 
them the rudiments of some useful trade. The school has been partic- 
ularly unfortunate in the way of tires. The first building, a frame one, 
wa« burned al)out 1HG7. It was replaced by a handsome brick struc- 
ture, wiiich was burned in 1888. A new brick building which was 
then erected was also destroyed by fire on September 1, 1896. The 
present building, which is tlie best proportioned and most convenient 
of all, was occtupied on January 1, 1898. This school, as well as all the 
other eleemosynarj' educational institutions of the State, requires the 
students attending it to pay a moderate charge for their education, 
as far as they are able. Dr. J. P. Huff is its superintendent. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Rex)ort of the commissioners of 1822: reports of yarlons legislative committees on 
education, especially that of the committee on education of the house of represent- 
atives of 1829, second edition, Frankfort, 1830; the Common-school Assistant, 6 
volumes, Alhany, 1836-1840; messages of governors; acts of the legislature; re po rts 
of the State superintendent of education; inaugural address of president Ghreen, of 
Transylvania University; Henderson's centennial exhibit; articles by Cdonel 
Durrett in the Courier- Journal of January, 1881 ; articles by T. M. Gkx)dknight in 
the Southern School of 1893-94; Collins's sketches; Butler's, Collinses, Shaler*s, and 
Smith's histories; Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky; thePresbjrterian Ency- 
cloi)edia; the American Journal of Education; the American Annals of Education; 
Bamard*s American Journal of Education; Niles*s Register; the American 
Almanac. 



THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 343 

PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM OF LOUISVILLE. 

The development of a system of schools in the city of Louisville has 
been quite progressive, having been, as a rule, quite in advance of 
the educational policy of Kentucky and even, in some particulars, of 
the country at large. A sketch of it will therefore be historically 
valuable as well as interesting, and is accordingly given in this con- 
nection. Butler says,^ in speaking of the little Kentucky had done 
for public elementary education in 1834, "To this remark the city of 
Louisville presents a proud exception and a model for the rest of the 
State." 

We have already, in tracing the history of Jefferson Seminary, 
noticed that at the founding of that institution in 1816 there were in 
Louisville a number of schools of the "Old-field" type, for which the 
new seminary was to be a finishing school. None of these schools 
were, however, free, as tuition was charged in all of them, the usual 
rate being $2.50 a quarter. 

The foundation of the present public-school system of Louisville is 
to be found in a provision of section 12, article 11, of its first city 
charter, granted on February 13, 1828, which says: 

The mayor and councilmen shall have i)ower and authority to establish one or 
more free schools in each ward of said city, and may secure donations of real and 
personal estate to erect the necessary buildings and to provide the necessary 
means for their maintenance, and may supply the funds from time to time by a 
tax on the ward or wards where such school or schools shall be established. 

This provision was somewhat deficient, especially in providing no 
funds for building purposes, but was in advance of any action yet 
taken by the State and even, as we shall see, somewhat of public 
opinion in the city at the time. 

On April 24, 1829, the city council, upon the previous recommenda- 
tion of John C. Bucklin, the first mayor of the city, "that steps be 
taken looking to the adoption of some well-digested system for estab- 
lishing a permanent free school," passed an ordinance establishing a 
public school, on the Lancastrian or monitorial plan, to be free to 
all white children between 6 and 14 years of age. This school was to 
be managed by a board of six trustees, appointed each year by the 
mayor and city council. 

Soon afterwards the trustees elected Mann Butler, then at the head 
of Jefferson Seminary, as the principal of the proposed school, and 
appropriated $150 for him to go east to examine the Lancastrian sys- 
tem, then in use in New York, Boston, and other cities. He returned 
in August heartily in favor of the system, which was first put in oper- 
ation in the upper story of the old Baptist Church, on the southwest 
corner of Green and Fifth streets, where the first public school in 
Louisville and in Kentucky was opened on August 17, 1829, under 

* History of Kentucky, p. 188. 



344 III.STOUY nV HKJUKU KUUCATIOX IN KKNTL'CKY. 

Mr. I>iitlrr, with Kdwanl Itakt^r as assistant. Tlio priiiciimrs salary 

was sT'H' aiiimally; that uf tlio assistant, «KK). 

