Chapter II: Preface (2)

It was the rule and custom at the Cokesbury Academy to open the school with the reading of the Scriptures and prayer. This requirement he had to carry out. One day while engaged in prayer he was powerfully convicted, and immediately sought pardon, and found peace in believing. Very soon afterwards he felt called to preach, and entered the ministry, and after a few years he joined the Conference, and was appointed to a church in Charleston, S. C. His health, however, allowed him to remain but a short time in the itinerancy. He accepted a professorship in Franklin College, Athens, Ga., at which institution he remained till he left to become President of Randolph-Macon College.

Rev. Solomon Lea, who was associated with Dr. Olin during his presidency at Randolph-Macon, gives the following points in regard to him:

"In his physique he had large frame and limbs, but was well proportioned. He had dreamy eyes and sallow complexion, indicating deep affliction. He never saw a well day, and yet he faithfully attended to all his duties. I have heard it said that he thanked God for his affliction. Like Paul he could glory in his affliction. He preached but seldom on account of his health. I shall never forget his sermons. The impression made by them seemed to follow me day and night for weeks and months. His style and manner were peculiar, differing from any other man I ever heard. His language was simple, pure English, free from technicalities and pompous words. His manner rather labored, not from loudness of voice, nor from gesticulation, but his profound thoughts elaborated in his giant mind seemed to struggle for utterance. There was no attempt at what is called eloquence. I have heard most of the great preachers of the day, some of them yery great, but I never heard the equal of Olin."

Rev. Leroy M. Lee, D. D., long a member of the Virginia Conference, and editor of the Conference paper, said of Dr. Olin: "He was the only truly great man I have ever seen of whom I do not feel constrained to say, on analyzing his character,

"'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view.'"

Rev. W. M. Lewis, D. D., of Missouri, who spent several years of college life under him, said of him: "He was of large and majestic form, a physical and intellectual giant, a paragon of moral and religious excellence, a perfect model of a Christian gentleman and scholar and pulpit orator. In my opinion the church has never had a better or greater man."

Rev. W. B. Rowzie, long connected with the College as Financial Agent and also as Chaplain, said: "He was a genial companion. No one could he in his society without feeling that he was in the company of one of the first men of the age, and yet he was modest and unassuming, as if unconscious of his greatness."

Dr. John E. Edwards, who visited the College frequently in its early history, wrote: "Dr. Olin's personal appearance impressed me as no other man ever impressed me. The Greeks would have deified him as a god."

W. F. Samford, LL. D., of Alabama, who graduated at Randolph-Macon College in June, 1837, wrote: "Physically, intellectually and morally, Stephen Olin was a giant--as veritable a one as Og, king of Bashan. He might well rank with the 'mighty men who were of old, men of renown' _facile princeps_ among all the great men I have ever known. The etymology of this word, by which I have designated him, _gigas_, suggests its appropriateness--a man of violence and terror. Without the restraints of divine grace his passions were volcanic, his ambition boundless. He once told me that before his conversion to Christianity he 'would have bartered a crown in heaven for a seat in Congress.' How humble, how patient, how loving he became as a disciple of Christ! 'Great, humble man!' exclaimed Dr. Leroy Lee, of Virginia, when he met him at the Conference in Lynchburg in 1835. Olin had disclosed his whole heart to Lee in a rebuke which he administered to him for a display of untempered zeal in a debate on the Conference floor--'What business have you with any feelings in the matter? A man of God should be gentle and easy to be entreated.'"

It may be thought that the estimates of Dr. Olin above given were partial, and hence not fully reliable. It is proper, therefore, to give the opinion of Rev. Theo. L. Cuyler, D. D., one of the most distinguished ministers of the Presbyterian Church, and one of the best writers of the present century. He speaks of him as President of Wesleyan University, Connecticut, about ten years after he left Randolph-Macon:

"In physical, mental, and spiritual stature combined, no Methodist in the last generation towered above Dr. Stephen Olin. He was a great writer, a great educator, and preeminently a great preacher of the glorious gospel. During the summer of 1845, While I was a student for the ministry, I spent some time at Middletown, Conn. Dr. Olin was then the President of the Wesleyan University, and was at the height of his fame and usefulness. Like all great men, he was very simple and unassuming in his manners; with his grand, logical head was coupled a warm, loving heart. When his emotional nature was once kindled it was like a Pennsylvania anthracite coal-mine on fire. These qualities of argumentative power and intense spiritual zeal combined made him a tremendous preacher. No one doubted that Stephen Olin had the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

"In physical stature he was a king of men; above six feet in height, he had a broad, gigantic frame and a lofty brow that resembled the brow of Daniel Webster. The congregation of the principal Methodist Church in Middletown always knew when Dr. Olin was going to preach; for the astral lamps were moved off the pulpit to prevent their being smashed by the sweep of his long arms. He was a vehement speaker, and threw his whole man, from head to foot, into the tide of his impassioned oratory. In the blending of logical power with heat of spiritual feeling and vigor of declamation, he was unsurpassed by any American preacher of his time. His printed discourses read well, but they lack the electricity of the moment and the man. Thunder and lightning must be heard and seen: they cannot be transferred to paper. As I recall Olin now (after the lapse of five and forty years); as I see him again in the full flow of his majestic eloquence, or when surrounded by his students in the class-room, I do not wonder that the Middletown boys were ready to pit him against any president or any preacher on the American soil. There are old graduates of the University yet living who delight to think of him and to speak of him, and to assert that

"'Whoso had beheld him then.
Had felt an awe and admiration without dread;
And might have said,
That sure he seemed to be the king of men.
Less than the greatest that he could not be
Who carried in his port such might and majesty.'

