The Founding and the Founders of Hampden-Sidney College Long The

Th e F o u nding and th e F ou nd e rs o f Hamp den - S idney Co llege O G the tlantic Seaboard from ew York to S o uth Carolina L N A N , educational facilities in the eighteenth century were provided mainly by Presbyterians— The College of William and Mary being the h - . c ief exception Many of the Scotch , Scotch Irish , and Huguenot inhabitants of this section were educated men who desired educational advantages for their children because they knew that an educated ministry and educated laymen were necessary for the best interests of Church and . 50 State , wherever they settled they arranged for the establishment of “ - schools . This effort resulted in the organization of the so called Log , Colleges private academies under the control of tried and trusted teachers . Some of these were deservedly famous in their day and gave to the new me n country many young of mental force and moral power . I n Pennsylvania , the Tennents were at Neshaminy , Samuel Blair was at New Londonderry Samuel Finley was at Nottingham in Maryland ; while in New Jersey " Messrs . Dickerson and Burr fostered the incipient college now known as " the College of New Jersey . Later it became evident that th e educational system must rest on concerted effort and corporate support . To this latter — method of solving the educational problem Hampden Sidney owes its existence . It has been said that an institution is but the elongated shadow of a man . This is often true ; for instance , the University of Virginia is the academic incarnation of Thomas Jefferson . In the effort to apply this — doctrine to Hampden Sidney , Mr . Hugh Blair Grigsby in a spirit of enthusiastic generalization says : I might be justified in saying that the founder " - K . of your (i . e . Hampden Sidney) College was John nox It would , - perhaps , be nearer the truth to say that Hampden Sidney is the daughter of - the Log Colleges of 1720 1750. I f the credit of founding Hampden Sidney College could be given to one man , that man would clearly be S amuel Davies ( l723 - l 76 l though he had no official connection with it ; for this remarkable man was the apostle of Presbyterianism in Virginia , was the organizer of this church in the colony , and was the upholder and able defender of religious toleration in the Old Dominion . The Synod of New Y 1755 . ork in appointed the Reverend Messrs Samuel Davies , John Todd , Alexander Craighead , Robert Henry , John Wright and John Brown to [ 6 ] . In be a Presbytery under the name of the Presbytery of Hanover July , 1759 . , Mr Davies was inaugurated President of Princeton College and thus his connection with Hanover Presbytery was severed . But the Presbytery which he organized and the group of men of whom he had been the leader " I st 1775 — carried on . On February , , the Presbytery then consisting of the — Reverend Messrs . Sankey , Rice , Leake , Irwin and Wallace met at the house of Captain Nathaniel Venable , in Prince Edward County , to arrange for the organization of a school . On the next day , those gentlemen decided ' 3d to build an acade my at the head of Hudson s Branch ; on February , they l st 1776 chose Samuel Stanhope Smith , Rector ; and on January , , the i h fl academy opened its doors for work , w t a board of trustees of in uential men , Presbyterians and Episcopalians , with Rev . S . S . Smith as president and with John Blair Smith , Samuel Doak and David Witherspoon as fi assistants . One hundred and ten students enrolled during the rst summer , a number too large for the accommodations . So Hanover Presbytery set the school going , but this is not the whole story . While technically and historically Hampden - Sidney was the creature of Samuel Davies and his associates of Hanover Presbytery , it is evident as has already been stated— that this was a community enterprise enjoying the support of the Episcopalians of this section of Virginia . The . Academy Trustees were Reverend Messrs Sankey , Todd , Leake . — be rts . McRo . Wallace , Rice and the clericals The laymen were Mr Peter Johnston , the donor of the land on which the College stands ; Paul Carrington , of Charlotte , member of the House of Burgesses and Judge of the Court of ” Appeals ; John Nash , of Prince Edward , almost feudal lord of Templeton ; John Morton , of Charlotte , patriot and soldier ; Nathaniel Venable , of Prince Edward , who , with John Morton and James Allen , fed the students in time of need ; Thomas Read , long clerk of Charlotte and a fine type of colonial a civiliz tion ; James Venable , brother of Nathaniel Prince Edward planter ; Francis Watkins , of Prince Edward , another of the old clerks and trustee for forty years ; Patrick Henry , the matchless orator , the man of overshadowing “ ! fame John Tabb , of Amelia , burgess and soldier ; William