'I'liis sfliuul was TnM* thr tirst yt»ai\ tho rity appniprhilin^ #2,050 for 
its sii]>|Hirt. I*ul>lir itpiiiinii, liowrviT, <hN*s not si'eni to have 8Ui> 
pnrti'«l th«' ;;!'a!itiii;; (it' this a]>]>ropriatioii, ainl in tlio second year tui- 
tion I'fps wt'i'r rliai*;r«'<l. 'I*h»'>«' \v«Ti* I'claincd for a nu ml km* of years, 
hut \v<'n* always inodci-ati* in anionnt. IMipils sin in (*ro\v<le<l into the 
iM»w s(*lio<il, and In't'on* thr end uf its lirst v<*ar inanv had to be turned 
away l*i»r want of i-onni. A rrpin't of a coniinittec of the eity council, 
n»ad«' thrnu;rli its rhairnian, .laim's tiutlirie, on November 20, 1829, 
says thriM' \wvv th«'n l''»7 pn]>ils t'lM-oliiMJ, of whom 150 were reading 
nndiM' inonit<M-> and 7.^ willmnt, wliil(»:io w<>re learning their alphabet, 
tlh» avt'rap' daily attt*ndan(M* hrin«; ISO. 

Mranwhih', in .\n;;nst, 1Sl>i», a <*oinmittcM» of the city council had 
purchasiMJa lot on th<> snntliw(»>t corner of \VaI nut and Fifth streets 
and bci^un the crrrtlDii of a ImildinLr for tlie scIkn)], which was occu- 
piiMJ the follow i I i;r y<*ar, and had rust, in<*linling the lot, about 810,000, 
a|>jM"opriated, it s(»ems, from tin* rity treasury. It was ccmstructed of 
In'ick; ha<l an imjiosin^^ front (»f (h fcot, and a depth of i)4 feet; was 
thr«'r slorii's in hei^lit, and was desiirned to aci'ommodate 750 pupils. 
A rity ordinaiHM' of Aiiirnsl Jn, is.jn, divid<Hl tin* s(*h(M)l into a pri- 
mary, a female, and a irrammar seliool <iepartment,e«*i(*h under aprin- 
eipal, tin* lirst two of whom were to n^^dve SOOO eaeh annually and 
tlie last «7(ML At the sam«' time tlie law instituted asystem of tuition 
fees, whieh w(»r«' made J<1 ])er <inarter in tin* primary department and 
>«l..*>o in each of tin* others, the triiste(»s liavin;r the power to remit 
thes«' fees, ill i>art or in whoh', wlienever in llndr judgment the pupils 
were not abh* to pay them. .Alonitors were to be used as assistant 
teaeliers. 

Tlie sehool was opened in the new building <m the first Monday in 
Sei)teml)er, ls:;(), .Alanii Unlh'r being principal of the grammar school, 
Uev. Daniel Uanks of the f«'male department, and Alexander Ewell 
of tlie ])rimarv, all rii)e scholars. During this year there were 380 
pii])ils in atteii<lan(*e. The teaclu'i's certainly (»anu»d their money, for 
tlioy were reqnire<l to t<'ach from six to <'ight. hours a day for eleven 
months of the year. Tli(» course was intended to give only an ordi- 
nary Kn^^disli e<liication, although it included for a time considerable 
high-school work. The school had in ls:>j' sl>()() in apparatus, and 
its total annual cost to the <-ity at that tinn^ was *;5,070, 82,400 of 
which was paid by 1 nit ion fees. It had then 400 pupils in attendance. 

Tlu' city received nothing from tli<'Stat<» public-school fund until 
1S4(), but l)y a h'gislative act of January l'Ii, 1S.30, had been author- 
ized to appropriat<' to Ikm* public schools all es(*heats of i)roperty in 
the citv and all fliu^s and forfeitures in the JelTei*son circuit court 
and the courts Indd in tln^ (*ity by tlu^- nmyor and by justices of the 

* Louisville Directory for l.So3, page i:is. artich? by Mann Butler. 



THE PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 345 

peace. We are not informed as to what income was received from 
these sources, but it was probably not large. We have seen that Jef- 
ferson Seminary was acquired by the city in 1830, and that it was 
soon made a high school, under the name of Louisville College. This 
gave the city quite a complete school system, composed of primary, 
grammar school, and high school departments. 