"In August, 1851, I paid a visit to Professor Smith, whose wife was my kinswoman, and on my arrival I learned that the President of the University was dangerously ill. The next morning my host startled me with the announcement, 'Dr. Olin is dead!' He had fallen at the age of fifty-four, when he was just in his splendid prime. There was great mourning for him throughout the whole Methodist realm, for he was a prince in their Israel, who held an imperial rank above any of his contemporaries. He took a large life with him when he went home to heaven; and valuable as were his writings, yet his imposing personality was greater than any of his published productions."

Rev. Martin P. Parks, Professor of Mathematics, acted as President of the College from its opening session, in October, 1832, until Dr. Olin took the place, March, 1834. He was a minister in North Carolina when elected professor. He had been educated at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where mathematics was taught more thoroughly than at other schools of that day. He was a brilliant preacher, and on that account he was put forward frequently, like his contemporaries, Hammett and Maffitt, to advance the enterprises of the church. Of his administration of the College not much can be said. His military education had much to do with making the laws exacting and minute. Rev. Solomon Lea (quoted above) said of Professor Parks:

"Professor Parks was a great and good man, a fine preacher, was of a sad, morose temperament, arising, no doubt, mainly from his physical condition, as he was a great dyspeptic, and the most nervous person I ever met. He could not bear the crowing of a rooster or the bleating of a calf; this, together with other considerations, had the tendency to make him suspicious, cold, and envious, so much so that Dr. Olin remarked to me that he had to go often once a month to Parks' house, read a portion of the Bible, and then pray together, and part with expressions of mutual love and kind feelings. This was often done by Dr. Olin. Poor Brother Parks, great and good man as he was (for I never doubted his piety), finally yielded so much to his temperament and jealous feelings as to resign his position, withdrew from the Methodist Church, and joined the Episcopalians."

Professor Landon Cabell Garland, first professor of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and Geology, was a native of Nelson county, Va., of which his father was the clerk. He was born March 24, 1810. At the age of nineteen he took his degree of A. B. at Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia. Immediately afterward he was elected to the chair of Chemistry at Washington College, Lexington, Va., where he continued till October, 1832, when he took charge of the same chair at Randolph-Macon. Bishop Fitzgerald, in _Eminent Methodists_, says of him: "His change from Washington College to Randolph-Macon was characteristic of Dr. Garland. There was more money in the one place, but more usefulness in the other. He was a Methodist, and he felt that Methodism had a paramount claim to his services." This was indicated clearly in his letter of acceptance of the place. Few men ever filled chairs at two colleges at an age just past twenty-one. This will indicate what estimate was placed on him at so early an age, and what was proven in this case to have been fully correct, by his long service of sixty-five years as an educator. Nothing but a most natural and remarkable modesty prevented him from becoming as conspicuous as he was well entitled to be, unless it was that he spent his long life in the South, the Nazareth of the nation, out of which few "prophets can come," if we judge by _The Cyclopedia of Biography_, which side-tracks such men as Garland and Duncan, whose names will shine "forever and ever" when thousands of those given in full, with portraits, shall have been forgotten, as if they never had lived.

If a man could be too modest and retiring Dr. Garland was such a man. Notwithstanding this, he lived to become President of Randolph-Macon College from 1836, after Dr. Olin left, till 1847, then Professor and President of the University of Alabama, Professor in the University of Mississippi, and finally Chancellor of the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tenn. In all these high places he influenced for good hundreds of young men whose praise is in all the churches and homes of the land. When he died, in 1895, these multiplied hundreds rose up and "called him blessed." If Virginia ever gave birth to a man who did more real service to the manhood of the South, his name and place would be hard to find.

Prof. Edward Dromgoole Sims was born in Brunswick county, Va., March 24, 1805. He was the grandson of Rev. Edward Dromgoole, one of the pioneer Methodist preachers in the State of Virginia, and one of the trustees appointed by Bishop Asbury for Ebenezer Academy, before referred to as the first Methodist school of its kind in the State.* He was a man of talents and great influence, and a member of the original Virginia Conference. One of his sons, George C. Dromgoole, was a member of Congress for many years, and was probably the most talented and influential member of the Virginia delegation in his day.

* This school was established in 1796, instead of 1786, as the Records of Brunswick County, recently found, show.

Prof. Sims took his A. B. degree at the University of North Carolina in 1824, and his A. M. degree in 1827, and was a tutor at that University for three years. He was a Professor at LaGrange College, Alabama, at the time he was elected Professor at Randolph-Macon. Like Dr. Olin his personal appearance was very marked. He was a man of great dignity and gentlemanly manner, and a most devoted Christian. Though not endowed by nature with the mental power of others of his associates, he nevertheless, by industrious application, became a fine scholar and a model professor. He was the originator of the "English Course" in colleges, of which more will be said further on. His department embraced the "Ancient Languages."

The Preparatory Department was under the control of Rev. Lorenzo Lea, an A. M. of the University of North Carolina, and a native of North Carolina. His contemporaries spoke well of him as a man of fine accomplishments and skill as a teacher. He also had been a tutor at his _Alma Mater_.