Cabell of Union Hill , a man of broad outlook and earnest purpose , ancestor of the Cabells " and their kin ; J ames Madison , fourth President of the United States ; Joseph Parke , Charles Allen and James Allen , all of Prince Edward . and h trustees of bot the Academy and College ; William Morton , of Charlotte , fi beneath whose unerring aim , on the eld of Guilford , the gallant Colonel Webster , the eye of the army of Cornwallis , fell to rise no more William Booker , who , with William Watts , represented Prince Edward in the Virginia Convention of 1776 ; Samuel Woodson Venable , ensign in the Hampden [ 7 ] Sidney company of volunteers and colonel in the Continental Army ; and Thomas Scott , of Charlotte , burgess and father of fighting sons . A careful reading of this list of trustees will show that the College came into being not only because of Presbyterian influence and initiative but also because of social and economic conditions prevailing in the valleys of the Staunton and of the Appomattox . The rich planters on the James and in the Tidewater could send their sons to England , or , if they could do no better , to William and Mary . The residents in Southside Virginia , pioneers in a comparatively new country , not wealthy but comfortable , knowing the value of an education , but unable to obtain it at a heavy expense , felt impelled to provide suitable scholastic advantages for their sons in their own territory . h- Thus the Scotc Irish from Pennsylvania , from the Valley and from Eastern Virginia ; the English , who , in successive stages , moved up from the low country ; the Huguenots , who had settled on the James ; all , Presbyterians h and Episcopalians , were willing and eager to join ands cordially in a united effort to initiate and to press to accomplishment all plans for the common o good . The c urtly manners of Williamsburg , the cheerfulness and ease m of the Huguenots , the honest frankness and ste independence of the English country gentleman , the activity and shrewdness of the merchant , the simplicity — of republican life all have been combined . - These causes , these commingling elements , had produced a good seed bed I 1783 for an educational enterprise . The seed sprouted and grew . n , the e Academy , planted and wat red by Samuel Stanhope Smith and his faithful d coadjutors , bloomed out into a chartere college under the same trustees in ’ the main , but with John Blair Smith in his brother s place . With bright — prospects it started on its new development but that is another story . T R . W . H . WH I I NG , J JONATHAN CUSHING LL E M . P e r s h in A . Jonathan et C a g, ’ HE statistical abstract of President Cushing s life is brief . It would : 2 9 . H . 1 17 3 read about as follows Born in Rochester , N , March , ; 18 17 graduated at Dartmouth College , August , ; Librarian and Tutor - 18 17— 18 18 in Hampden Sidney College , ; Professor of Natural 18 9 - 1 35 821- 3 Philosophy and Chemistry , 1 8 ; President , 1 18 5 ; married 1827 Miss Lucy Jane Page , ; member of American Education Society , 183 — 1 1835 . C . 25 183 5 ; died in Raleigh , N , April , . But this record in no way rivals the real man nor gives hint of his — marvelous activity and efficient service . The old order at Hampden Sidney terminated with Dr . Hoge . Under Mr . Cushing , the College entered upon a new existence . Left an orphan at ten years of age , Jonathan Cushing had few 180 advantages ; and , in 6 , he found himself as an apprentice to a saddler in fi his home town . He became pro cient in his trade , and , by working at his bench , he was able to defray his expenses at Phillips Exeter Academy . In i8 15 l . the fall of , he entered the Junior C ass in Dartmouth College Early neglect , sedentary habits and hard work had undermined his health . Advised C . to go South , the young graduate set out for Charleston , S . , intending to Va . study law there . On reaching Richmond , , he met Dr John Holt Rice — who induced him to join the teaching force of Hampden Sidney . When 1 18 17 he reached the College , November , , the tutor found conditions most discouraging . The eq uipment was poor ; the attendance was small . Further o f . more , the University Virginia was just coming to the birth , and Mr Jefferson ’ - — Mr. was opposing Hampden Sidney s advancement with all his might . But ! Cushing had come , and all was well . A subordinate in name , Mr . Cushing was from the start the moving spirit in the management of things ; “the trustees at once recognized in him a 18 18 dynamic force . In 18 17, he taught the classics and mathematics ; in , he was made librarian and was added’ to the committee to revise the laws 8 9 of the College and the curriculum of study ; in 1 1 , he was chosen Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy .

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