Mann Butler remained in charge of the grammar-school depart- 
ment until 1834, when he resigned to accept a professorship in Tran- 
sylvania University. In November of that year a remarkable step 
for the time was taken in establishing a night school for apprentices 
especially. The sessions of this school were to last four months, and 
its tuition fees were very small. It had, the first session, 2 teachers 
and 22 pupils, and the second session 1 teacher and 24 pupils. Bar- 
nard tells ^ us that, in connection with these schools, a school agent 
was appointed, whose duty it was to visit all the city schools quar- 
terly and report on their condition. His yearly salary was $400. We 
see here one of the chief functions of a modern city superintendent. 
The records of the city school board of Louisville show that the duties 
of this school agent were soon enlarged, so as to be practically iden- 
tical with those of the city superintendent of to-day. 

Barnard calls ^ Rev. James Freeman Clark, appointed school agent 
by the mayor and city council on May 27, 1839, the first city superin- 
tendent of schools in America, but the records of the school board, 
then called the "board of visitors," show that as early, at least, as 
1838 Samuel Dickinson had been appointed as their agent, with all 
the functions subsequently exercised by Rev. Mr. Clark. The title 
superintendent was not regularly applied to this agent until 1847, but 
the duties of the latter had undoubtedly been identical with those of 
the former for a number of years. Louisville is thus, according to 
Barnard, to be credited with having the first city superintendent of 
schools in the country, as well as establishing the first night schools. 

Considerable was done between 1830 and 1840 in the way of enlarg- 
ing the field of education in the city, as additional schools were estab- 
lished, some in buildings erected for them, others in rented build- 
ings, so that by 1840 there were, besides the Louisville College, 7 pri- 
mary schools, 6 grammar schools, and 1 night school, with an aggre- 
gate attendance of 1,287 and an average attendance of 948. The salary 
of the principal of the main grammar school had by this time been 
raised to $900, and that of the school agent to $800. The city received 
this year its first pro rata from the State fund, amounting to $831.20. 

On May 27, 1840, an important ordinance was passed by the city 
council, which declared in its first section : 

That from and after the 1st of September next the monitorial system of instruc- 
tion and all charges for tuition fees in the city schools be, and they are hereby, 
abolished. 

' American Journal of Education, vol. 19, p. 537. - Ibid., vol. 24, pp. 253-255. 



346 HISTORY OF IIKiHER EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

This niu<l<» tli«» wlioh^ <uly s(*h(M)l syst<5iu free, except Louisville Col- 
l<»go, whi<»h still <*JiJirji:(^<l tuition. 

From 1S40 to 1^50 tlioro was no advance in the free-school idea, 
(»x<M»i)t tliat an arran^eniont wjis made, about 1845, to supply jKwr 
rliildn'ii witli l>ooks wIkmi noc^essary, but new schools were added to 
those alnsuly nxistinji; unchM'tho newmethod, until, in 1845, there were 
5 ^raiiiiiiar schools and 15 primary schools, with an aggregate attend- 
an<M» of 1,750, and an avora^o atU^ndance of 1,375; and in 1850 there 
W(»n» 5 jrrammar and IH primary schools, wliich received for their sup- 
port *:J, Son. so from the St^itc and *12,r)51.73 from the city and had on 
their rolls th<^ uanu\s of 4,3o:{ pupils. There were, in 1850, 43 teachers 
and ajHsist^mts, who reiMMVcMl salaries aggregating $16,050, and the 
value of tlu^ city school property at that time was $33,721.85. The city 
then had 45,(Mjo inhabitants and was divided into eight wards. 

The closing wonls of the fifth section of Article X of the second 
city chart(M*, adopted March 24, 1851, were as follows: 

No fees for tuition shall ever be charged in said academical department of said 
nniversity, in said high school for females, or In said public schools of Lomsvllle.^ 

This charter placed the property of the public schools and their 
manag<Miu^nt in charge of a board of trustees, composed of two mem- 
bers from each ward of the city, elected by the people of the ward. 
It declared that tlu*. a(*.ademic department of the university should be 
oxxmkmI in its new location and a central female high school should be 
establisluMl in 1852. It also allowed the city to levy a tax of not less 
than 124 cents or more than 25 cents on the $100, and to appropriate 
its portion of the State school fund and all fines and forfeitures in its 
courts, together with all escheats in its limits, to its own.schools. la 
addition it was empowered to make a special appropriation of $75,000 
to sui)ply needed school buildings. 