Thus equipped, Randolph-Macon College entered on its career--a career full of unforeseen trials and difficulties. It was to a great extent a new experiment, and the great need of the College, without which few, if any, have ever lived beyond a sickly existence, that is, a proper endowment, was a _desideratum_ unprovided for at this time. The funds on hand and subscriptions did not suffice to supply the buildings necessary and other outfit. Other colleges of the Methodist Church in distant States had entered on the same course. They had gone down or were soon to go down. This one now to be launched, under the good providence and blessing of God, was to survive the chill of poverty and the disasters of war--cast down often, but not destroyed. After over a half-century of struggle it was to anchor in a safe haven. Hope kindly blinded the eyes of those who launched the ship and prophesied a prosperous voyage. Faith sowed in tears ofttimes, and after many days gathered in the precious harvest. It was to be indeed _Alma Mater_ to many sons, and daughters, too, and a mother of many other Methodist colleges, blessing every State in the South, some of them surpassing in outfit and endowment the mother. As a loving mother rejoices with and in her daughters, so does Randolph-Macon rejoice in the colleges of the church she has lived to see grow and flourish.

Before proceeding further, let us look at the location and outfit of the College at the opening day.

The first College building erected stood on gently rising ground, one mile west of the village of Boydton, in the centre of what had been a race-track. On the north was an "old field," once cultivated, but now partially covered with pine and broom-sedge, a part seamed with gulleys. One splendid sweet-gum tree fronted the west wing. On the south there were small oaks of second growth, just large enough to furnish partial shade. Outside of the campus further on were thickets on both sides of the avenue leading to the Clarksville road. The campus contained about four acres, and was enclosed by a heavy wooden fence. The style of the building is shown on the opposite page.

The centre building contained the chapel on the north side--a room about fifty-two feet by thirty-two, with galleries on all sides but one. The other parts of this building were arranged for lecture-rooms, laboratory and halls for the literary societies. The wings of the centre building contained each twenty-four dormitories, each large enough for two occupants. Until the Professors' houses were built there was not a dwelling-house nearer than Boydton. Soon after the College was built, an avenue was opened from it to Boydton, bringing the College building and the village in sight of each other. Clarksville, a town of some importance in the tobacco trade, was twelve miles distant. Here was a bank and mercantile and tobacco houses.

The country around was such as was usual in the uplands of South-side Virginia, fairly productive of tobacco and grain. Petersburg was the nearest town of much size. To this town, about seventy miles away, much of the products of the country was wagoned over a dirt road, indifferently good in some seasons and almost impassible in others. The people around the College were kind and hospitable, representative of old Virginia in those days, not Methodist particularly in their persuasion; the more wealthy inclined to the Episcopal Church. There was an old Methodist Church in Boydton, but after the College was built the chapel became the worshipping place for the Methodists of the community.

The Preparatory School, a building containing two school-rooms, stood about a mile away from the College. The "Steward's Hall," a two-story brick building, fronted the College building on the north, intended to afford board for the students. In "old Virginia" style, this was several hundred yards distant from the College building.

The President's house stood about the same distance away. It was a plain brick building of one story. To the south and southwest other professors' houses were located, all with a sufficiency of land for gardens and lawns.

"The Hotel" was built soon after the College was opened, about a quarter of a mile to the south, on the Clarksville road. This had about a dozen rooms in it, and was intended mainly for the boys at the Preparatory School and to accommodate visitors.

It will be seen that the Building Committee had much to do before suitable accommodations could be provided for the professors and students. That many mistakes were made in this work, and in the location of the buildings and other matters, was not to be wondered at. They were the result of inexperience in the men in charge, not of any want of good intention and effort on their part. When it is considered that all the lumber for the buildings had to be sawed by the old-fashioned "pit-saw," and much of the other material had to be wagoned for seventy miles, we must not wonder that two years were consumed in bringing the buildings to partial completion.

As the buildings stood when completed, they were as good as those of any other college in the State had, and possibly better. The University of Virginia, opened in 1825, had better and more extensive ones.

The regular exercises of the College proper commenced on the day appointed, October 9th, 1832, Prof. M. P. Parks acting as President, in the absence of President Olin.

If any account of the opening-day exercises were published it has not come down to us. The first schedule of expenses was as follows:

Tuition fee for session of ten months, . . . . $30 00
Board (meals only), . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 00
Bedding and washing, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 00
Fuel,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 00
Lights,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 00
Deposit fee, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 00
Total, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$120 00

The first meeting of the Board of Trustees after the opening was held February 5, 1833.

At this meeting the following communication from the Georgia Conference Was received:

"LAGRANGE, Ga.

"We feel a deep interest in the success of Randolph-Macon College. We have full confidence in its moral and literary character and prospects, and we will recommend it to the patronage of all who may be disposed to send their sons or wards beyond the limits of the State to be educated.

"We will appoint four Trustees agreeable to the proposal made by Brother Early, the Agent of the College, who visited us. Whereupon the Conference nominated the Rev. Ignatius Few and Rev. Lovick Pierce, members of the Conference, and Seaborn Jones and John C. Poythress, Esquires, for that purpose.

"_Resolved_, That the Trustees of Randolph-Macon College be invited through their representative, the Rev. John Early, to send an agent, whenever they may judge it most suitable, to obtain donations within the Conference in aid of the institution; and that Brother Early be, and he is hereby, invited to take up contributions.