Early in 1852, in order to put the schools on a ward basis and have 
more desirable buildings, all the old school property was sold and new 
lots, suitably located, purchased, $68,405 being paid out for lots between 
May 3, 1852, and May 14, 1870, and between 1857 and 1873, 20 school 
buildings, all brick but one, were erected, the city having contributed, 
between January 1, 1853, and February 1, 1870, $610,000 in appropria- 
ti(ms to its schools. When the third city charter was adopted, on 
March 3, 1870, there were 4 intermediate, 14 district, and 4 branch 
schools, most of them in much larger buildings than in 1850, with an 
enrollment of 13,503 pupils and an annual income of $151,539.23, of 
which $28,520.48 came from the State. There were 267 teachers and 
assistants, with annual salaries of $164,265. 17.^ In 1854 the study of 
German had been introduced into the schools, and, in 1870, 4,667 

^ This made the whole city school system free. The academic department of tlie 
university is old Louisville College, nominally made a part of the UniYersity d 
Louisville in 1846. 

^The city then had 12 wards and a population of something over 100,000. 



I 



THE PUBIilO-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 347 

pupils were enrolled in the department, there being then 1 superin- 
tendent, 10 teachers, and 13 assistants connected with it, whose salaries 
were $15,700. In 1861 the Pestalozzian method of object teaching was 
introduced into the Louisville schools, mainly through the influence 
of Prof. W. N. Hailmann, professor of physical science in the male 
high school at the time, a normal school being temporarily established 
to facilitate its introduction. 

The charter of 1870 made the tax for city schools 25 cents on the 
$100, a special levy of 8 cents for three years or longer, as the city 
council might decide, being allowed, in addition, to supply buildings 
as needed. In the matter of providing for the education of the negro 
only has Louisville ever been behind the State of Kentucky in edu- 
cational policy. The State passed its first law looking to the estab- 
lishment of schools for its colored population in 1866, but the first 
step looking in this direction was not taken by Louisville until 1867, 
when, by an amendment to the city charter, all taxes paid by the 
negroes of the city were set apart to provide separate schools for their 
children. 

Nothing was accomplished under this act, but section 86 of the 
charter of 1870 made a similar provision, and, by a liberal interpreta- 
tion of this charter, the city soon went far ahead of the State in pro- 
viding schools for the race. In the latter part of 1870 two colored 
schools were opened with 3 teachers each and an enrollment of 457 
pupils. The first colored high school building, a very handsome and 
well-equipped one, was dedicated on October 7, 1873, there being then 
three other buildings for the race accommodating 1,000 pupils. The 
running of these cost the city more than $3,000 a year above the taxes 
received from its colored population, which was something less than 
$2,000. The number of these schools was further increased in the 
next few years so that when, in 1882, the schools for the two races 
were put upon the same basis by State action, Louisville already had 
quite well provided for the education of her colored population. 

The history of the school system of Louisville since 1870 has been 
one of continued and uniform progress in other directions besides 
that just indicated. In 1880 an additional tax of 5 cents on the $100 
was imposed to meet growing needs. In that year the income of the 
schools from city taxation was $160,079, whereas in 1870 it had been 
$139,366. The amount received from the State fund in 1880 was $50,964. 
In 1881 the total income of the Louisville schools was about $300,000. 
At that time there were 31 schools with 328 teachers and an average 
attendance of 14,992 pupils, the city school property then being valued 
at $847,338.20. 

The charter of 1893, passed in order to conform the city government 
to the new State constitution of 1891, retained practically intact the 
previous city school system, in the organization of which it made no 
material changes, the control of the system being vested in two trustees 



34H HISTORY OF HIGIIICR EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY. 

o1<m*1<m1 from oarh of tlu* sovtMi h^gislativo districts of the city instead 
of two from oacli ward as form(»rly. According to it, the city tax, 
lovii'd for scliool pnriMiscs, was inad<» not less than 33 cents on the 1100. 
TIh' ^rowtli of tlic system in rcc(»nt years may be seen from the fol- 
lowing statistics for tliesehool year ending June 30, 1897: There were 
tlion 44 s(fh<M)ls, 3l> ward schools, ])rinmry, secondary, and interme- 
diat(», Ix^sides 4 hi^li schools (including the manual training school), 
and a normal school, witli a total enrollment of 26,242 pupils, and 
an average* attendanc(» of 1!>,S3(); the total number of teachers 
iM^ing i)r){\. Tlic s(*hool property was valued at $1,047,280, and the 
scliool fnrnituie an<l apparat us at *SS,Oi»0. The money received from 
tlM' State was *17r,,31().8(); from city taxes $320,1.54.35, and the total 
expc^nsos for thc^ y(»ar were $520,300.10, of which $350,511.58 was paid 
for teacliers' salari(»s. 

Mucli of the suc<'ess of the present school system of Louisville is 
due to the exc<»ll(Mit superintendents of schools the city has had the 
go(^l fortune* usually to secun*. Of these, George H. Tingley, jr., 
deserves cs])ecially to be mentioned on account of his long and able 
services. 3Ir. ''IMngky liad l)ecomc a pupil of the city schools almost 
from tli(» inc(»ption of the system, was later a teacher and then a trus- 
tee. He was elected superint(»ndent in Sejitember, 1863, and served 
continuously until his resignation on October 7, 1894, having labored 
faithfully in behalf of the system, either as teacher, trustee, or super- 
intendent, for over fifty years, lie was succeeded by the present 
efficient superintendent, K. II. Mark. 

One of the most prominent features of the development of the 
school system of Louisville in re(jent years has been the more com- 
plete organization and enlargement of its higher departments. These 
consist at i)resent of four high schools, including the manual training 
scliooL and a normal school, and are worthy of some notice in this 
connection. 

AVe have seen that the school known at different periods in its his- 
tory as Jefferson Seminary, Louisville College, and the academic 
dei)ai'tment of the University of Louis\ille had long served as a high 
school for the boys of the cit3^ l^y the charter of 1851 it was regu- 
larly converted into thci city male high scliool, which it has since 
remained. This transformation and the change to the new location 
in the building of the law department of the university, which it has 
since occupied, do not seem to have been carried out until 1856, when 
William Ilarnoy became its first regular high school principal. It has 
since had 11 other principals, for longer or shorter periods of service. 
The school now has a faculty of 10 teachers and an excellent high 
school course, which i)repares for the best colleges and universities 
and foi* business lif(^ It usually has about 300 students and about 
30 graduates annually. 



THK PUBLIC-SCHOOL SYSTEM. 349 

A f(Mnale higli scliool was also provided for by the charter of 1851, 
to be established in the next year. It was not opened, however, until 
185G, when it was located at the southwest corner of Fifth and Walnut 
streets, and had J. C. Spenser as its first principal. It has since had 
three other i)rincipals. After having had temporary quarters in three 
other buildings, the school was finally located in 1873 in the build- 
ing it has since occupied on First near Chestnut street. This 
building wlien erected was one of the largest and finest of its kind 
in the country, costing with its furniture something over $115,000. 

The course of the school is very similar to that of the male high 
school, but substitutes for Greek something in the way of what is 
usually denominated ornamental education. The present faculty is 
composed of 19 teachers. The usual attendance is about 600 annually, 
and the graduates generally number about 50. Its present building 
has been overcrowded for several years, and arrangements have con- 
sequently been made to erect for it a fine new building at Fifth and 
Hill streets. When the school has been transferred to this building, 
its present building will probably become a home for tlie male high 
school, which, besides having no permanent location, has also been 
cramped for space. 

The importance of manual training had for some time been appre- 
ciated by the school authorities of Louisville, and efforts had pre- 
viously been made to furnish facilities in this department before the 
first preliminary steps looking in this direction were actually taken in 
September, 1800, when a manual-training department was attached 
to the male high school. Tliis had since been in operation with con- 
siderable success when, on May 2, 1892, Mr. A. V. Dupont, a wealthy 
citizen of Louisville and an enthusiast for such education, proposed 
to build and equip for the city, at his own expense, a first-class 
school building for manual training, with accommodation for 300 
pupils, provided the city would establish a manual-training high 
school as a part of its regular school system. This proposition was 
accepted, and the building, which is a handsome one, with a complete 
modern equipment, was partly occupied in October, 1892. 