"(Signed) JNO. HOWARD,

"_Sec'y Georgia Conference_."

The nominees named above were elected Trustees of the College.

Rev. I. A. Few and Rev. L. Pierce were, by resolution of the Board, requested to act as agents for the College in the Boards of the Georgia Conference for securing funds for the College.

Rev. Robert G. Loving, A. B., was elected assistant teacher in the Preparatory School.

Rev. John Early was appointed Agent for the College in the place of Rev. H. G. Leigh, resigned, and Rev. W. A. Smith was appointed Assistant Agent in place of Rev. William Hammett who had signified his intention to resign.

The salary of President Olin was fixed at $1,500.

The first report of the Faculty, made through its Secretary, Prof. Garland, gave the following points of interest:

Though the session opened under many difficulties and embarrassments, with buildings not entirely completed, still great satisfaction was expressed at the success attained, and at the spirit and character of the students who attended the first term. A number of these were from the States of North and South Carolina and Georgia. The progress made in the College course had been marked and satisfactory. The main drawback had been in some cases a want of preparation for the course.

The Faculty made a strong appeal for apparatus for the Natural Science Department and for a library. In response to this appeal, the Board made an appropriation of $2,600 to the former and $1,000 to the latter.

The first session closed July 4, 1833. At the close Rev. William M. Wightman, one of the trustees from South Carolina, delivered the first literary address before the students and the public, at the request of the Washington Literary Society. This Society had been organized February, 1833. As it has been one of the main features of the College, along with its sister society, the Franklin, it will be interesting to give the names of its officers and members from the original records:

_President_, ROBERT T. MARSHALL, Virginia.
_Vice-President_, THOMAS ADAMS, Virginia.
_Secretary_, JOHN G. PARKS, Virginia.
_Treasurer_, ADDISON LEA, North Carolina.
_Collector_, ISAAC C. CROFT, South Carolina.
_Censor_, J. G. BANKS, Virginia.

_Members_.

ADAMS, R. E. G., . . . . Va.
BAIRD, CHARLES W., . . . Va.
BLACKWELL, THOMAS, . . . Va.
COLEMAN, J. J., . . . . Va.
GOODE, ROBERT S., . . . Va.
HAMLIN, JOHN F., . . . . Va.
INGRAM, ROBT. M., . . . N. C.
ISBELL, THOMAS M., . . . Va.
JONES, JAMES R., . . . . Va.
JONES, ROBERT T., . . . Va.
PRICE, NATHANIEL S., . . Va.
SOMERVILLE, R. B., . . . N. C.
SMITH, WILLIAM B., . . . Va.
TUCKER, JOHN E., . . . . Va.
WATKINS, J. W.,. . . . . Va.
WILLIAMSON, JAMES J.,. . Va.
WILLIAMS, JAMES M.,. . . Va.
WINFIELD, JOHN O., . . . Va.
WINFIELD, W. S., . . . . Va.

Immediately after the organization the following were introduced and made members:

BLAIN, GEO. W.,. . . . . Va.
BURNEY, JAMES, . . . . . N. C.
CALDWELL, JOHN H., . . . N. C.
CUTLER, ROBERT E., . . . Va.
DORRELL, AUGUSTUS, . . . S. C.
DRINKARD, W. R., . . . . Va.
DU PRE, WARREN,. . . . . S. C.
GAYLE, ALEX. T., . . . . Va.
GUNN, ALLEN M.,. . . . . N. C.
JENNINGS, JONA. B.,. . . S. C.
LYNCH, MONTGOMERY, . . . Va.
OWEN, WASHINGTON A., . . Va.
PERKINS, J. Q. A., . . . N. C.
STEWART, THEO.,. . . . . Ga.
STRATTON, R. B., . . . . Va.

To this Society was assigned the northeast room on the fourth floor of the centre building. One of the first acts of the Society was the formation of a library, which rapidly increased, and in ten years numbered two thousand volumes.

Not only did the society rapidly accumulate a library, but the hall was fitted up with a beautiful rostrum, president's chair, etc. A full length portrait of Washington was purchased, which to this day is the chief ornament of the hall.

Professor Warren Du Pre, class of 1836, one of the original members, who was a member when this portrait was bought, wrote an account of the inauguration of it to the author, which is worthy of preservation.

"MARTHA WASHINGTON COLLEGE,

"ABINGDON, VA., _May 30 1877_.

"MY DEAR OLD COLLEGE FRIEND: I have forgotten the name of the artist, a rising young man in New York, who copied it from a painting belonging to a wealthy gentleman of that city. Dr. Olin was on a visit to New York, and we put the matter in his hands. The artist was very highly recommended to him by good judges. His price was $600, but when informed by Dr. Olin that it was for a college literary society, he agreed to deduct one half. The frame, I think, cost $60, and freight about $20, making a total of $380.

"Dr. Olin scolded us for our extravagance, but when the portrait was finished, moderated his wrath. The amount was raised by subscription, altogether, among the members of the society--we numbered then over sixty members, as well as I can recollect. I. C. Croft and myself were on the committee, with one other, probably, J. O. Wingfield.

"When the portrait arrived and was placed in the hall, old John Blackwell, with his _horse-collar_ legs (as Croft called them) was appointed to unveil it and make a speech. This he did in his peculiar style; and I think Old George was pleased with the eulogy delivered on him.

"Yours truly,

"WARREN DU PRE."

Rev. John Early, who had been appointed to visit the Baltimore Annual Conference of the M. E. Church, reported to the Board that the Conference had declined to cooperate in the College enterprise, with kind expressions of interest in it. Dickinson College had recently been made a Methodist College, and the Conference preferred to patronize that, it being more accessible to their people.

The charter of the College having been amended, so that a president of the Board could be elected by that body, Rev. John Early was elected President.

The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the Board:

"The Board take great pleasure in giving a cordial expression of their thanks to the Faculty of this institution for the very able and faithful manner in which they have discharged the duties of their several stations. We consider them as having acted on the great principles on which the College was founded, and upon the continuance of which its prosperity in the future depends; and we have full confidence in their ability and disposition to support these principles in their future administration, and they are therefore worthy of the same confidence from the numerous friends and patrons of the College and the warm affection of the young gentlemen who may be placed under their care.

"It is the pleasure of the Board that these resolutions be read to the students of the College."

The second session of the College opened September 4, 1833, under favorable circumstances. A laboratory and library had been purchased, and the latter had been increased by donations. Bishop J. O. Andrew had donated forty-three volumes, and Judge A. B. Longstreet thirty.

A few days after the session opened another literary society was formed. It was first styled the Union Literary Society, but on the 7th of September, at the next meeting, the name was changed to Franklin. At the organization George Stewart, of Georgia, presided, and William C. Knight, of Virginia, acted as secretary. The following constituted its first regular organization:

_President_, JAMES L. BROWN, Virginia.
_Vice-President_, JOHN A. TALLEY, Virginia.
_Secretary_, GEORGE STEWART, Georgia.
_Treasurer_, THOMAS S. JACOCKS, North Carolina.
_Collector_, JOSEPH B. PANNILL, Virginia.
_Censor_, FRANCIS W. BOYD, Virginia.

_Members_.

BATTE, W. C.,. . . . . . Va.
BETTS, WILLIAM S., . . . Va.
BLAKE, CHARLES H., . . . Va.
BLAND, WILLIAM R., . . . Va.
BLUNT, WALTER F.,. . . . Va.
BOISSEAU, GEORGE F., . . Va.
CARROLL, JAMES . . . . . Va.
CLAIBORNE, FIELD,. . . . Va.
CLEGG, BAXTER, . . . . . N. C.
CLEMMONS, JUNIUS L., . . N. C.
DAVIS, ARTHUR, . . . . . Va.
DORTCH, ISAAC F.,. . . . N. C.
DRINKARD, WILLIAM R.,. . Va.
EVANS, AUGUSTUS C.,. . . N. C.
HICKS, BENJAMIN L.,. . . Va.
HITE, BENJAMIN W., . . . Va.
JEFFRESS, LUTHER C., . . Va.
JONES, ALBERT C.,. . . . Va.
JONES, AMOS W.,. . . . . N. C.
JONES, JOHN J.,. . . . . N. C.
JONES, JOSEPH S.,. . . . N. C.
KNIGHT, WILLIAM C.,. . . Va.
MULLEN, FRANCES N.,. . . N. C.
OLDS, LEWIS P.,. . . . . N. C.
PERKINS, NATHAN, . . . . N. C.
ROSE, GARLAND, . . . . . Va.
STEDMAN, EDWARD, . . . . N. C.
STOCKWELL, JOHN M.,. . . Va.
TILLETT, JOHN, . . . . . N. C.
WILLIAMS, SOLOMON P.,. . N. C.

]

The Franklin Hall was immediately under the Washington, on the third story. The rivalry between these societies was from the first strong, but regulated by conventional rules. The membership took in every student in the College at the beginning and for many years afterwards. There was only one from Georgia for many years a member of the Washington Society, and no one from South Carolina was ever a member of the Franklin. Students from the other States were divided about equally. Robert E. Cutler, of Virginia, gave tone to the oratorical style of the Washington, and William F. Samford, of Georgia, to the Franklin. The difference was thought to be observable for thirty years, until the year the societies were temporarily disbanded.

No catalogue of students was published in the early years of the College. The only publication made was "_The Charter and Laws of Randolph-Macon College, with the Names of the Trustees and Faculty, and the Course of Studies_. Richmond: Printed by Nesbitt & Walker. 1833." This prescribed four courses in the College, viz., Languages (Latin and Greek), Mathematics, Natural Science, and Ethics. Upon the completion of these four courses the degree of _Bachelor of Arts_ was conferred by the Trustees, on the recommendation of the Faculty. No A. M. degree course was prescribed, but all A. B. men could claim A. M. degrees who could show that they had continued their studies or pursued courses of professional study for three years.