The school was fully inaugurated in the autumn of 1893, with 
H. G. Brownell as its first regular principal. He is at present assisted 
by a faculty of 12 other teachers. The course of instruction, while 
putting great emphasis upon drawing and shop work of all kinds, 
also includes elementai-y science and mathematics, together with 
English, German, history, and civics. Something over 200 pupils 
have attended the school annually since its establishment, and the 
graduates during the last four years have averaged something over 
20 each year. 

A colored high school, known as the Central School, was, as we have 
seen, established in 1873. It has a faculty of seven teachers and a 



350 HISTOKY OF IIIGnEli EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY, 

cM)ui-so including tho dopartmonts of psychology and logic, English, 
liistory, niatlioinatics, natural scionco, and Latin. Its annual matric- 
ulation averag(\s about 2(K), of whom 20 are usually graduated. 

A I'ogular (uty normal Hcliool was established in 1871, as a necessary 
conipleniont U) the (*,ity soliool system, in order to supply it with trained 
t4^acluM*s. T1h» scli(K)l was located in one of the city school buildings 
on Main street until its present building on Market street was erected. 
Hiram Roberts was its first i)rincipal, and remained so throughout its 
history until his deatli in 1897, when he was succeeded by the present 
principal, W. J. MeConatliy. 

It was susixinded in 1878 on account of the extra expense due to its 
operation, but was soon found to be almost indispensable and was 
reopened in October, 1881. The present faculty has four regular 
instructoi's and live critic teachers. The school receives each year 30 
graduates from the female high school, and six others are admitted on 
examination. Tlie regular course is two years in length, and there are 
usually about 30 normal graduates. A commercial department was 
attached to this school in 1801, and has commercial and business 
classes, each with a course of one year. These classes combined 
have usually about 150 pupils, with about 100 graduates. There are 
five additional teachers in this department. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Tlie Lonisville Directory for 1832, containing a sketch of the diy by Mann 
Butler ; Butler's History of Kentucky; Deering's Louisville; Loaisville, Past and 
Present; Williams's Ohio Falls Cities; articles by Colonel Dnrrett in the Conrier- 
Joumal of January, 1881; Barnard's Journal of Education. 



o 






.« 



VITA. 

Alvin Fayette Lewis was bom near Bowling Green, Kentucky, 
October 9, 1861. He received his collegiate education at Ogden 
College, Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Princeton College, New 
Jersey, the former conferring on him the degree of A. B. in 1881 and 
of A. M. in 1885, and the latter the degree of A. B. in 1884 and A. M. 
in 1887. He was Principal of a preparatory school connected with 
Ogden College in 1881-1882, and an Instructor in Bardstown (Ken- 
tucky) Male and Female Institute in 1884rl885. He was then an 
Adjunct Professor in Arkansas Industrial University, Fayetteville, 
Arkansas, 1885-1887, and a Professor in the State Seminary at Talla- 
hassee, Florida, 1887-1889, and the President of the last-mentioned 
institution, 1892-1898, being absent on leave during 1895-1896. He 
pursued graduate studies in Johns Hopkins University in 1889-1892 
and 1895-1896, having given his attention mainly to Latin and Phil^ 
osophy in 1889-1890 and to History and Economics during the 
remaining years, devoting about three and one-half scholastic years 
to the Departments of History and Economics and Philosophy, in 
which courses were pursued principally under Professors Adams and 
Griffin, Associate Professors Ely and Emmott, and under Dr. James 
Sc'houler, Lecturer in American History. The candidate spent the 
major part of the winter semester 1898-1899 at the University of 
Berlin, pursuing there special courses in the departments under dif- 
ferent professors. His principal subject of study has been History, 
liis first subordinate Economics, and his second subordinate Phil- 
osophy. At intervals between 1892 and 1898, he has collected, 
mainly on the ground, the facts for the accompanying dissertation 
on the History of Education in Kentucky. 



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