Dr. Stephen Olin, president-elect, gave up his place at Franklin College, Georgia, December, 1833, and made his preparations to take the presidency at Randolph-Macon. Of this move he wrote Bishop I. O. Andrew:

"Upon the whole, I trust the hand of God is in these indications, and that our church will see and obey it. My vocation may have given a wrong bias to my views, but I must regard the subject of education as the highest after the living ministry; nor do I believe it possible for our church to maintain its ground, to say nothing of its fulfilling its high obligation to Christ and the world, without a great and immediate reformation. I was never so convinced that we must educate our own youth in our own schools, and there is no work to which I so desire to consecrate myself." On his way to Virginia he visited the South Carolina Conference at Charleston. Here he ably advocated the College and secured a pledge from the Conference to endow a professorship, the first we hear of endowment. The whole journey was made in his private carriage, his wife accompanying him. To her he dictated his "Inaugural Address," which she wrote out. Reaching the College after a long and tedious journey, he delivered the address in the College chapel. This address produced a profound impression on those who heard and on those who read it. It was published in the journals of the day, and was highly praised. Governor Tazewell said he had "never heard or read any similar address of equal ability so well suited to such an occasion." It is well worthy of republication in this history, but space will not permit. To show its chief point, the following extracts are given:

"In proportion as virtue is more valuable than knowledge, pure and enlightened morality will be regarded by every considerate father the highest recommendation of a literary institution. The youth is withdrawn from the salutary restraints of parental influence and authority and committed to other guardians at a time of life most decisive of his prospects and destinies. The period devoted to education usually impresses its own character upon all his future history. Vigilant supervision, employment and seclusion from all facilities and temptations to vice are the ordinary and essential securities which every institution of learning is bound to provide for the sacred interests which are committed to its charge. But safeguards and negative provisions are not sufficient. The tendencies of our nature are retrograde, and they call for the interposition of positive remedial influences. The most perfect human society speedily degenerates if the active agencies which were employed in its elevation are once withdrawn or suspended. What, then, can be expected of inexperienced youth sent forth from the atmosphere of domestic piety and left to the single support of its own untested and unsettled principles in the midst of circumstances which often prove fatal to the most practiced virtue! I frankly confess that I see no safety but in the preaching of the cross and in a clear and unfaltering exhibition of the doctrines and sanctions of Christianity.... Christianity is our birthright. It is the richest inheritance bequeathed us by our noble fathers. Are the guardians of public education alone 'halting between two opinions'? Do they think that, in fact and for practical purposes, the truth of Christianity is still a debatable question? Is it still a question whether the generations yet to rise up and occupy the wide domain of this great empire, to be representatives of our name, our freedom, and our glory before the nations of the earth, shall be a Christian or infidel people? Can wise and practical men, who are engaged in rearing up a temple of learning to form the character and destinies of their posterity, for a moment hesitate to make 'Jesus Christ the chief corner-stone'?"

When President Olin took charge of the College he found the system of departments somewhat elective. This was changed on his recommendation, to a curriculum of four classes, by the unanimous vote of the Faculty.

At the annual meeting of the Board, June, 1834, an additional college building was ordered to be built, a four story brick one, to contain thirty-two dormitories, adjacent to the main building. This was to supply rooms for the increased number of students.

The salaries of full professors was fixed at $1,000. The following resolution was adopted:

"That whereas the South Carolina and Georgia Conferences have manifested a deep interest in the permanent establishment of Randolph-Macon College by each agreeing to raise a sum sufficient to endow a professorship, and in consideration of which professorships they ask the privilege of sending, perpetually, the former Conference five and the latter seven students, to be educated free of tuition fees; and whereas we highly appreciate the generous spirit of said Conferences, therefore we hereby agree to receive ten from each of these Conferences free of tuition fees."

As further evidence of the interest felt by these Conferences, it was noted that Rev. W. M. Wightman, of South Carolina, and Dr. Lovick Pierce and Mr. E. Sinclair, of Georgia, attended the meeting of the Board at this session.

At the annual meeting held June, 1835, Professor E. D. Sims was granted leave to visit Europe to prosecute the study of Modern Languages, and particularly Anglo-Saxon and Gothic, preparatory to the more thorough teaching of the English language. This, so far as we know, was the first move made by any college in America, and marks an epoch in that department. Prof. J. B. Henneman, in the _Sewanee Review_, in a sketch of the teaching of English, in American colleges, gives the credit of inaugurating the English course to Randolph-Macon College.

A distinct and special effort was made at this meeting of the Board to endow a professorship, and the President of the Board made a subscription towards it of two hundred dollars. This was to be called the Virginia Conference Scholarship.

To fill the vacancy caused by Prof. Sims' absence in Europe, Rev. George F. Pierce, of Georgia, was elected Professor of Languages.

At this commencement the first degree of A. B. was conferred. The recipient was John C. Blackwell, of Lunenburg county. He was a typical alumnus, the leader of a great host that followed him, who lived to bless the world by their example and teaching. Beginning his active life after graduation as a tutor in Randolph-Macon College, he continued to teach until he became enfeebled by age. He founded the "Hinton Hill Academy" in his native county, and taught there for nine years. He was then, in 1848, elected President of the "Buckingham Female Institute," a school for girls, founded by the Virginia Annual Conference, one of the best, as it was the first, built by the church, in the State. He was, after this school was broken up by the war, made President of the Petersburg Female College. This, too, was broken up by the war. After the war he was elected Professor of Chemistry in Randolph-Macon College, just prior to the removal of the College to Ashland. He closed a long and useful life as President of the "Danville School for Young Ladies." During all his active life he was a local minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and preached as he had opportunity. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from his Alma Mater. The number of young people brought into the church through his instruinentality have been counted by the hundred. The first to receive a degree, he was the first alumnus to have a son and a grandson to receive the same. He died February 1, 1885. He was elected tutor in the College June, 1835.

Changes had occurred during the year. Fisher A. Foster had been elected Principal of the Preparatory School in place of Lorenzo Lea. Rev. Jno. A. Miller and Rev. John Kerr had been elected assistant agents in place of Rev. W. A. Smith and Rev. Thos. Crowder. The Treasurer, John W. Lewis, had died during the year: Beverly Sydnor was elected in his place. Bishop J. O. Andrew was elected a Trustee in place of Major Speer, of South Carolina: Hugh A. Harland in place of J. W. Lewis, deceased, and M. M. Dance in place of Green Penn, resigned.

COLLEGE YEAR 1835-1836

This year was successful under the guidance of President Olin, who was still in feeble health.

Prof. M. P. Parks resigned at the close of the session; Prof. Garland was transferred from the chair of Natural Science to fill the vacancy thus made. Robert Tolfree, of New York, took Prof. Garland's chair. Rev. Mr. Tomlinson was elected to the chair of English Literature.

The degree of A. B. was conferred June, 1836, on the following graduates: John O. Winfield, Virginia; Addison Lea, North Carolina; Robert S. Goode, Virginia; Charles W. Baird, Virginia; Alfred T. Mann, Georgia; Thomas M. Isbell, Virginia.

So feeble had the health of Dr. Olin become that he asked, in June, 1836, leave of absence to visit Europe, which was granted with great reluctance by the Board.

The following quotation from the _Life and Letters of President Olin_ is given as a closing reference to his presidency. He saw the College for the last time March, 1837:

"The last Commencement at which Dr. Olin presided during his connection with Randolph-Macon College was in June, 1836....

"The conviction grew upon him, from many unmistakable indications, that his health must rapidly break up, unless a year or two of retirement from intellectual labor and all kinds of mental excitement, and devoted to foreign travel, should, under the blessing of God, restore him. The return of cool weather in the autumn and approaching winter failed to recruit his shattered nerves or restore his health. His course was then at once decided on. After making several ineffectual efforts to have his place supplied, he consented, at the earnest wish of the Board of Trustees, to retain at least a formal connection with the College while in Europe, leaving the future, then so uncertain, open to the indications of Providence. To supply the vacancy in the Faculty, an additional officer was elected, and Professor Garland was appointed chairman of the Faculty and president _pro tempore_....

"The day of his departure came. His last interview with the Faculty was very touching. He was too feeble to sit up, but, reclining on a couch, he spent some half-hour in conversation respecting the affairs of the College. He felt satisfied, from the lengthened experiment he had made, that there was little or no hope of his being able to do efficient labor in a Southern climate, even though his health might be improved somewhat by his contemplated voyage. Although the Board of Trustees had declined to accept his resignation, and had given him as long a furlough as the exigencies of his health might require, yet he was persuaded that the time of his final departure from Randolph-Macon had come. It was very doubtful whether he should ever again see the face of any of his colleagues. His parting words had all the tenderness and dignity of a Christian who bowed with uncomplaining submission to the will of God--of a philosopher who looked calmly at the future, whatever its developments might be, whether bright or dark--of a friend who was about to carry with him the warm attachments of a heart alive to every generous sentiment and affectionate impulse. At the close of the interview his brother officers, with moistened eyes, knelt around his couch, and Professor Wightman, at his request, offered up a fervent prayer to the throne of the heavenly mercy, that God would graciously preserve in his holy keeping the life of their brother and friend, restore his health, and bring him back to his native land, prepared for greater usefulness than ever to the church and cause of Christ.

"At the close of this affecting interview the doctor was supported to his carriage, and left the College, never to see it again. His presidency had been a brief but brilliant period in its fortunes. He had manifested the highest adaptation to the responsible office which he held there. His unrivaled judgment, his shining talents, his far-seeing sagacity, his prudence in administration and firmness in government, his masterly grasp of influence, wielded for the highest good of the young men who came from far and near, attracted by the prestige of his name, his genuine love of learning, and enthusiasm in communicating knowledge, formed a combination of great qualities very rarely met with in men of even the highest reputation. No student or graduate of the College who enjoyed the benefits of a personal acquaintance with Dr. Olin will think the foregoing estimate of his worth as a presiding officer strained or overstated in the least particular."

Professor Hardy, of La Grange College, Alabama, who was a student at Randolph-Macon College during Dr. Olin's administration, has retained the following distinct remembrances of him:

"Dr. Olin left the College of Randolph-Macon in the spring of 1837, a few months before the class of which I was a member took their first degree. We waited on him in a body, and asked him to put his signature to our diplomas, for we cherished for him a filial affection, and felt that his name was indispensable. Many youthful hearts were sad the day he left the College for his European tour. The students met in chapel, adopted appropriate resolutions, and appointed two of their number to attend him to the railroad, a distance of sixty miles. He was worn down by disease, and we had no expectation of seeing his face again. He rode in his carriage on a bed, and preferred to go with no one attending him save his faithful, devoted wife. We bade him farewell, as children shake the hand of their dying father, and we saw him no more."

This was the marked event in the history of the College for the fifth year, 1836-'37.

Professor L. C. Garland was made President _pro tempore_. Rev. Mr. Tomlinson having declined to accept the chair of English Literature, Rev. William M. Wightman was elected to it, and accepted it. Professor David Duncan was elected Professor of Languages in place of Rev. Geo. F. Pierce who had declined to accept it.

Professor William M. Wightman was an alumnus of Charleston College, South Carolina, and a member of the South Carolina Conference. He took the chair of English Literature and Rhetoric which Professor E. D. Sims was expected to fill after his return from Europe. He was a man of decided talent and culture, and was in the prime of life, and well fitted for the work assigned him. He remained until Professor Sims returned from Europe, and then returned to South Carolina. He filled other very important and prominent positions in after years, viz.: The editor's chair of the _South Carolina Christian Advocate_, the Presidency of Wofford College, Spartanburg, S. C., and the Southern University, Greensboro, Ala. While at the latter he was elected, in 1866, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which office he served till his death, February 15, 1882. He received the degree of D. D. from Randolph-Macon College.

Professor David Duncan was a native of Ireland, and a graduate of Glasgow University, Scotland. At the time of his election to the chair of Ancient Languages he was conducting a flourishing classical school in the city of Norfolk, Va. The whole of an extended manhood was spent in teaching, the prime of it from 1837 to 1857. To his high scholarship was added a singularly genuine character and gentlemanly and genial deportment, which made him acceptable to his associates and popular with his classes. He was brimming full always with wit and humor. He was the father of Rev. J. A. Duncan, D. D., President of Randolph-Macon College, 1868-1877 and Bishop W. W. Duncan of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He died at Wofford College, where he was Professor of Ancient Languages, in 1881.

The year 1836-'37 was marked by the first report of the raising of a considerable instalment of the proposed Virginia Conference endowment of a Professorship. Rev. Jno. Early reported eighty-seven subscribers of two hundred dollars each, making $17,400. It was also a prosperous and satisfactory year in College work. The report of the Faculty made to the Trustees referred with emphasis to the good deportment and studiousness which had characterized the student body during the closing session. Their report also for the first time indicated the distinctions in the graduating class, which were as follows:

1. JAMES W. HARDY, . . . . . . . . . . Georgia.
2. FRANCIS N. MULLEN,. . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
3. JUNIUS L. CLEMONS,. . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
4. LEWIS W. CABELL,. . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
5. ROBERT M. INGRAM, . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
6. WARREN DU PRE,. . . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
ADAMS, RICHARD E. G., . . . . . . . Virginia.
BEARD, CLOUGH S., . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
BLAIN, GEORGE W., . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
CROFT, ISAAC C.,. . . . . . . . . . South Carolina
GEE, JESSE, . . . . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
HORSELEY, WILLIAM A., . . . . . . . Virginia.
MONTGOMERY, HENRY T., . . . . . . . Virginia.
SAMFORD, WILLIAM F.,. . . . . . . . Georgia.
STEWART, THEOPHILUS,. . . . . . . . Georgia.
WILLIAMSON, JAMES J., . . . . . . . Virginia.

In all sixteen.

The first-honor man pronounced the Valedictory Address; the second-honor man, the Latin Salutatory; the third, the Philosophical.

COLLEGE YEAR 1837-'38.

This year, under the presidency of Professor Landon C. Garland, acting president, the college made good progress. In the annual report of the Faculty made to the Trustees June, 1838, they say: "The past year has been one of peculiar interest and pleasure on account of the highly respectable conduct and praiseworthy diligence of the students generally, the number of whom has amounted to one hundred and ten in the College, and over fifty in the Preparatory School."

On the recommendation of the Faculty the following degrees were conferred, viz.:

_Bachelor of Arts_.

1. JOHN T. BRAME, . . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
2. EDWARD H. MYERS, . . . . . . . . . . Florida.
3. JAMES R. THOMAS, . . . . . . . . . . Georgia.
4. EZEKIEL A. BLANCH, . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
5. JOHN W. LEAK,. . . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
6. FRANCIS A. CONNOR, . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
BAXTER CLEGG,. . . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
GEORGE F. EPPES, . . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
JAMES M. FITTS,. . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina,
CHRIS. D. HILL,. . . . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
THOS. J. KOGER,. . . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
HENRY E. LOCKETT,. . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
JOHN A. ORGAIN,. . . . . . . . . . . Virginia.
THOS. B. RUSSELL,. . . . . . . . . . South Carolina.
JAMES R. WASHINGTON, . . . . . . . . North Carolina.
JAMES. W. WIGHTMAN,. . . . . . . . . South Carolina.

_Master of Arts: (Honorary)_.

REV. GEORGE F. PIERCE, . . . . . . . Georgia.
PROF. DAVID DUNCAN,. . . . . . . . . Virginia.
GABRIEL P. DISOSWAY, . . . . . . . . New York.

_Doctor of Divinity_.

REV. THOMAS JACKSON, . . . . . . . . England.

Steps were taken by the Board to endow the fourth professorship in the College.

Rev. John Early, agent, reported that further efforts to endow a professorship by the Georgia Conference would be suspended, that Conference having resolved to establish a College in its bounds. The amount reported as raised on said endowment was $16,000. He also reported the amount of endowment raised in Virginia as $20,000.

At this meeting we have reported the first intimation of financial embarrassment in the affairs of the College. Notwithstanding this the salaries of the full professors were raised to $1200 per year. The acting president, Landon C. Garland, was appointed to prepare an address on the pecuniary condition of the College, the same to be published in the papers.

Professor E. D. Sims having returned from Europe, Rev. William M. Wightman, Professor of English Literature, tendered his resignation, which was received with complimentary resolutions to him for his efficient services. Prof. Wightman returned to his native State, South Carolina, and to the itinerant ministry. The Faculty as reorganized for the session of 1838-'39 was as follows, viz.: