DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 107 169 HE 006 484
AUTHOR Cowley, W. H. TITLE Notes on the Life of John Monteith, 1788-1868. PUB DATE 20 Mar 75 NOTE 61p.; Appendixes may reproduce poorly due to legibility of original document
EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$3.32 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS College Administration; Colleges; *Edcational History; Faculty; *Higher Education; *Religious Organizations; *Social Action; *Social Change; Students; Trustees; Universities IDENTIFIERS Monteith (John); University of Michigan
ABSTRACT John Monteith played a leading role at Hamilton College during the 1820's in an upheaval that paralleled those of the 1960's. The subject matter of the two conflicts differed greatly, but both involved the same groups of combatantsadministrators, faculty members, students, trustees, and external organizers. This review of Monteith's career brings some illuminating and authoritative answers to many questions about what happened at Hamilton during its nearly disastrous early history. The paper also touches on antebellum influences of organized religious bodies and their feuding factions on colleges and universities, and the social reform movements in the United States during Monteith's lifetime. Appendixes 1 and 2 reproduce relevant pages from 1875 and 1941 published histories of the University of Michigan at whose antecedent institution Monteith held 7 of the 13 blueprinted professorships and also its presidency. Appendix 3 has been typed from an 1833 pamphlet written by President Henry Davis of Hamilton College describing an episode in Monteith's stay there. Appendix 4 reviews the beginnings of Hamilton College. Appendix 5 consists of footnotes and supplementary data. (Author/KE) r 1111 --I
NOTES ON THE LIFE OF JOHN MONTEITH, 1788-1868
.1
N.H. Cowley Palo Alto, California
S EDUCATION
. '. .. ,.. A E PNT
..,\ March 20, 175 ,.. NOTES ON THE LIFE OF JOHN MONTEITH,1788-1868
W.H. Cowley Whilom President of HamiltonCollege
These notes coordinate informationabout John Monteith Theolo- sent me by PresidentJames I. McCord of the Princeton gical Seminary with materials thatI've been accumulatingfor many years. Both have been supplementedby a dozen or so books borrowed from the StanfordUniversity Library.
At the outset some remarks arein order about thesigni- Ameri- ficance of Mr. Monteith'scareer in the history of both First, can higher educationand of American Protestantism. during Mr. Monteith played aleading role at Hamilton College
the 1820s in an upheavalwhich paralleled those of the1960s
largely triggered by thesuccessive donneybrooks at.the Uni-
versity of California,Berkeley. The subject' matter of the involved two series of conflictsdiffered greatly, but both faculty mem- the same groups ofcombatants -- administrators, As a stu- bers, students, trustees,and external organizers. about what dent of academic government,I've long been curious early his- happened at Hamilton duringits nearly disastrous brought illu- tory, and this reviewof Monteith's career has questions. minating and authoritative answersto many of my Second, working up andwriting this memorandumhas filled
a number of gapsin my knowledge ofthe antebellum influences factions upon of organized religiousbodies and their feuding
3 4 Page 2 colleges and universities. I've been investigating thistopic for more than two decades, but I've neverpublished anything about it because of its compleAity andfrustrating confusions.
Aow I'm much better prepared to redothe chapter on the sub-
ject that I wrote nearly 15 years agofor a book that-:
despite much persuasion from several sources --I've been un-
willing to publish.
Third, I've considerably augmented myknowledge of the
social reform movements swirlingabout in the United States
during Monteith's lifetime. He joined some of them,and be-
yond doubt all of them helpedmould his thoughts andactions.
This additional comment explainsthe five appendices.
The first two reproduce relevant pagesfrom 1875 and 1941 pub-
lished histories of the Universityof Michigan at whose ante- of cedent institution (theCatholepistemiad or University
Michigania) Monteith held sevenof the 13 blueprintedprofes-
sorships and also its presidency. The third has beentyped of from an 1833 pamphlet writtenby President Henry Davis
Hamilton College describing anepisode in Monteith's stay in there. It constitutes partof a long footnote printed
7-pt. type and hence hasbeen typed for ease ofreading
rather than photocopied. The fourth reviews thebeginnings The of Hamilton College withemphasis upon its government.
fifth consists in what mostwriters include as footnotes or Cumshaw because, as supplementary data. I employ the name the body the name denotes, they arebonuses' which, if used in 4 Page 3 of the manuscript, would breakits continuity. Many of them have significant -- and all of them pertinent --information.
One final introductory word: in locating and organizing the source materials of this memorandum Mr.Michael Korff,
Stanford graduate student, has ably andperspicaciously as- sisted me.
Family
Sarah Lecky Monteith, wife of DanielMonteith, gave birth
to their son John on AugustS, 1788, in Gettysburg, Pennsyl- vania.1No information in hand tells whether ornot they had other children, how long they livedin_cettysburg...or when and
why they moved from close to thesouth-central border of-Penn-
sylvania to Trumble County in thenortheastern corner of Ohio.
The Monteiths were Scotch-IrishPresbyterians, but.when mem- bers of the family -- and which ones --migrated to America
remains to be investigated.
Monteith's first marriage(June 21, 1820) ended upon the
early death of his bride, SaraSophia Granger of the Ohio
county (Portage) adjacent toTrumble. A little over a year
later he married AbigailHarris of Florence, Ohio,about 30
miles west of Cleveland. The date of the wedding, August30,
2 Monteith's trip east from 1821, suggests that it occurred on
1Gates, 1878. Refer to bibliography forfull citations.
2Gates, 1879. Page 4
Detroit to begin his career as a professor atHamilton Col- lege. el 1 From this union nine children were born, but the papers in hand account only for John Jr., George,Charles, Edwin H., and Sarah. The last named married a Colonel N.B.Gates at some unspecified age, place,and date. Her letters to a Rev.
Dr. William E. Schenck of the PrincetonTheological Seminar
(PTS hereafter) dated December and January 1878-79constitute invaluable sources of information aboutMonteith's early life.
Education
No presently availableinformation tells when and where
Monteith had his primary education,but his daughter's letters for admission to Jefferson Collegehe report that in preparing ISM studied Latin on his own. He graduated in the Class of1434,7
aged 25, having earned his way as atutor in 'Virginia and 2 Maryland during two absencesfrom the College. More informa-
tion about his undergraduatelife and also about that of his
classmate, George Junkin, maybe in the archives of Washington
and Jefferson College whose twoforerunning institutions merged
in 1865.
Upon their graduationthe two classmates went their separ-
ate ways: Junkin, at that time a communicantof the Associated
1Gates, 1878. 2 Gates2 1879. 6 Page 5
Reformed Presbyterian Church, left for New York City tostudy with John M. MaSIDA, Provost of ColumbiaCollege and concur- 1 rently pastor of the Murray Street Church. Monteith, a mem-
ber of the predominant wing of the Church,matriculated a year
later at PTS. It had opened in 1812 with a singleprofessor,
Archibald Alexander. By the time of Monteith's arrival Samuel
Miller had joined Alexander, and the seminaryenrolled just
over a dozen students. Monteith's daughter in both her letters reportedthat
while at PTS (1813-16) he had tutored twoof Professor Alex-
ander's sons. I can find noconfirmation of this in the bio-
graphy of Alexander written by his sonJames, nor, indeed, any 2 mention of Monteith anywhere in the volume.
Michigan, 1816-1817
Licensed as a missionary in the springof 1816, Monteith
accepted a few weeks later an invitationfrom the Protestant
Society of Detroit "to introduce thegospel" in Michigan.
Governor Lewis Cass and two associatessigned the invitation,
and Monteith set out for Detroitwhose populatiOns he found
upon his arrivalo, tobe about 1,200 exclusive ofthe military garrison continuing on since the racenttermination of the War
of 1812. About half of the civilians wereFrench-speaking
1Starr, Volume X. See also Cumshaw No.1.
2Alexander. 7 Page 6
Roman Catholics. He preached his first sermon on Sundayafter- noon June 30th1and returned briefly to Princeton the follow- ing spring to be ordained by the New BrunswickPresbytery.
The Rev. George S. Woodhull, Princeton minister andlong-time trustee of Princeton University (the College of NewJersey until 1896), preached the sermon and ProfessorAlexander gave
2 the charge. Back in Detroit later that year Monteithcontin- ued as the pastor of the first Presbyterianchurch (called the
Protestant Church) organized in the Territory ofMichigan.
The Catholepistemiad, 1817-1821
On August 26, 1817, the legislatureof the Territory es- tablished the "Catholepistemiad, orUniversity ofMichigania:"3
Three members of the Michigan bar preparedthe enabling act providing for the creation of "thirteendidaxum or professor- ships." To six of these the authoritiesnamed Gabriel Richard,
a resident Sulpicianpriest recently from France, and tothe
other seven it named Monteith. One of the seven, the didaxum
of catholepistemia, carried withit the presidency of the in-
stitution.4
1Elyria Democrat.
2Elyria Democrat.
3Ten Brook (see Appendix1) and Shaw (Appendix 2)
4Shaw, p. 27. 8 Page 7
Monteith has been called a "co-founder" of theUniversity
1 of Michigan, but the honor of designing and founding the Catholepistemiad unquestionably belongs to JudgeAugust B.
Woodward (Columbia 1793), one of the threesigners of the Act of 1817 and the author the previous yearof A Systemof.-.Uni- versal Science.2 He had been appointed to hisjudgeship in
1805 by President Jefferson whom he hadknown well. In plan- ning the University of Virginia (openedin 1826), Mr. Jefferson undoubtedly consulted Judge Woodward'sbook,3 but happily he did not employ Woodward's pedanticterminology which, indeed,
4 never took hold in Michigan.
The establishment of the present-dayUniversity of Michi- gan on April 30, 1821,ended the brief life of theCatholepis- temiad. The new institution moved fromDetroit to Ann Arbor but did not open until 1837;however, its Board of'Trustees met during the intervening yearswhenever it seemed likely that the necessary launchingfunds could be raised. Monteith; named a charter member of theBoard, soon resigned and departed
for Florence, Ohio.There, as observed above, heand Miss
Abigail Harris were married. Bride and groom, probably almost
1Fletcher, p. 12.
2 Jenks.
3Koch, Chapter XI.
4Shaw, p. 27.
9 Page 8 immediately, left for Clinton, New York, whereMonteith suc- ceeded Eleazar S. Barrows as professor of Latinin Hamilton
College.1
In view of later events it needs to beremarked that Bar- .. rows. (Middlebury 1811, PTS 1814-15)had been forced out of of- fice by a memorial of the sophomore class sent tothe Hamilton governing board complaining about his poorteaching and his severediscipline.2 Almost certainly this circumstance influ- enced Monteith's successful, if alsoegregious, courting dur- ing his seven Hamilton years of. both studentsand trustees.
Hamilton College, 1821-1828
Four years before Monteith's arrivalHamilton had in-
stalledits second president, the Rev. Dr.Henry Davis (Yale 3 1796). The College had been founded asthe .Hamilton Oneida
Academy in 1793 by Samuel Kirkland(Princeton 1765) and in
1812 had been chartered as thethird college in what about
that time had begun to be calledthe Empire State. Columbia
in New York City and Union Collegein Schenectady long had
been in operation. The projectors of Hamilton and manyothers, however, expected that because of thejust-begun Erie Canal would and the westward movementof New Englanders, the College
1Davis,pp. 7-13, andPilkington, p. 98.
2Pilkington, p. 92.
3Starr, Volume I. 10 Page 9 soon be catapulted into educationaleminence. Henry Davis, president of Middlebury College from 1309, may havethought so too; but it seems best to explore thequestion in a Cum-
1 shaw. Here it can be reported that he declined the prof- ferred invitation from his alma mater to succeedits'famous president, Timothy Dwight, who died (January 11, 1817) afort- night after Hamilton's first president, Azel Backus (Yale1787).
After considerable confusion Davis, late the following summer, decided to accept the Hamilton presidency to which hehad.ori- ginally been invited in January.
Like both Backus and Dwight, Davis belonged tothe New
Divinity school (also called Hopkinsianism)of theology and, like them, believed in religious revivalsand had conducted- several at Middlebury. He did not, however; approve of the vociferous kind of revivals which, beginningin 1824, swept through Central New York under theleadership of Charles G.
Finney, lawyer-turned-revivalist. At PTS Monteith had learned of the conservative attitudes towardrevivals of Professors Alexander and Mille, but Finney sooncounted him among his ardent devotees of what he called "newmeasures."One of
Finney's biographers has describedthese as follows:
He cast aside the ordinaryconventions of the pulpit; used expressivelanguage and homely illustrations; was startlinglydir- ect and even personalin his appeal to
ISee Cumshaw No. 2. It Page 10
men's consciences and in his prayers, so that he was threatened with tar and feath- ers, and even with death. He portrayed the terrible guilt and awful consequences of disobeying the divine law, and put the fear of God into his hearers; His command over all classes was phenomenal;he broke down contrary will,by his logic and by the superior force of his own will. Vio- lent physical manifestations resultedfrom his preaching; people burst into tears, shrieked, fainted, and fell into trances. Nevertheless, he produced permanent bene- ficial results; lives were transformed and whole towns cleansed,1
Finney did not begin his evangelizinguntil immediately
after his ordination in July 1824 whenhe was almost 32 years
old, and he appears to have made the base of hisoperation
Whitesboro, a few miles from HamiltonCollege. Soon Monteith
became his devoted follower, andin Hamilton's Chapel he em-
ployed Finney's "new measures." Meanwhile several members of
the College's Board of Trustees alsoapplauded Finney's work, 2 and he counted numercus adherents amongthe student body. chapel prayer referred to Davis , One of them, for example, in a
as "an old greyheadedsinner, leading his scholars down to
hell!"3 Undoubtedly recalling the studentinitiation of the events
leading to the dismissal ofhis predecessor in theprofessorship.
1Starr, Volume VI.
2See Cumshaw No. 6.
3Davis,p. 32. 12 Page 11 of Latin, Monteith met with a group ofundergraduates and trustee Gerrit Smith, protesting against Davis'objection to the new measures. Appendix 3, taken from a long footnote in
Davis' 1833 pamphlet, describes the situation and theaction he took. There it will'be noted that Monteith admitted.pray- ing "in the chapel on the Sabbath" even morepointedly than the above-quoted student:
Thou knowest, 0 Lord, that the faculty of Hamilton College have sinned in high places; and we pray Thee, 0 Lord, if they are obstacles to Thy work, that Thou wouldst remove them out of the way.
It will also be there observedthat, in an'interview with Davis, Monteith acknowledged his conduct as anaccepted application of Finney's new measures.As can well be imagined, thefeud between President Davis and the supportersof Finney's revival methods (Monteith, some students,and a number of trustees) had disastrous results for Hamilton. Among other things it reduced the number of studentsfrom 107 in the spring of18232 to nine in 1829, the yearfollowing Monteith'sdeparture.3
Whether or not dismissed by Davis,Monteith in the spring of 1828 left Hamilton. Meanwhile, however, he had become en-
thusiastic about another currentlypopular movement, namely,
1Davis,p. 36.
zIhbotson and North, p. 186.
3lbbotson and North, p. 208'. 13 Page 12
the Manual Labor concept ofeducation. He had learned about
it from George W. Gale, a fellow alumnusof PTS. After gradu-
ating from Union College in 1814 Gale hadbeen a PTS student
intermittently during the next five years wherehe may have
known Monteith. Upon leaving the Seminary he became pastor
of the Presbyterian Church in Adams,NeW York, and it was his
sermons that incited hisparishioner Charles G. Finney to de-
vise the theological and revivalistformulas which made him
the pre-eminent evangelist thathe soon became. The two men
remained friends, but perhaps theirdifferences had something
to do with Gale resigninghis pastorate at the time ofFinney's ordination and settling on a farm notmany miles from Hamilton
College. There he appears to have read aboutthe manual labor schools in New England modelled onthose established by the E. Fellenberg and J.H. Pestalozzi - Swiss philanthropists Philipp and by the Alsatian pastorJean F. Oberlin.
The European schools hadbeen organized primarily forin-
digent children and youngadolescents, but various NewEngland-
ers had adaptedthe manual labor principle inacademics for
youths. Following their example, Galeorganized in Whitesboro (Finney's base) the Oneida ManualLabor Institute, and several
years later he helpedestablish the Society forPromoting Man-
ual Labor in LiteraryInstitutions. The Society, like its
antecedents in Europe and theUnited States, fostered the
strongly-held conviction that twohours or so of manual labor
each day in a school-ownedworkshop or on its farm would
14 Page 13 markedly improve student health and, further, wouldbe morally and financially beneficial.
Together with many others Monteith subscribedwholeheart-
edly to this philosophy and ended his HamiltonCollege career
by heading for Germantown. There he organized the Manual Labor
Academy of Pennsylvania.
. Germantown, 1828-1831
A year after the opening of the Germantownacademy
Monteith's Jefferson College classmate,George Junkin, joined
him. No information in hand tells how this cameabout and
whether or not they kept in touch with oneanother during the
17 years between their graduationand their joining forces..
While at Jefferson they belonged todifferent branches of
Presbyterianism; and about the time thatMonteith left for
PTS Junkin departed for New'York City to study with John.
Mitchell Mason, the leading theologianof his branch of the
1 Church. Junkin remained in New York until1816 whet he be-
came a licensed missionaryin the Monongahela Presbytery of
his Church. After his ordination three yearslater he began
a pastorate of 11 yearsin Milton, Pennsylvania, a small com-
munity on the Susquehanna Riverhalfway between Harrisburg
and the New York border. Early during his pastorate, like
1Starr, Volume X. See Cumshaw No. 1.
15 Page 14 his mentor Mason, he left the AssociatedReformed Church for mainline American Presbyterianism. Monteith departed from Germantown in 1831 toestablish a manual labor secondary school inElyria, Ohio, but Junkin re- 1 mained another year. He then became the first presidentof
Lafayette College, one.of the original highereducational man- ual labor institutions. Apparently Monteith continued to be a manual laborenthusiast for the rest of his life, butJunkin abandoned the movement toward the end of his11-year presi- dency of Lafayette as inefficient,unpopular, and a deter'rent 2 to academic excellence.
In the light of laterdevelopments it would be more than
a little useful toknow whether or not during their two years
together in Germantown Monteithand Junkin discussed theolo-
gical topics, particularlyFinney's "new measures." Be that
as it may, Junkintook the leadership in precipitatingthe
1835 heresy trial of AlbertBarnes3 which split the Presbyter-
ian Church into two divisions --the Old School, the opponents
of Barnes and those whothought as he did; and the NewSchool,
proponents of the updatedEdwardian...theology known as Taylor-
ism (named after ProfessorNathaniel W. Taylor of Yale and
1Starr, Volume X.
2Owcn,p. 21.
3Sec Cumshaw No. 4.
16 Page 15
1 also called the New Haven Theology). The Barnes imbroglio
also partially terminated theCongregational-Presbyterian
Plan of Union adopted in 1801. That action resulted from the
excision in 1837 of.four New School Synods -- Utica,Geneva,
Genesee, and Western Reserve.
Monteith, who lived within the boundaries of theWestern
Reserve Synod throughout most of the 32 yearsof the Old
School-New School breach, is quoted as having saidthat,
though a member of the Western ReserveSynod, in theology he
continued to be "rigidly OldSchool."2This seems to be a
defensible statement in the light ofWhitney R. Cross' 1950
study of Finney's career, wherein hemaintained that Finney's
theology roughly paralleledTaylor's. Finney employed his -
"new measures," Crossconcluded, with the intention of making
updated Edwardianism acceptable toless well-educated people 3 than Taylor's New EnglandCongregations and partisans.
Elyria, Ohio and Monroe County,Michigan, 1832-1868
During the middle ofMonteith's stay in Germantown, the
manual labor movement gainedsuch momentum that Gale at the
Oneida Institute wrote hisformer parishioncr-turned-evangelist:
"Depend on it, BrotherFinney, none of us have estimatedthe
1See Cumshaw No. 4.
2p.yria Democrat.
3Cross, pp. 159-165.
17 Page 16
importance of this System of Education. It will be to the moral world what the lever of Archimedes, could hehave found
a fulcrum, would have been to thenatural."1 Soon after writ-
ing this letter, Gale interested the reformer-philanthropists
Arthur and Lewis Tappan of Manhattan in financing the above-
cited Society for Promoting Manual Labor in LiteraryInstitu-
tions. Its officers included President Jeremiah Dayof Yale
and U.S. Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen of NewJersey. In
July 1831 it began operations by appointingTheodore Dwight
Weld as its field agent. Six months earlier Weld had started west to promote man-
ual labor education and otherreforms. Meanwhile, beyond
doubt, in person or by letter, he won overMonteith to the
idea of leaving Germantown for Elyria,Ohio. More could be
said were time and space availableabout the long-time associ-
ation of these two men, but hereMonteith's Elyria enterprise
needs to be summarized. Nothing that I've thus far come upongives substantial
information about the project, butfrom data in hand a few ob-
servations can be made:. (1)the manual labor idea failed to
become Gale's hoped-for fulcrum, andlike many other high-
spirited adventures soon began tolose steam; (2) probably for
this reason Monteith leftElyria in 1845 to be a Presbyterian
missionary in Monroe County,Michigan, where he became pastor
1Fletcher, p. 42. 18 Page 17 of a new church in Blissfield;(3) in 1855, aged 67, he re- turned to Elyria; (4) his activities during the immediately following years can perhaps be learned from his diary given in 1938 by two of his descendants to the Historical Collec- tions of the University of Michigan; (5) there, also,perhaps can be found the name of the Elyria schoolwhere he taught from 1859 until six years before his 1868 death.
The above outline leaves out -- as do all but oneof the items sent from PTS1 -- the crucialfact that soon after ar- riving in Elyria, Monteith became an ardentabolitionist. Here too, it will be necessary to consultMonteith's diary to learn when he took that step, but beyond questionWeld again led the way. For a brief period Weld had been at theLane Theological 2 Seminary and then at Oberlin College studyingfor the ministry.
Instead of continuing to study theology Weldbegan a brilliant
career as a barnstormingabolitionist lecturer, but before
leaving Oberlin he undoubtedly got intouch with his former
Hamilton professor at the Elyria manuallabor school nine
miles away. Monteith had already switched fromanti-slavery
gradualism to the immediatism ofthe abolition crusade, having
the previous February (1835) -- as"the leading abolitionist
of Elyria" -- become presidentof the Lorain County Anti-Slavery
1Elyria Democrat.
2See Cumshaw No. 5. 19. Page 18
Society.' Whether the two men kept in touch with one another in later years seems not to be recorded; andabout Monteith
I've been able to discover only that in 1841 herepresented
Elyria at the Akron and Columbus conventions of thenewly-
2 organized Liberty Party. In all likelihood the Elyria manual labor school had failed at the time ofthe 1837 Depression (as did many others including the Oberlin program) andabout then
Monteith became "principal of the Elyria HighSchool."3 In any case, as indicated earlier,he became an agent of the
American Home Missionary Society in Monroe County,Michigan, returning a decade later to spend the remaining13 years of his life in Elyria.
My interest in Monteith is onlyperipheral, but this brief study of his career has raised anumber of questions about him. I shan't be able to search fortheir answers, but perhaps someone at PTS or at theUniversity of Michigan -- to whose librarian I'll send a copyof this paper -- will think the task worthy of attention. The questions are these:
1Fletcher, p.146.
2Fletcher, p.387.
3Fletcher, p.743.
20 Page 19
1) When did the Elyria manual labor venture close down,
and when did Monteith become associated with the
Elyria High School?
2) How extensive were his activities as an abolitionist
after 1841 in Ohio and Michigan?
Did he continue to be a Finneyite; and, if so,did
he conduct "new measures" revivals?
4) What did he think about the radical religious groups
within his Ohio and Michigan orbits?For example,
the Millerites who in the middle 1840s soconfidently
expected the second coming of Christ that theywaited
for Him on hilltops; the Mormons whobegan their
westward trek in 1831, stopping for six years at
Kirtland, 20 miles northeast of Cleveland;the an-
tinominian Perfectionists among the membersof the
Oberlin community; the Seventh DayAdventists who in
1855 made Battle Creek, Michigan,their primary base;
The Shakers who established one oftheir 18 "families"
near Cleveland in whatin time became Shaker Heights?
5) Some of Monteith's politicalloyalties can easily be
identified: as an abolitionist heundoubtedly op-
posed the 1846-48 Mexican Warand probably joined
the Republican Party at or soonafter its 1854 for-
mation. But what did hethink of John Brown's raids
21 Page 20
in Kansas, Missouri, and at Harper'sFerry which
his long-ago Hamilton confidante, trusteeGerrit
Smith, helped finance? And what were his attitudes
and actions concerning the powerful waveof secular
reforms of his day? Like Weld he almost certainly
endorsed and perhaps campaigned for temperanceand
women's rights, but what about the contemporary com-
munistic communities of which only a few havebeen
cited by most historians -- Robert Owen's NewHar-
mony settlement inIndiana, the Brook Farm near
Boston, and the scores of Fourieristicphalanxes
throughout the eastern andmiddle-western states?
And how, finally, did he react tothe mingle-mangle
of panaceas advocated at the1840Beston convention 1 organized by the "Friends of UniversalReform"?
Someone ought,I verily believe, huntdown the answers to these' and related questionsin Monteith's diary and his other papers in the HistoricalCollections of the University of
Michigan. Among them will probably notbe found, however, the answer to a questionthat has taken shape during mywriting of this paper, namely, why hasMonteith been several times memor- ialized during the recent past? For example, he has been called, incorrectly Ibelieve, a "co-founder" of theUniversity
1See Cumshaw No. 7.
22 Page 21 of Michigan1and, perhaps with more justification, the
"founder of the first public library inMichigan."2 Two in- stitutions have also been named in his honor -- an experimen-
tal college of Wayne State University established in 1958and
the "Monteith Library" at Alma College dedicated latein 1964.3
Nonetheless, the information summarized in these pages
suggests that during the last 40 years of his lifeMonteith at
best bowed a second violin in one or moreof the lesser middle-
western orchestras of his day. Beyond question, however, he
decisively influenced the history of HamiltonCollege and the
evolving methods of governing American highereducation. Be-
cause of this -- and no lessbecause of his religious views --
I'd very much like to know more about him. Am I wrong in be-
lieving that those at PTS engaged in recording the careersof
its alumni share my curiosity?
1Fletcher,p. 12.
2h!agman,p. 12.
3Wagman, p. 12.
March 1975
23 APPENDIX ONE
Andrew Ten Brook. American State Universities: Their Oritin and Progress. Cincinnati: ICO-bert Clarke Co.; 1875. Pp. 86-104.
Describes the founding of the Catholepistemiad. THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY Richard,sprangIt: up for between in _Monteith's him:7 afterand journalis his evideorttitttr-strtrnr firstfor visit to the Territory.ft iaidship EIRLY HISTORYFather wereVirginia.Jefferson'spectcd, to manyform The plan aoresident_anti.a..daetorselements governing for the in board.Universitycommon in con-with of 27 N his commemorativeversarylivered on of thethe semicentennialfounding oration of de- the anni- Uni- OF MICHIGAN munities,Greattcgically,for leadershipLakes, however, it attracted and, as like onsoon themanymen as highway it withfrontier became a oftalent com- thea part Record:,lovesRichard,Octoberthese two p.mho28, friends 180, is out we is of evidenced read,health. "visit I think by Pricit it tradi-he to have me visit him" (Early 178). The liberal spirit of dentcomeandstatetrol fees ofcolleges. and fromall (sec educationalempowered thePart Financial Territory I: UFA:n.7'0. toagencles_of supportchatter arid front schoolsw as stu-the to JustveryBorrillversitycentennial onejust inAng:11 hundred senseJune, of celebratei81+7,thesaid years life "WePresident before,of the :night University."the James Ordi-in a this year the of waswerethosethe United Father threewho ruse significant StatesCialitialiiebard., to prominence in 1796.figures. Among ainThe Detroit French 'First whoOtherchurchtionthe thathad firstmen of ita St.Protestant wasrutof Anne's outstandingin in the Richard's thatpl..nsservice Monteith forpersonality in Catholic theMichi:tan. heldUni- operationtei th became tei,retdenTSteps and se%were ,..1711 taken to put the plan into ,!,Iler RN. hard %%.1 almost jwinediace ly; tt. tot the $.14, naticeheandthenthroughout encouraged." the ofin process17S7means bad of of Thiseducation organization advanced shall "schools educa-forever the NiTthwest Territory proclaimed that diatelySuiriciattinis.:ionsthabitants,ucationtits j'erritnryset aboutfor we a ittx.;!,1community desmay eloping assume, andwho in meansalmost which camewere of imme-almostthe ed-to in- Territory,Williampresidencyversity were NVoodbridge, whoafterwards Lewisof gavethe Cass, United Richard's candidate Secretary Governor States, and for of ofr.ion- and thethe anduptees°,,u,SIX primary other passedNI:chilininekinne,p. 61. Onschoolsa series S ptember ofin enactmentsDetroit, and 12, a Monroe,the setting trus- ..;177:-t-, to. it 4.7: ihar/% classical dentstionallege.,in the inpolicy theparticularlycolonic: adminietrationrested where uponin the mostsound beginning,of education of prece- 111C hadcol - w hollyInaedprintingtv and illiterate. tradefroward peels schools, in Ile tothe an I erritory,institution and for even in- foundedimportalliFfirst clementa- teith'swas efforts the curiously effective named politicalThe result CatIdtpiste- bacLing. of the efforts of these men furthersionthanacademy for act athe month was erection in Detroit,passed later, of aincluding"to on building. establish October a Less pros the 3, ai- ofteceised Revolution,treasuries,these activeire:itutions although the support administration had by from conicthe the time tinder publicof of most the ritory,strut tion after in the its higher orgamration branches.With the in comingaos, of Augustus A. B. Arelas the chief justice tithe Ter- 26,theterritorialmi.0be IFjudges discern:.of t7. i%lichiumia, government, In of tli.sd the oyemlielmint: Territory, charteredthe gust:non. on titleAegust by canand tiqs fze ard:s.;.:ed.ost ic Cadioletaslrst tionpart College embodiedof stemiad. the gentof Nliehinnia," ral program evidentlyfur educa- in It the Unis crity or is sigificant to CANwhatthe(sec w AsoIllsrranirit Partas Sem. I: Toe iTsietForearms* Ustvi freeThe est thinkingOrd:11:111le rY or Mien'. spirit of 172.3.2...was inspired practically church control by tendencyscholar,support.Fatherand heRichard's something Woodwardsawtoward in the effortsextravagant ofmovement was a received pedant, theories, toward strongwith athe a classical whichtionbookuniversaltorn fromwasof in toina_lthe primarytoknowledge plan be divided for levels a systemas intotoset a forth university,thirteenof instruc- in his followed Ins S)StCIII of institutionnotetheonly"University that Iloartl once, in was ofall inTrIP:tee.s.an.1 these uniformlyofa report Mitmanza" early of knownmea,ures the Vi.oterrs meeting and as the ofthat the of Thisofeducation allyschoolsthat conception accepted period proclaimed, was and siew,a of function ain publicthatitsdespite provisions the of responsibil- maintenancethe gener-state. for fectTerritoryprovisioncallong sonic task been ofanof of educationalengagedhisopportunity dividing own pet upon andfacilities ideas. to the put subdividing philosophi-He intofor the had ef- astronomia,matsip,suchdidaxiim, ics,or tcac literature physiosophica, toring beor subjects taughtastronomy,mathematita, or by as natural "didactors"anthrormrlot. clivada or sciences, mathe. of or terminologyquite"Catholepistemiad"heldClavical evident Academy was that far and Judo fromused Printery 1Voodwpopular. officially. Schools, aril's It is 1$1X, w as the term weakity stitution,inconstructisfor the and cdutation era int. though before flectis e policiesformed thecit nationalwas adoption inauguratedone to be govemmen many by years t of the reallyof the Con- the jectedgegorieshuman in 18'6. was and knowledge Thealso177:7TD published classification into a appropriatebook erson's oon the cate- hobbies sub- pcthirteenthennocica,chemistry mum-Ilea, subject or or intellectual military was catholepittentia, sciences, sciences. and The or ices. or medical sciences, quicklyastruction serious subscribed of one. the TheUniscrsity by sumresidentsThe of questionbuilding $5,1,x of the waswas of financing the con- toinbefore beMichigan established. its implications or in any wereotherAside to of from outlying trading posts be realizedthe states the mentideasarirtrfirirCillnendshipbetweenthe (Isbell,picturethat the led p.wastwo to 182). Woodward'sthemen Reverend basedA third on figureJohn Mon- who comes actively into appoint- these sideUniversity.thisuniversal subjectof a plan science, was which to and be was,This presidentthe as isinstructor athe matter extraordinaryof the inof and bizarre destroyedraisedTerritory,butionthat forit was of the thoughDetroit f.,:63 allsufferers collected, remainingint tRos of the was while firefrom also wa ahichcontri- ap.fund ere is no evidence onlyIndianwas settlement Detroit, fur traders. a in Michigan It was at little village of French and situated stra- that time 26 w tCii17-3771o ad been ordained at Princeton in Prcsb .terian clergyman offact, education a sound programthat had, for as a might state systembe ex- propriatedfirst report for of University Monteith, purposes. as presideil The / ' ...I a. /a IrI111104.1.111.0.11, .011...1 1.0,1.0.1S dr. 2$November, I fit 8, indicates that the cost ME UNIVERSITY OF 1111C711C.IN corner of Jefferson Avenue and Griswold educationalbelling factor institutions, in the establishment although one of ReIRL)4 HISTORY resentedincreasingly the attenuated, corporate organization this body rep- of 29 subscriptionsamountof offirethe the sufferers. building oflotilding the and first This rathera the little and would donations more exceededsecond make than foryears' the ;t3,x,o. thethe cost ceededruaryUniversityStreet,matter 16, bypending 1819,is John building. not J.andentirely az Deming, completion wasIle diedclear. probably although o.1 It of is,Feb- suc-the thehow. significance.hadsectiontion an of hadimportant higher been This education wassetas asidewell Onea gift as in forfromcontribution 1804.a anromantic the institu- var- to the University porateCourtinUniversitythe 1837. University in predecessor 1856,By in aAnn decisionit ofwas Arbor Michigan of held the wasof thetoBoard estalshslied be Suptc:neuntil thy of cor-Re.the nearsecondusedfourIt stood Congress feet fur floor on theby the waselementaryfifty and west feet.reserved mcasurcd s'ile The school, offor first Bates the twenty floorwhile classical Street was -the ever,ofricthatClatinvisitors the,JIniymity....of_Michigan recorded asyear of teacher the the academy that new.. on theFebruary Board elected trustees of 1,7f, likers7,tiot"d'irusters super. 1821.*: and iousDuncaninawatomi, tribes McArthur Shawoce.of IncliansWyandot, besideand Chippew the rapids Pot-a1817 ss of met Lewis Cass and General loo VONAingents Ann I.of ArborSTA the rus). Univcrsi (see Part laterWithout I: CONSestal doubtlished rim- the Board of Trustees structionacademy.classicalNotfor mber about was Though acad ii),slow, nine otil,t,:int the !vomitshad progressindicates been and in oftheoperation that con- primary the Iritittith's report of andsciledthemselvescmyteeS dispensed_with, and12rim.2ryand Visitors responsible the _._shook, Board for the of conductTrus- the CI;;.,;(31 -Making ofincludedsettlingToledothe six 1%laumee sections ofto a landspecificnegotiate south titles.of landgrant of aInthe treaty ro thisby present be the treaty din Indians siteit:ed vas of for clic StaresGeneralTheytinguishedappointed were Senator, 1.Luis loin 18:1adcdCass, Secretary included bylater the ofto the Warbe mostUnited un.ler dis- citi7ns of the Territr. piceriiir, 1 of colleeiateschoolthe "ditlactors" three grade. months, ever gateApparently'Die courses prin:ar, neither of or Lancastrian, school of sonClappthe0822-41. school. proposedW. in Wlton Ignt, Time Ile and becameinreappointment was turn the dissension was Reverend his succeeded successor overof Mon- Mr. by 'It mayAlicki,intaofequally forsiti:'s",h;i6tioiiSt. be Anne betweenthat passed and it was therather the in "collegeThat orderact Richard's chiof to Octoberat T qualify Detroit."nitcrsit' parish 3, of gatewereJackson,troitBuchanan. in11.:1!..(1John and Biddle, TheSecretary others Register oforteinlly State of the eldernamed De- the 'ears tS29-3t: Siclu.1as aril V.:15ft s%if.'1.11 put.setts,Lemuelhailtit ',ten\Iat...ILIIell rho !...hatnitk,to wasplaced Ihit ..mil. tneagtd it tidyundera st'Lois i in byno: ethe Jmi-,the ofto chargeAl.t....Rlin-Reshas iizta. e :tr- ofMr. erend C. votedAcIllidSearsacademy, to(18:6-27).S. discontinue Wells but (t$invited :4-26) financialOn the October andteacher aid Charles to to30, the con- 1827, the trustees of oftuallyestahlishingNtichigania. the allocatedUniversity, Theseat Detroit and but lands sold the the forwere specificFirit the Cr,1Iegeeven- benefit iden- founderofDanielBoil-in, Puthoff,the state;LeRoy, ofIndian Mountof Christian the aent Clemens; first forattorne Clemens, the gentre; on;the ral lichilimackmac; John An. ofseeretarsShattuck, pointedthat year. ofinw the1sth., Act)Board1, left atAtil Detroitof Trust( as atdie cs the first ap. end ears as the authorI le ofwon laws some prominence in prioroftinue forat to Itastatschool the his sporathe !t-,r(Jun purposes 31.14.!,;;Ment risk. use There niter of the are :hisof budding Regentsrecords time and tityfttsitsindefinite of a st thewhite holm-ships evidencesgift man's has beenestablishededucation today lost. of thisTheon by;he theinterestthe onlyIndian partRe- peoples of Michigan are chardSupremeJohnderson, Iand hint, Court, theinfluential a 12c.justice erend citizenof the Mr. territorialofMonteith, Mt :troy; t t-34; Father illi= Ili. in histics,izationMassachusetts later and and as tbasrmanthe relatingrecording of tothe ofschool commission vital organ-statis- forin lishment s37.the use In is; ofof the tiecommon roomscity of schools,for Vomit the estab- and in asked dentgall:, in :912 for American. Indian stu- of esiperiment Judge Districtof1h.of Detroit; Atomic. Jo.'. and Iti,'..te; Bean J. Williams, first mat or WaA oor; 'toted Stares to lateracreIlisnkelocal successors aJohndistingolied c historian, unitary Farmer in survey Ebenezer as charge(until a map of of theShcphard, makerthe state. school and and January, 1824), ReverendJohntoInMay, :$34the 183t,N. masters the Bellows Mr.academysuch Elens of aand therequest buildingtook D. two 13. a was leaseCrane. was granted. rentedof Thethe schools in it, thetonalthroughcertain official legislative defects. a newname council,charter to91411.4s-4--".,, "the whichfrom Unit the changedersity tern. ofIterZcs . :_anal plan pr..% Lit to hat e f litse were remedied ('lutes;smithCourtI !WIC,col,, ;and Pete- Chit holder fJ. Justice Desnot of ofm etc,the tttttttttttt Wash tout ne publicsilt County Cr. f ICS Winee time time% ter- came,a Mr.aboutthe0117. teachersCookpractically, Aftertheir from managementthat in charge,theAlbany, thlte, private both and in ventureschools littlethe surviv-is said who dial in be- of upperincrease(Earlytaxes, room Recants, as inof well 1836is per aspp. for lotteries,cent 6 a tf.).The in theorigi. territorial al act had provided classicalfor the school support for an faculty.thetwentyAine-L-ustccsMichigan," pleasureearlier This planand toboard the forprovided legislature, governmentretained to-hold for,aboaril the insteadoffice bypower the atof troit;premeritoryWoodbridge,ritorial Philipand Court;clelgne later Lecticr,Secretary Benjamin to a Congress;men& a of justice Stead,Michigan r of Williamthe of Ter-De-theSu- ingonclassicalson records. February College, academy, was2, :818, the and first Hughin begana M. hisDickie, work a graduate of Jeffer- teacher of thehouse at the ofhowever, utilizationsupport,thewhich, program. of nor inany of sowere resorttheThere many plansgovernment to isstates, these no set evidence, up methodswere for lands, thethe im- Thoughgrantproper"andto establish schools degrees itsand educational "such were .... and as colleges,alsoto they elect functions empowered might a academics president. became deem to ans,Detroit,Brown,theWayne Bank and one County verya of highly ofMichigan; influentialthe Court respected earliest and and with Americans a citizen.Dr. director the William Indi- inof APPENDIX TWO
Wilfred B. Shaw (ed.). The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic Survey. Part I. Ann Arbor: Published by the University, 1941. Pp. 26-29.
Describes the founding of the Catholepistemiad.
27 S6 AMERICAN STATE UNIVERSITIES. aston,wrote a suitableto to!ild the them candidateprofessors a voting for of man the pastoratewli(untheoloLtical they of couldthe schtml congrcg.1:;,m. reconsuiend at Prince- EARLY ORGANIZATION IN MICHIGAN. 87 CHAPTER V. uateLtdesi!omted "'T"nse in June to thisfollowing. for letter,a conege John although Nlaate.ith, he had who all was radv to beengrad- 1nolt---.orship ceitri c, %%.ts iganEarly gradually Organ? Izationincreased, forTHE butHigher Anglo-American Education inelement Michigan, in the population of Mich- and their Conteniporary Events. cIttt,ttlisctet.ofstandiiumencementgan,named, by andsetting ,acknowl,at education Princeton. out fir Dettoitin the State. immediately as to call for alter some the special com- in such relation to the people, and to the filmic Ontite hisparamount art iv.il weclaim find of two Michi- men ligiousthetrolling mind worshipinfluence. of the readerwas instituted than to learn in the that Territory, Nothing Krill better impress this was long in obtaining a con- no Protestant re- upon Gain lel Richard . ranec..in born in Saintess dentrtmvut of the 761, and edn:.--0:7,11.:r7.:e manhomiermindwillremain be andhow deemedsettlements.subsequently Nathan fully Chisufficiently Ilangs istian uninterrupted, " worship each significant, preached has until when r8x6.in Detroit it is in the It is indeed known that 1:aniel Free- ever kept up with our Thisso thctborne as to in Roches.,pa,aoralthence,Nvpriesthood.1,,,wer e r eCharente,in calseveralKask3-kin, December e of ofthe hisofand Catholics the own_x_ell12.: the state vicinity, year.in Illinois, hewhence Nvt;) at hePrairie came tinon I .....anuLiir.:1.1.1.11-1-ti-hlinw, where the to ta *in; ; Cie toCase.spring rencethe effect..nd had, summer that us ministersome of 1804,Methodists,There in chargeand exists that perhapsalsothere, the aMethodist tradition,in under 1809, the Confe- descended lead front that day, sntativeaeducationto...... _Dettoit scoreresidence of of years, inthe in Michigan priesthood,in this%viten 1798, theand was 111,4 hadbut inaugurated. accoldinglymuch movement of the beentow time there as vicar- about little place, not only as chief repre- After so long ard higher suppliedbymilesreligiousof athe lay below, attendance preacher '_ladles,services, and fromthat ofhaving both some these Canada, in quills Detroit were attemptedcharged disturbed and with and gunpowder broken young people, who generously on the Rouge, six to hold evening up toDetroit.supposedgeneral, pastoralother public performing thatduties hetrusts as had he wasepiscopal becomeunderstood not less thefunctions, mai them,best ked. 1.nown and it mayhi: personfaithfulness wi II bein Ile was faithful to his church, discharging his Tradition has Detroit,posefeelingsinsetted of thewithout and inmeetings. them,utterances reference which, notIn to the theirbyin entire wintertheir ecclesiastical harmony- explosion,of 1815-16 with generatedthe the leading Protestant people pur- of *self forgetfulnessmadekept which numerous hint fruitfulamounted anecdotes in expedients to a In whichmisfortune. the to illustratedischarge accomplish his ofchat public duties acter. end:, to the public, lie had a It GL,vernorgard to these Cass three. himself*Afterward men, we being n: Rev. indebted prominent Dr. Bangs, to Rev. inof Dr. New York. For the information in re- Pitcher,the movement of Detroit. -- relations blanks,theliethethoughtless work keptstruggle filled might some them offor goblanks those building on,out, he whichonand once hand.St. put keep Anne'sissued them Some one indue-bi:ls,Church, oneouteircul.nion gotof introuhle. hoistfu- or whichtoder of the thathis deemedamount83 asof theyseven were or eight brought hundred in. dollars, which lie .rottnocAN STAT1: re- however, will show that at EARLY ORGANIZATION IN MICHIGAN. :t later day he did learn to pray S9 atterofTheseidea the theof weredun makingCite ch even ofwas otos. sentseines, compkted toI Eastern tfor was fishingas a nunthecm result.ionskets, in the incidentand Detroit the basement which river. lt.t1 to his isap:oin.rjn Ile next conceived the 'This was soon art"heardlegislativein /or0 English Lord, de his 'vie Ide.-sbrolsen council.so and its div to UriEp.glish 1 wherebe ::/%1a/if jor understood. dw.wIfs." hecould used.roune,7, report and enable as nem Iv as one whoIt ()centred in the theme \% ti; : presence.calkthou,4htDet:271777r-teat d that the d soldered state of religion required his to return to In the tea:poi:11y chapel, where the wotship tninnghis: nativeto France lamr,Txhere ; his bit.then for in rSo5 hr tv is it littlecalau dn.rymg on the nititer Thi- ri. n h.:.1 t.....exconny,...4;Qtedc ontlia.flow his ci char ch d:., ;he; too (it ct, mops of auLl1:1-1..,..:--F44.:,;.. of an.,! ata led him,hadtowas Europe. heldand alter ;i he jji trustees 'made use of ciLLT";:t hire, 1..1(1 a w: it 4-tt.:_,.,he published his intention to return re 1:e .-pent Ins lite in Denoit. a calumny, which !..t.71*Vd theanddependent teartulupon their matureupon cteaom the of lab,the to ban,suppmt that his trade. a of others to hAt vest ii is wain,Ile wns feeble in health, and no Catholic .41I'mt such wag entured to 4,0Iv than seen his settling Own, aroundand including trim a classntost ofof peoplethose his pari.h,connected more ascultivated if with it had beenIle hadin the been I) acmes;;Is absolute but he and had nett:le :jun(1 in all matters debt.aboutingnotgo fro.,to nearand :I:2.00.be beaten;ashim, 1 atherand he lie R. tt.is had lett nothing to suffer. s'At of tlungs, and obtamdIt a In the lays ot impri:,,muenl tor Ni ; ,est for the damage rsult- I le' was, however, n.l1,:nIt for ofministerteachingsthe the government, cons,dingplace satisfactorily and invited i :WA offices who him services, didwhen of to notreligion. preach they sympathize an 1ft to lt themmost with illdeeply English, his religiousthe needand, c. forIn vhom 1807 he the cou1.1 Protestants not Relying,fromquestionto hadjail, the been butthoughlaw \vas was elec:edexempting raised withoutof Com ten whether i:(.1 seanymembers bailed ialgood he delegate out. front cc odd del it e any advantage to pay,Congiess, he was andIn taken thethe meantime lie arrest for debt. generaleredthou:dthe undertookat he thenatal %vt.11 Council-house e as the knew he work, deemed thatFather heand a adaptedcould religiousItichmd every not Sundayto calledmeet discom his allaudience. onat their the wishes, young Monteith noon deliv-se of suchsoon after iningprovidevision, Detroit,- those he for wentgood hethe was payment onqualities tocareless Washington, of hich ofthe his jndgment.made and finances, and wasreason, ever upon this pro-hint so well knownhis friends had to Notwithstand- eatselfdmInvhis liest::71:77.71757:ii7iiiir unable tocal:s the to petfoi render. mance of services which he felt him- Mr. M.'s boarding-house, he was invited On the occasion of one of his nierliTiTiWith sincere cor- to whichandgetting published was notinto indeed ittrouble small sustained, as theFather paper,tuai:4-4tht...doefit called "Es.,a/ du .11/n/A.an, his consequence. a.p.iintino:press in the city, but the press was useful uninteliigibleMr.inHeremain the replied M., Latin athowever, tea, that language, to and he those thought wasrequested unaccustomedatwhich the it not to table.he askwell would a to toblessing employthat service at the table. Anotheruse, incident, if agreeable. a language except justread mem.people,inand printingbefore malicious, and the thethe Pioneer religiousmatter Society c.tlled works for by the Mr. Girardin, in an intimation that he was not in favor a paper on Father R., recently of Detroit, resentsneeded as bytin the- Catholic ten govt..; n- ingbeof90 the%.as most education favorable readers, ofto thethis, will, AMI:RIOAN s rA-11: UNIVERSITIES. as they consist mainly in his efforts masses. Mr. Girardin's proofs that however, fall short of satisfy- at andmindTerritory was among probably from the iSos, membersthe author ofof the ARLY ORGANIZATION IN MICIIIGAN seems to have been the organizing, tenfollowing itorial government, : 9r ofCongress.theestablishment the education Territory, of of Youngand a Young is regardedIt wasladies' in seminat IS23 that he IIe showed an intelligent interest men for the ministry,went and asin territorialthe delegate to a: having procured the v. in the aflitirs ritory of ''AN"lle ACT it enacted to establkh by the t'ae.gathul.,:pioemiad,or Govetwor ina judges That Oleic: .711chiganni. be in the sa;c1 Ter- Univetc:vof the of Ter- lessfwgetfulness,altvaysPontiac,construction of life getting Fort itself. ofGratiot.when into theWhen greatdutyfinancial and the seemed toads Grand troubles, leading River cholera raged in Detroit, in to call, made him care- roads.so Asfrom the he same wasDetroitthe self- didaxia,posedtholepistemiad,Catitolepistemiod,ritory aorof catholepistentiad professorshipthirteen or or 1::.;versity of catho'epistem;a, of Michigania. didaxam or o,ofesoiship.,:: isity of Michigama, shall beor univvr,ity, dunomin hest the the didactor The Ca-Fir-t, a cm- cdour years in I)ettoit. beingtemporalfreelyIS32, about he,among Nants, sixty-eightwith his characteristic people, years ministering of disregard vas taken with the disease, and died, age, and haying ...pent this ty- to their spiritual and of danger, moved maticatoliterature, second,orlanguage professor or mathematicsembracinga didaxia, ; of w hid) orall pi the shall oft epist..ontnn be ptesident of the third, a didaxia, or professi ship ; fourth, a didaxia, or piofes,orship ssot ship of anthropoglossica, or sciences relative institutionof ; mathe- or talentsoursifiedof cnitine Tell and incident itory education t to and entitle preparedadventure, itMr.;aaat!::111_wasaatan to be him sketched for the for this work.of anoiller_sitilex_of tint 1-.1t if his life had even been too little of it was spent in one of more diver- work of instruc- 1LI_tll Ilis chemistryonly'sixth,professorshipof physiognostica ;a seventh, didaxia, ; eighth, of aphysiosophica didaxia,or a didaxia,natural or hit,tory proassotship or prfesrship of asttImomia or or pt ofessorship of i.itttca or or natmal ; fitth, a d'daxia, of chytnia or ,a -t' on- phy ; or \in fecsorshiWastion tomainly trhich , given his life, in the establishingdischarge of the the first duties Protestantchief distinction congregation, in Michigan I I ,miltn Collj afteLlhe....fgx:-.y.uar41.-94411iudiell oit, wasthe Stateas standard-bearer of NewThr and in theof a pro- sciencesdidaxia,professorshipcuconomiamedical ; twelfth,sciences; or economicalof ethicaa didaxia,ninth, sciences or professorship or ethical sciences ;a didaxia, or ptofeq,orshipof pomitactiLa of or professorship of dvgitica ; tenth, a didaxia, oreleventh, a military or eralwouldremaininauguration sections have in Michigan,of been ofthe our Christian large educationalThese his and influence world, twosalutary. work.men, in representing in these were to labor together educationalwilds mattershad the be two chosen gen- to to thesorshipreligion,theor epistemumhuman historical of the cunceica mind, didactor orsciences; :,ciencesto spiritual and relative thirteenth, or intelluctnal sciences, enduacingor allprofessor of trhich shall be vice- existence, to the Deity, and to the minds of animals, a didaxia, or profes- settlementthisgionin the v.ork which opening began in has Detroit. of sincewithin the workbecomenon. ofAugustus publicthe l3. Woodward, a few months after Mr. Monteith's one of the judgesState of Michigan,the and education in that re- toquarterly Thereeachshallpresident didactor shallpayments,be appointed of be or the paidprofessor, toinstitution. ti. fiom a!1( commiN-io:tedoresi(lcut be the a" the an annualThe salary,didactors to be or from profe,sors ..n4.r. and Theortime92 prote,sor-hip preidentto time ascertainedand may didactors be confeedby law. AMERICAN STATE UNIVERSITIES. upon the'More SZZIlle than person.' one didaxia struction,adequate andmeans that to the defray same theought to be nARLX ORGANIZATION IN expense of suitable in- a public charge, 93 sue,cernsthem to be as-aimblkof suedthe institution ; d, shall have; to enact laws for that to acquire, to hold, to alienate ; poweror ploiesskas.to regulate orall A the maFrity con- of purpose ; to property, actionsgan.the honorarium An of animal the institution shall report be of shallpaid the befrom stele, laid the beforeconcerns and treasury of Michi- the legislative trans- museums,sealreal, ; mixed. athenzemos, and par,onal botanic gal dens, laboratories, to establish colleges, academies, schools, to make. to use, and to alter a libraries, and being.maypower be repealed for the timeby the being, legislative Thk law, or any 1\1. d j;:t.tilzaslt,:tinenLI !:,u1N)vl pow er for the timaesh pa, t of it, claownsr, of townsl.ips,among.andtheother laws to usefuland appoint of and throughout the Lair:Iry other Unitedofficers, geographical and theStates scientificinstructors, various of America institutions consonantdivisionscounties, ofto Michigan. cities, towns,and instinct% ixes in, and of Michigatn, thetosylvania,ticut, seventhe 26th Massachteatts, circumstances day and of VaginiaasAugust, New of Michigan,in 301,:ey, thefar New of yearas of mice:a-my, our Lord one and thou- suitable at Dvtroit; on Tue-alay, Yolk. Ohio, Penn- catholepistemiad81:T:ordinateTheir name and instructor orstyle university, and inst: there shall i'i--tem3ad.01UtiWersav 01Miclikania " as a corporation shall be ..The uctrix appointed by the be paid from the To every " .Proidisig7udgesand eight hundred of the andSup " Secretary of .Michigan, am/ at "A..4 WI IL 1. Woonwann,LTA lI WoormainG, seventeen.eme Court of the Tetritory of ..Itieht:;am trescnt acting Governor thereof taxes,andexistingr:t.eastny fromcants, fifteen public the toof pm beperMichigan taxes oceedsfrom cent. are time areof herebyan the appropriatedto annual time increased ascertained salary, for in by law. present and all future public fifteen per cent. ; thequarterly benefit payof - The This legislation did not suddenly "Me gf the 'fudges of the Territory",0111 spring up %vithout ante- of AfichtTan. samefourTheiganthe catholepisterniad catholepistemiadsuccessive shallfitteen keep per Iota:lies,acent. separate fur thededucting benefit of the institution. or university'university. may pr epare and draw account of the university fund. fromThe the treasurer prizes in of the Mich- beforeweeklyThecedentject contemporary thenewspaper hadfacts date been in of the 4.1fichthe more numberspublic act be establkhing mind of or less agitated in the community. to giveits careerrise t ) aboutit. two monthsthe Detroit Gazette, the catholepistemi.ad,, The sub- a libraries,asacquisitionsubsequent,proceeds shall andbe of from apparatus,of theshall suitable ptecedingtime be applied,to andlands time byand in lawthe directed. sources of revenue, and ofafterward all to such purposes buildings, and books, first instance, to the The hon- The theFrenchdeavoredcontain Territory.reign population evidencesof to Louis Manyadapt was XIV.ofitselfof still thisthem toOfqnitefact. allhad Thisclassesin these, some had been of the emigrated from Francethelittle majority sheet in prudently thioughout of the people. The en- NI ordinarycertifyofdollars;orarium the courtinstruction,that fur for classical thea of course parent six instruction, of dollars lectures any county, or a majority of them, wall or guardian of any persen has not a quarter.ten dollarsshall a not quarter exceed ; fifteen If the judges for- theare,ofdowncourse Canadahigher the indeed, fromage with classes, sidein generation still theirwhich of doingand theown they being to incountry, generationhad they river,avbete"cut offsome from ofall thoseimmediate retired inter- parts onleft their native land, the French langeagewere still handing as they Gazette,Anglo-Americans in deferencet has notto the dislodged tvishes orof corruptedthese people, it. AMERICAN STATE UNIVERSITIES. Thewas strawsligence which and virtue, show ignorance to us of this and day, crime in what; and directionthese are thethe EAR LY ORGANIZATION IN MICHIGAN. 95 of'Steditorials,divided education,7, is betweenan and editl titan communieationc. :alEnglish w in Lich the and theFrench followingFrench language in itsis translated advertisements, on thesubject Under date of Augut 8, : I incurrent w hich was this then work setting beganBut in. I how exceetlo:glv snot!! and isolated the community The exact population in I SI 7, The v hole Into ranAces begina immediately as French, to and"Frenchmen give if anyou education do ofnot the have to Tel your your titory children. children of MichiganI:t:le ! Youtime ought there will be in this Teti itoty as many illOfTerritorytheprobably, Mid11;2;:111the pet coastingled in now 18wtherefore., VC:,:e1:,, tocontain, hack, be pictured, inill 5,):,--the I.. I.:18:7. I:6. in 6.000 is the nothirg.t fbreign to known. 7.000. oftrade w %%T.:it;ch might 4.763, souls ; in 182r, 8,8,...,6; The torm!gt! ; notyoungunless.Noeducated, tman ct people,he learned is thecan capable situations ofat toleastfrom ofread, serving eighteenread v111 but and astheyall toawrite. be civiltwenty are given andnot years, tomilitaryyet the too who ritnkccs. old()nicer have to There are many languagewasTheBuffalo,easily expectationheralded have: that" We by theofbeen anlearn the steam).)oat edam althe w r ithiv.'l i,amanemnt pleasure,of of may thethe Gazettefir:..tbe ofbyexpected :creamer onea gentlemanin thesmall the followingat rostDetro:t, yepsel. from week educationtroit,.earn. by Ateearn.stating tvhich age the ofwould writer'sfortyThis enable years.' ideacontributes his of countrymen the smallest to a view to amount compete of the of state of things in De-I have known those who have learned to read at timeChiefmonthin "August." elegant" her of that regularthat the structure. name, editor nips, " WvIk-in-the-Water,"funningcould announce an era in thethe artival historybegan of atof thatthe It was not, however, until the 2Sth of that This vessel, called from the Indian fortywordenterthemsuccessfully )ofwetat ears encouragementonce e withoutw with uponhhout the making their these" Yankees,"even work essentials,the to beginning.those of informs preparation, who and might usinvites that havehinting many them lived ofto a goods20,souls,Territory. 1820, occupyingconsumed that two IA2in this yearsdwelling-houses.We whole learnprevious western !loin to aucountry, that edict)r date, were ial allof either the Gazette of February Detroit had then :t total population of I,1ro intelligenceOnecles,doubt appears both of this originaland from movement, virtue Montesquieu, and in selected, Therepublics, are call:es:much showingon and occupiedthe numbers onesubject the from withnecessity of of Ifoward,the education. brief Gazette, ofarti- in consequence no theirof Detroitmountainswhich goods Depeople might Witt from began Clinton come, Philadelph;a, boatedat perhaps wasthis thentime " upwithand urgingto the thinkthat :,d Missi,:ippi, vantage thethese that consti byenterprising to the uction, them- orcanal, " wagoned" over the auramediate:tientthe phihnithropist,dais co Territnircit donner une autantsetting education do forthYankees "A Francais osthe cnrans.quo relation dodu Thins Francais,Territoire between pcu dect de sitemps 1\lichigan! vous intel- it nc y Vous devriez commencer im- ThetheTheselves, Indians Hurons, best from church were orN Wyandottes, stillin the a main vicinity as element they had were been of sometimesthe built population. chiefly called, by ...ew Yolk by way of Buffalo and Lake Erie. tuoinsZcec.f.eit2spour gall pasapprentlre. in,txtlin;n sache Yen lire sos Aiet caf.tus, ecrire.connu quitons out lc+ appris cmplois B. lire serontquo b. l'agen'ont dons do pas aux4o encore ans." ran- Att;:taappris aImmtue lire, mai% ni ct.t its capableno sont pastletre trop °Meier civil et militaire it II y a plusicurs jeunes ens do xS A :o writewerewhichand stillexcepton were special in butthethose occasionsmajority.little intended in advance theyFew for filledofmercantile oftheir it.them men inlite could intelligence, ; singularly read or The French people, 96 AMERICAN STATE UNIVERSITIES. EARLY ORGANIZATION IN INIICIIIGAN. 97 attendanceread,enoughthm,elves. which more upon fact ofThme the isthe accountedwomen cysts, mass forthan for.hich of by the theytheir men thus more were prepared generalable to how ever, little reading even onUnitedthe the first northern States, year ofon frontier, hisa tour administrationOn ofin thetinspection ived 16th in Detroit.of as ofAugust, Presidentthe Afortifications telegraphic 1817, of Jamesthe Monroe, then in it,languagemanyinquilyamong but.whea of thosewas these: nm,t institutedproduced, who Fiench of had them, about acquireditpeople pi on ovedthis being had thistime generally asked,the -accomplishment. in B.bleorder cl.timcdto betoin knowthetheir to litany, haveownhow An themilesdentialhadmessage, festivities previously below. party which connected had forannounced reached speed with thiswasthe to extrammouthdoubtless the chi/ens dinof thesentary river,visit,that on hor,,eback, the ineighteen all presi- of '1'h:. people %%, re °cut:pied for about a week in ormassob:igationwashad some onlygiven once, collection a to himuntilLatin observe by the ofBible the commencementprayers, the Pi until Sabbath,otestant andone evenpastor.inotherwise of the ProtestantFather vulgar than Rich language worship,to attendai.1 They felt little formedastablishmentdent,which the whole and,so Judge numerous of population course,aWoodward, university a companyGovernor of :thethe Mr. townasauthor Cass, Monteith, would could were of gather the notprominentits act firstnowthen for presi- athavethe ;the and es- roSabbath observance was passed,spected.almo,t andimmediately was generally after which, re-Ti.e anmost ordinance of this account in regard of the ink:ilea:tat to and religious condition of time,antaindepot occur a itsight mayof reuse almost of well couldso bedi,tinguished any supposedscarcely town on be that the aexpec personage, theCentral tedbody again Railroad, of and the for as people a such life-to ob- is,facts,cotMont.the hov ofIs. the'th,LI nth useools of in whielt Missouri. in this work Mould be foreign to its design. There ver, eae too interesting to be omitted, and so is thrown into this fin:v.-heti for this rin rose be(.1 hisD..tio:t hone islate taken supeiints.nd- hoot a manoseript of Rev. John It is ieplete :th interesting statements of EasternPresidentwas stirred Michigan to Washington,by this and event., acrossGovernor traveling Ohio. Cass through and theGeneral woods Macomb of accompanied the allfainSCIA;CP,netts: of Root. the r C.,Co and ted Ids Stan utenantMr. s army: VrestChit the k *1. and w on :le wife, it:s of Colonistvand Coronet NIeNi McNeil ii being a id a wife,sister d ' ""... ha. it .; among It's f;liowpas-engi_rs1") tls,` W in a latle resttobequoted it.apparent the was'!.,>th passedwhy of AugustJudgethe just signature after this Woodwardof pattyGovernor left, invited theCass season isMr. wanting Mon-%via Six days before the publication of this actthat is, As the act above brated01:sameera*,of or komman.t.tIe.c tra%el...r rc..!).....0.:y Volney ;that of for Ietl.n,Cant a passenger,rr.( do w..s t0.tin tttT, old, andv. andIto had relatedhad in thealways toisassa th;scomp:uty, heen ze encountered under aion. the Ildmself anst :nun -ward Prosid in of the United States, essels that lie had had the cele- This Ewe followingearlyte:1.h in to the anentries nextinterview :month on the the diary subject of the of latter a university, contains andthe somethea severe Canada were ..tol gieat' in.'hole. v. 11;LII ag:tated, had .selland -1none i 41i mote di ;veil so his than schooner Volney. upon a shoal mar NT, nmng the feitua. : re: was much When t:te an.,prai."rheattempted.finaltitan the ever.appealdanger wind, to vanished."however, the !tearer changed of pra3er, and which bore the he vesselhad probably from the before shoals, never In his agonyMon he Dien! threw Monhim Dien! que ce que jc prai, que ce (ie je . elf down on the deck, making his castfriendpan.°pieces,dangermistake, away. is remonstrated hesceme.:he !I:ledes:u-essed andyou emptiedtohi-will he pocket-. against sinkhisvery his:at:-fact tonear, pockets. with histhe hefolly bottomonthem, ran that in totold heso likehis haddoing,coming trunk,a securedstone!' and toand a said, hisVolney travel:it,:se:/.:ng money. sawhis en gold 11-his But then he was in greater d:stress If _sou arc Isis mightblethe that settlementhave eighteen been aof passenger hisAs countrymenVolney upon was it. inat this Detroit, country it ...ems from 1795not at to all t79S, improba- and most likely visited twenty years b-fore, when this schooner was new, he 98 muciug STATE UNIVERSITIES. EARLY ORGANIZATION IN MIIIIGAN. 99 outofficers.legislature its provisions, establishing commissions, September a university. have 0th. A bill has just passed That for the office of I) rodent, and six others, been made out for its In order to carry the territorial todenttheand primary ane executive and coot: higher of overschools, them and into hay,.gives the hands all legislative of its pre,.:- been "made,ofeqlsorF. adopted, and published It is true that this act declines itself flom beentheofferedembracingso Catholic' nu.nyaccepted, to lohnother so bishop manyamylMonteith, protessorsh.pq, ofthe separate Michigan. institution and six areprofessorships, commissions, is ready to go haveembracing into oper- offered to Gabriel Richard, The commi, :oas have been territorialformallyessaryDetroittime andlaws to ;"government suitable meetofbut seven this a requitementto statement of thederived the circumn,.tances om isiginalof int:,,duced th( actStates, floutof Michigan sooaly which far in as orderthe nec-at its authority to legislate, ferredintendentation." to above, of the baildings"proceeded" 1" ofELLJamesThis tothe secure corporation," university." aMcCloskey site for adds a isMr. this M., day in the appointed super- manuscript re- school in plottheoneand lower, ofprobablys itself the sevenand plainly this it States oughtmain tt ith mentioned,feature tosimph_Higher do so of educationfacts ;the system in detail, must, existed the in former timein end, direct and control for while the latter em- no 4P story occupied with a systematic Englishthisportioncoutr anothercity. school, tct, of andwith the and in seconda thealibrary." course story of with about a clacsical a year school, They drew the plat of a building, let it out by had the lower and highestfactscanofteaches teaching,have be generalizations., well thebeen principlespreparedwhich generalized, should only or theories bybe and usedthose those intoin who thebooks which havecommon and masteredaccumulated systems schoqls, the But whether the lower schools . gan immediatelypoleon tt to be publishedTheWhen statutes the catholepistemiadenacted for the carrying was founded, out of the great 'Na- :Is only in the second year of his exile. in the Gazette. this plan be- His sult,competitionfacultyshould is mole beof thethusdoubtial. should highest formally be grade left subjected to of work schools. outto the its or controllegitimate whether of free the It is pe:haps better that nLither re- Americans,marvelonssuggestiveourgreat own man Lareerwar whosewasto observewith much was warm Great still enhancedin the andfresh columns wondering in by the certain mindsof the regard Gazetteof Britain, then just closed. recollections of admiring for theof this It is Ahemthethisvantage in university principlesmust, a free than in competition the thatnor taught end, itswhich E2,-raduates diffuseand well-trainedfor the positimsthroughout spirit should generated talents as havetheteachers, naturallyb.mer any in otherthe andschools giveuni- ad- St.thatward,relatingperiod, Helena, exciting as the topublic are thedeep revolutionary given. Bonapamtes, and interest learned, with movement men,and which especiallyand athems contemporary of the Governor Cass and Judge Wood- the head of which information exile of with ancelowerpurposeversity, with education worthy this unless, provmacm,by of intoindeed, it. TheAmalfess4r.s..of-thc--eatniadtheir the hands. lattert,I;;ng Afails tha_aviLorkfew to specimensrealize the ofonly began, in accord- , of izedsympathyNapoleonintainly underMichigan. this withthehad act name it,placed looks must Of very himself,havetime much Universityunderstood and like doubtless anof the attemptFrance, system in deepestto organ- copy It makes the university include in itself all and cer- it andihirdacted shouldtheirelocution. made the legislation provisionbe establishment instructed maythat in thenot reading,of pupils 1)eprimary devoid writing,in theschools ofprimary Englishinterest. schools The fmr1h, fifth, and sixth statutes en- in Detroit, grammar, Slatuic asMackinaw,100 soon as practicable, and Monroe the ; followingwhile the bookstwe/fth should provided, that A1UC. STATE UNIVERSITIr.S. be used Theythe had,work however, for which other thee pi ofession,:, and little to do in EARLY OI:GANIZATION IN :%1 ies we:e provided. and as 101 book,in universityWalkersthese together schools. Elocution, had with threeviz andhis primary ItEng:ishWalker's is evident schools Reader1J:et:on:Ir.)... that under ,andas early Exercises,it' direction, as September, 1S17, the new Alurrav's Grammar and Spei ling- Itand totheyshould didbothworthy probably any enjoyednot tt.actiing, he overlookedreceived that hig-'1 they in we.:that, doubtlesswhile one wellwas aenough Pt esbv- paid, ni and 1.-.1chers in ft on tier set:lements. m egard so gene:.: y ;tecolded tuition fees when they butvise,whethertutionand merely and had wasitmost foundselected named striving pm themobably as books theto existing attain.wet goal for e nevertothem or y.hich called ailwhich of this them them were iNpiring into not being., theninsti- in Although i it is not beyond introduced, lowestthroughouthaveterian agreed andto the the allin highest. prov;dingother a TheC. th t :tlaw the in Seriptme; Nvhich shouldthis institution 1,..! read miginated, provided the schools under their chat ge floin the ohc cl..rg man, they seem to vtcoague,'; Stahnic with ji/th 1 km plovided able acculacypupilsprim:11ydoubt, a course its win edncational etheschools mayof classical relsonably then academiesin the suppose Territory : thatThe ; theseFiand ench, if w so, ere Latin, we the might only and instruction for the statistics. ningshownteriesthefor fifteenenterprise, to in bythe aper sum private cent.and of ako$3,000. increacesubscription, iillowed of the of raised tax:.sthe di in forawing the the very supp,)Itof two begin- lot- of its aid. But the interest of the people is best tion,froma:credmentalGreek elocution. the Scriptut languages,accomplishments beginning mathematics, es shouldantiquities, to the constitute; geography, end English: of athe portion morahz,grammar,course. of theand composi- reading, orna- and further enacted that the The two additionHowhave1817,sale of beenmuch wasto the what expended landmore the was subscriptionsgrant, than raised in $5,0oo,madethe ftedocational um in \yere all thetuition of treatyincreased which NVOI and of subscriptions. is Fortk supposedafterwatin Detroit,Meigq d inisin The amount obtained by the to thevisitorsclassicalnextof Gazette followinga college of academy t'teof Octoberstatza.-.5insame the in : cityDetroit, and21, provided of 1817,statute Detroit, and enacted for fifteenth,named theto be establishmentthe the denominated establishmenrpublished trustees ofand in athe theirnamesMichiganOnenot of severalso of the evident the to most subscriptions, subscribersspend from interesting half the publishedanto as this hour,ways published fund isreferencesfor inand an readingin oldthe the toamounts residentGazette the subject. ofof over the coursenorachievepresident"First in Collegc detail. andmuch, professors, The of it Mickiania."governorwillAs thenot and university behaddoubtless neceqsary the appointment inbefore this to pursueleavingits first of the itswithform did not last long, bytrealThat thethat andcertain fire day. Mackinaw, of stuns that year of in money ;1805, thatStatutes thesehadfor the13been had reliefand notsent 14 ofbeen recite the paidsull.;:rers equally interesting facts, vi.z: on from Mon- themensalaryas presidentialcourse carried had of asevenreceived outprofessor party, soon and $S7.5o,theafterhad was other concurred $12.50by andJudge six aprofessorshipsthe year, inWoodward. the and appointments one ;of one these of other $75 a year. As the versitygiventhemselvestobecause relieve to shall the the themuniversity receive expressedholders of theirthis could; andthe moneyrespt,nsibilit:,, twist theynot obtain thenandthat becomethisprovide satisfactory and tl''' thatsecur;ty the the securitystaerers uni- money should be over fr 102 AMERICAN STATI: uNivnttSITIT:S. ottoAstz.vrioN IN MICIIIOAN.For we VC11 know that to a country 103 ferred.satisfying the Claims of theOa donors, the 3c.)th should of April,any ever IS2r, be pre-the governor Nr judges brackandwhere man'sNorthern slave,. brow St,Ites ! will never emi,41 ate. tit.,,tt,d :he hardy yeoman of the Eater . . Let, andThiatofpa:.sed.-ifii- :in gave:!.e ir,t;_tulito, rep.del funds :411 act the whichthat tlile.calle-d-the-5-(-1:r.iversity schools in it regard had Nr acquired, h ichto thethe lattercatholev_i.tcmiad,,into thehad of-Michigan." hands established, of the nulT7t-TIT-7y if:Detroit, and thecharter,tendedthen,States hc:,.:1;:ling the to neverpress the:lit people(M:at the willof /(-;:z,soil an aof ri!:-Irtofemigrant that country1) fromof holding withthe slaves be ex- I is 0111. and from the date of that his font."non-awe'', ;ding- Still michi_in pendingmightexcepttionnew substantiallyorg.Ini/ation. establish the u pi ON such theisions colleges,powers for taxes conferred academies, and lotteries. by andthe netschools. The of boar 1817, de- d said university, as they should deem proper, This char ter continued to the corpora- questiontionganin caninforprocess Congre,s, educationbe has done." of excited collecting. having inWhen the so Territory,:nach the the elements peopleintert wrote st, of thatMiss, : " Thenothing UI else reference to the desirkd ac- of the Northwest were i, looking :NI:s--ouri dr, and the funds should permit. Theyposalsionalcharge were ofact of the to ofthe have;\public townshipInch the 26, lands ISo.1, of in land themaking granted Indiana provision by Territory the for Congres- the dis- ; also Michigan,fertileJO:virtue, ward soil wereto thefor wealth intentin:A:huh:the purpose and upon sr,reatness, of planting ofslavery, fostering incho,e while their intelligence to theTerritory plant people in theirinstitu- and of signaturestermsnaryconcludedof the language oftht the re S.:erten:1)erof seciou.charter Lewis of such Cassreservedof 29, the charters as1817. catholepistemiad. governor, in the inqead treaty John ofof Griffin theFort pedantic 'Aleigs, This act was in the' ordi- It bore the as one resultingtionsphysicalmental wealth ofbut learning. andvery fromthrift. moralinadequately the The rich elevation, one, nes of;anxion,lv the its gained other,:`1)i1 and seekingthese, unwkelv together the set with The one which ought to have been twenty obtained even this ends of k- weretheTerritorof the opening It judges, :inspiring v of onesMichigan. and inof James ourtheDuring country,second, Witherell the eventsin closingregard of todeepest days one of interest whichthe fit st asorganization secretary ofand the yeara difference influencesdestineds ahead innot whichwhichdevelopment, distantly. is,now hots prevailtoThe isever,pa.s new away,in Missouri.corporation under the carried regenerating on from 1821 to 1837 the full twenty rapidlyyears behind ppeni nig. and theeditorialDetroitarenew Missouri not Territory Gaztlot language sign Compromisethe tte are ofto not:Februarythe unworthyhistory 25, viewsof 1S2o,of higher record entertained holds education. here, the sincefollowing in they '' If, in expressing our wishes on this Theour worktionalcasterianclassicalas of now educationspirit academy, school.organized. was begunkept and Theup, byin and threetheits predecessors,transmittederuly organizations part of to theincluding the time university a Lan-the By these successive boards the educa- have been one welfareMichigangreatwhileher question,slavery oftheir to this be 1corn-fields Territory,warpedwe could by wesufferare should moistened our feelings by the as citizens of Let her citizens eat the bread of idleness, a desire to hasten the prospective say, let Missouri enjoy sweat of the bybeeninstitutionofdeeded the thejudicially regents, University by in thethree declared.to governor recoverstages of Michigan, Inof and certain andevelopment. judgesaction thelands ofinSupreme 1825ejectment which to Court,hadthe brought, tru,teesbeen it i:s This has even 204 AMERICAN STATE UNIVERSITIES. PRESENT UNIVERSITY FUND. 205 whichJanuary-samefore,titled has ininstitution.to term law,receive made in as rS5-6, the theyand third hold decidedcertainly stage the lands.that ofwere thedevelopment inplaintiff's spirit, possible, The earliest management of the fund, The three are, there- one and the were en- will form the subject of the next chapter. 4 Grant of the Prsent INUnirErsity the chapter Fund on land and ,*nests its Adminis- for college education, two tration by the Peord of Trustees. cliArrrit thesetribesother,bywere Congress,meacus referred atgrants,a reservationPost esin Meigs,forto 11.01.consistinl;had as the havingasin in locationtheyet ISr7, treaty beenbeen of ofthree taken,made anneither entiresections. for%%hittogether Michivnoft.o.n-?,:,.1: which the with Indian ; anyone allthe the l3oth of providedatthisinstitution.temiad,"funds once board and forthe became, schoolsas bynecessary the that byresponsible charterwhich the measures charter had ; at administratorbelonged leastof for 182r thelocating , boardtheto theproperty of these institutedcatholepis- the grantslands. of the . The government at Washington recognized Sibley,takenAtmotion its be tsecond a ofcommittee, IIon. meeting, Austin whose which ,./i'rsoked,E. Wing, duty occurred itthe Thatshall following June behis to excellency,zo, commu- actionIS2r, on was Lewis Cass, and Mr. thislocationshipsStatesniente resolution, in onwith thisof the the the Territory,subject same."' andSecretary the ofMr. andreasonthe ofWing locationthat the is he didincidentallyTreasnry be of not urged the include college of to brought the hasten the Unitedtown- Fort outthe 1.,)Meigs reservation in Ohio,curingCa%s,in of of awhic:t the letter A. grants anE. accountWing,of for Mr.* Michigan, Itand has isCrawford, a Woodbridgeuhobeen retnarkablc eregiven irons above. Secretaryand the veryhad New interc.tin4mobt England of to the do factcolony withTreasury, that the inthe pro- three /'gyp3-1 0
APPENDIX ghPEE: A POT: TON OF A POOTNOTE IN Pfl.2IDET:T DAVIC'S 1833 PNNLET
"A Narr4tive of the Erbarras::rents and Decline of Earilton College"
It was these sane members of the class, without Question, who were con- corned in the conversations, who p!-aved for the President (one or more of then) the n-Lnner before stated, and who circulated the unfavorable reports of him after they were Graduated. In the former revivals in this College during my presidency, and in the revivals at Middlebury during my presi- dency there, no such prayers were made. Nor has such language as was used by professor Monteith publicly in the chapel, cn the Sabbath, been used by any other professor, viz.--'Thou knowest, 0 Lord, that thefaculty of
Hamilton College have sinned in high places; and we pray thee, 0 Lord, if
they are obstacles to thy work, that thou wouldst remove them out ofthy way.' When asked by me--'Do you verily believe the Holy Ghost constrained'
you to pray and preach in such amanner?' he replied instantly - -'I do.'
Language the same in import.was frequently used by him in prayer; andhis
preaching, for a time, was of a similar character.Nowhere else have I
witnessed the appearance of such a spirit, or had such anopposition to
encounter from any of my brethren, as has been manifestedby some of them
here both in the Board of Trustees and out of it.
With regard to the new measures, as they have been called,which have
been introduced into many of our churches,I had, from the beginning, with
a great majority of my brethrenthorughout this country, fearful apprehensions
the for their consequences. Embracing the views of President Edwarets, on
subject of revivals, as accordingsubstantially with the Scriptures, we
could not conscientiously co-operate inthe use of the new measures with
our brethren who approvedthem. But by the advocates of these measures even
the silence of some of us was regarded asopposition, and as sure evidence 38
of our being enemies to all revivals. The present distracted state of many Ap 3-2 of our churches furnishes proof painful and irresistible, that ozr appre- pensions were not groundless.
Repeatedly has it been said, (and by some of the new schooltoo) that the
°position to me from some of my brethren in the Board, and the fall of
Hamilton College, arc owing to the fact, 'that the College was n't regarded
as favorable to the Onhida revival.'I have anxiously sought for a cause of
their opposition to ne less wounding, to my feelings, but, with the exception
Gf a single individual, . . . I have sought it in vain.
Pages 36-37
39 Ap 4-1
APPENDIX FOUR: THE BEGINNINGS OF HAMILTON COLLEGE
Long ago I learned that even toapproach an adequate un- derstanding of a situation one must exploreits historical and environmental contexts. In this appendix I review what seem to mc to he the significantfacts on both these counts bearing upon John Monteith's tenure atHamilton College. that follows is far from complete since I have beenable to learn nothing at all about seven oreight of its 63 trustees during the
1812-32 period, andI have quite inadequate informationabout nearly a half of the total,and insufficient data about the remainder. Only a small part of whatfollows, it needs to be'remarked, comes from thepublished histories of the College(Ibbotson, notes and refer- Pilkington). Most of it I've found in my own ence books and inthe 10 or a dozen books borrowedfrom the
Stanford University Library.
Founding of the Collegeand Its Antecedent Academy,
A Princetonianwriting in 1900 observed that"Dartmouth and Hamilton were born inthe samewigwam."1 Samuel Kirkland,
however, the founderof Hamilton, graduated fromPrinceton in by Elcazar Wheelock (Y le1733), 1765. He had been sent there
the founder in 1769of Dartmouth. I wondered for many years
1Sacrwood,, p. 231.
40 Ap 4-2 about why a Yale man should have sent hisproth4-- and also his eldest son Ralph1 -- to Princetonrather than to his alma mater. Only recently have I learned the answer, to wit, that when Kirkland and young Wheelock were ready for college,the
Connecticut legislature had just begun a vigorous,30-year at-
tack on the government of Yalk. Its president, Thomas Clap,
won the first round in the spring of1763 which accounts for
Ralph Wheelock transfering from Princeton to Yalewhere he
graduated in the Class of 1765. Clap's opponents, however,
countered with a definitive victory in 1766which probably had
something to do with Clap's unexpected demisethree months
later. Meanwhile, as Eleazar Wheelock's missionary agent, Kirkland had left for Central New York andhence received his
Princeton baccalaureate in absentia. Thus Kirkland could be
described as a displaced Yale man whoprobably would have
matriculated at Dartmouth had it thenbeen in existence.
Kirkland's missionary activities beganin the fall of
1764 Ind concentrated on theOneida Indians, one of the famed
He so thoroughly gained theiraffection and con- Six Nations. .
fidence that as a Presbyterianminister he not only bapti-ad
many of them but alsosucceeded in winning the tribe over to
the American cause during theRevolution. In acknowledgement
of this vital achievementthe State of New York grantedhim
4,000 acres a few miles castand south of Utica wherein lies.
1Thorp, pp. 24-50.
41 Ap 4-3 the village of Clinton, founded in 1787. Soon thereafter
Kirkland assigned 300 acres there to the Hamilton-Oneida Aca- demy which culminated his missionary effOrts. The New York
State Board of Regents chartered the Academy in 1793 to serve both white as well as Indian youths of both sexes. Alexander
Hamilton, one of the organizers of the Regents, agreed to be one of its 16 trustees. He attended none of its meetings; but when the Academy acquired a college charter in 1812, it named the College in his honor.
Hamilton's Trustees, 1812-1832
Kirkland died in 1807, and hence his name does not appear among the original 24 trustees of the College. In the light of subsequent events acting directly or indirectly upon Monteith,
I outline what I have been able to learn about the character- istics of the original group and of their 43 successors during the next two decades.
Formal Education: Nine of the first trustees were college graduates -- six of Yale, and one each of Dartmouth, Princeton, and Union. By 1832 the number of Yale alumni had grown to 18, and those from the six other colleges represented onthe Board during its first 20 years totaled 10: Dartmouth two, Hamilton two, Middlebury one, Princeton two,Union two, and Williams one. Thus at no time during its early history did amajority of trustees hold college degrees.
42 Ap 4-4
Locale: Almost all of the members of the Boardlived in
Oneida County, but at least t.74-e-erepresented other counties:
Chenango, the home of U.S. SenatorObadia German who served
on the Board, however,only one year; Cortland, where atHomer
the Rev. John Keep was Presbyterianminister from 1821-1833;
Madison, the residence of Peter Smith whoserved briefly but
who fathered one of the most importantof Hamilton alumni and
later trustees, namely, thefabulous Gerrit Smith; and from
Otsego came U.S. Congressman A. Metcalfabout whom I've been
able to discover nothing. lie resigned after attending one
meeting of the Board.
Three of the 1812 members livedin or very near Clinton,
as did four in 1827. All served on the strategicfive-member.
Prudential Committee which handledBoard business between the
semi-annual meetings of thefull body. It needs to be empha-
sized, however, that during theMonteith emergencies referred
to in earlier pages,the Board met frequently.
Occupations: Only four of the original24 trustees were
ministers -- threePresbyterians and one Congregationalist.
The former included JamesCarnahan (Princeton 1800) ofthe
United Church of Whitesborowho resigned almostimmediately The Con- and later became presidentof Princeton (1823-59).
gregationalist, Asahel StrongNorton (Yale 1790), hadbeen in 1793. pastor of the Clintonchurch since its organization
It did not change over toPresbyterian polity until 1870.
43 Ap 4-5
During President Davis' administration(1817-32) the number of ministers on the Board besidehimself grew to 14.Two were Episcopalians, twoprobably Dutch Reformed, the remainder apparently Presbyterians, most of themardentFinneyites.1
The majority of Board members at alltimes during the
Davis period were lawyers and/orbusines'smen living in Utica,
the metropolis cf the county afterthe opening of the Erie
Canal in 1819. A large number of them heldpublic office:
one went to Washington as aCongressman, several to Albany as
senators or assemblymen, ahalf dozen or more held judgeships
of various kinds; two weredistrict attorneys, one a sheriff,
two mayors of Uticaafter its chartering as a cityjust before
Davis' resignation. Several doubled or tripled inbrass-as.
editors, bankers, merchants, andmiscellaneous entrepreneurs.
Two owned large tracts ofland: Peter Smith, perhaps as much father of as a million acres,and General William Floyd whose
the same name had signedthe Declaration of Independence. One
of the trustees, SCdallHopkins, was a physician.
Politics: The majority of the Board wereFederalists or
Whigs; but at least three orfour were Democrats. About this
infinitely complex topic Iknow much less than I'd like. Enough
for present purposes toobserve that the 1812-32period began of tumultu- with "Mr. Madison's War"and extended into the era led to the Civil War. ous problemswhich, among much else,
1See Cumshaw No. 6. 44 Ap 4-6
Religion: Hamilton has never been allied with anyreli gious denomination, but a substantialmajority of its trustees through the nineteenth century wereundoubtedly Presbyterians.
From the beginning, however, otherdenominations had represen- tation on the Board. During the 1812-32 period it included, for example, at least four Episcopalians, oneRoman Catholic
(James Lynch, 1812-25), and in alllikelihood one or two Uni- tarians. Monteith created the stir that hedid at Hamilton on the complex religious issue cited inthe body of this paper. Suf- fice it here to say that thePresbyterian clergy on the Board largely supported him, but sodid an undeterminate number of its lay members.
Hamilton's First Two Presidents
The Board of Regents issuedHamilton's charter on May 26,
1812, and on July 14 theBoard of Trustees held itsinitial meeting, naturally concentrating onthe selection of a presi-
dent. It chose the Rev. CalebAlexander, a Yale alumnus of
the Class of 1777 whohad been primarily responsiblefor rais-
ing the $50,000 requiredby the Regents to supplementthe
State's promised endowmentof the same amount.
Alexander was a convincedllopkinsian, but fo..7 some reason
he declined the position. When the Board next convened,it York City elected Samuel Miller,Presbyterian minister of New of his selection who also declined,probably in anticipation
45 Ap 4-7 the next year as the second professor of PTS. The Board on
August 25 then turned to a distinguished New York City lawyer and legal scholar, William Johnson (Yale 1788), a devoted
Episcopalian. He too, declined, and so on September 28 the
Board elected the Rev. Azel Backus (Yale 1787), another Hop- kinsian. He accepted, arriving in Clinton onNovdmber 23, a month after the College opened.
I've reviewed these proffers of the presidency in order to call attention to two facts: first, the Board's religious diversity in 1812, and second, the persuasive powersof its two Episcopalian members -- NathanWilliams of Trinity Church,
Utica, and Jededia Sanger of St. Joseph'sChurch, New Hartford.
The influence of Carnahan, though he attendedonly one meeting
of the Board before his resignation, seemsalso to have been
significant since almost certainly he raised thequestion as
to whether or not the Collegeshould have both a president and 1 a provost as at thattime did Columbia. The Board decided
that it needed only a president.
Backus served for only four yearsand three months and
died at the early age of 51 of afever contracted while watch-
ing over a sick faculty member. During his pastorate in Beth-
lehem, Connecticut, as did manyof his contemporaries, he con-
ducted a small preparatory school. With the adolescent students
there he seems to have been quitepopular, but at Hamilton he
1See Cumshaw No. 1.
46 Ap 4-8 immediately encountered disciplinary problems. Had he not died when he did, he might well have experienced the samekind of difficulties that greeted his successor upon hisarrival in the fall of 1817.1 Backus' death again had the Board in a dither aboutchoos- ing a president. Pilkington tells the story capably, but he does not include a fact which in my judgment hastremendous significance. Henry Davis (Yale 1796) had been elected in
January before finally accepting the positionin July. In the interim the Board elected President Francis Brownof Dartmouth, who declined because of being in the midstof the famous Dart- mouth College case. Then the Board turned to Gardiner Spring
(Yale 180S) -- and this is the fact thatI would emphasize --
Spring was a pronounced Hopkinsian who later,however, stub-
bornly opposed the Finneyites. These. circumstances, together with the fact that he held the pastorateof the Brick Presby-
terian Church in New York City for 63 years,stimulates one's
impossible-to-satisfy curiosity about whatHamilton's history might have been had Spring ratherthan Davis become the Col-
lege's second president.
I must again accent the factsthat I have been able to
find no information at allabOut seven or eight early trustees,
1Davis, pp. 1-2. 4'7 Ap 4-9 only driblets about nearly half of them,and ample data about none. Had I devoted more than the month that I havebeen able to give to researching and writingthis paper and had I not been housebound,I could surely have hunted down muchdata now lacking. Yet it seems to me fair to suggestthat in this ap- pendix and the Cumshaws that followwill be found a reasonably comprehensive sketch of the several paramount componentsof
Hamilton's early history bearing upon thelife of John Monteith.
48 Cum 5 -1
APPENDIX FIVE: CUMSIIAWS
Number One: John Mitchell Mason, perhaps at the timethe the most pre-eminent mc.nber of the Associated Reformed Pres- byterian Church, did not change to mainlinePresbyterianism until 1822. The important fact about him here isthat while serving as pastor of the Murray StreetChurch (1811-16) he also administered Columbia College withthe title of provost.
The president, the Rev. Dr. WilliamHarris (Harvard 1786),
Rector of St. Mark's-on-the-Bowery,seldom came to the campus until after Mason's resignationwhen he gave full timeto'Col- umbia. But during the five previous yearshe was its titular head only. This arrangement followed from thefact that in giving land for Columbia's firstsite, Trinity Church had re- quired that its president be anEpiscopalian. The stipulation continued in force until 1948 whenDwight D. Eisenhower suc- ceeded Nicholas Murray Butlerin the presidency.
Butler, incidentally, had beenraised a Presbyterian, but This as a young manhe switched over to the EpiscopalChurch. could well have beenprescience, but "NicholasMiraculous's" About numerous enemiesprobably considered it undilutedguile. the same time William RaineyHarper, later to be the great president of the University ofChicago, also left the Presby- terian Church and became aBaptist. Harper had many fewer
enemies than Butler, butin any case his denominationalchange the later made it possible forhim to attract many millions to
University of Chicago fromJohn D. Rockefeller. 49 Cum 5-2
Number Two: The Hamilton Board of Trustees electedHenry
Davis to the presidency on January 21,1817, but at some point before the middle of March he declinedthe position. The
Board then offered it successively to twoother men who also declined. Finally after having been re-electedDavis came to
Clinton to have a look. at the College. When he again declined the Board insisted upon an explanation. Davis thereupon ac- cepted the position -- albeitapparently with reluctance -- and took over the office late inOctober.
Why all of this shilly-shallying? In his 1833 pamphlet
Davis first explained that hehad expccted Middlebury andthe
University of Vermont to merge andthat, when they didn't,he decided to remain at Middlebury. He might also, however, have
thought again affirmatively aboutthe presidency of Yale which
Jeremiah Day of the class aheadof him did not accept earlier
than April 11. Yet it seems to me thatattention must be
given to a possible third reasonfor his delays in deciding to
accept the Hamiltonpresidency. Namely, the prevailing reli-
gious confusion in NewEngland and Central New York.
Like Presidents Dwight andBackus, Davis was what Presi-
dent Ezra Stiles of Yale hadearlier called a "New Divinity" follow- man. Stiles used this term todesignate the numerous
ers of therevised Calvinistic theologyfirst propounded by
the great Jonathan Edwards(Yale 1720). Among these several Azel Backus' became pre-eminent: Joseph Bellamy (Yale 1735),
predecess.:,r in the Bethlehem,Connecticut, pastorate; Samuel
50 Cum 5-3
Hopkins (Yale 1741); Jonathan Edwards, Jr.(Princeton 1765), classmate of Hamilton's founder and secondpresident of Union
College; Nathaniel Emmons (Yale 1767) whodiffered from his fellow Edwardian leaders (as with the seniorEdwards himself) in being totally committed to Congregationalpolity); and
Timothy Dwight (Yale 1769) who succeeded Stilesin 1795 as
Yale's president. These men each interpreted their mentor differently; but because Hopkins' theologicalsystematics be- came predominant,Edwards' disciples into the early part.ofthe nineteen century typically came to becalled Hopkinsians.
As observed, the Hopkinsians differed amongthemselves about doctrine and polity; but they wereunited in their op- position, on the one hand, to those whobelieved that the West- minster Confession should be followed tothe letter and, on the other hand, to the miscellaneousliberals who in word and deed softened the rigors of strictCalvinism. In seeking to comprehend these convoluted issuesI've always had to quit be-, cause trying to sort outtheir crisscrossed variables has made me dizzy. Happily, however, they need notbe dealt with here;
but one element of the hodge-podgeis supremely relevant to
President Davis' troubles atHamilton and hence must be briefly
canvassed, namely, religiousrevivals.
The history-shaping revivalknown as the Great Awakening
began in East Jersey duringthe 1720s and in New Englandabout
a decade later. Then over the next quarterof a century the
princeps maximus of theAwakening, George Whitefield,carried 51 Cum 5-4 it up the coast from Georgia toMaine. By the time he died in
1770 on his seventhevangelical visit from England, that phe- nomenal chapter of Americanrevivalism had ended; and although local quickenings occurred hereand there, religious thunder clouds did not begin to build up again amongthe Calvinist denominations until 1802. During that year President Timothy
Dwight initiated at Yale what came tobe called, after it
spread from .New Haven, theSecond Awacning.
Revivals have been so prominent andinfluential in the
early history of so manyAmerican colleges that for many years
I've been reading in theabundant literature about them. This
has impelled me to venture tocategorize revivalist methods as
either predominantly coercive orsuasive. Jonathan Edwards;
for example, employed theformer, coercing his congregations
with vividly horrendousdescriptions of hell .and its eternal Timothy Dwight used come- torments. In contrast, his grandson let-us-reason-together, that is,suasive methods.
It may well be that theabove classification will befound Davis' off- wanting by religioustaxonomists and, further, that
again/on-again attitudes concerningHamilton's presidency had
little if anything to dowith revivalism. The facts are, none-
theless, first, that Davisfollowed the suasive philosophyin second, that his the revivals heconducted at Middlebury, and
troubles with Monteithfocused on revivalistmethodology.
college pre- Number Three: During the nineteenth century, later. sidents changed institutionsmuch more frequently than 5 a Cum 5-5
Junkin, for example, held four --Lafayette (1832 -41), Miami
(1841-44), Lafayette again (1844-48),and Washington College,
now Washington and LeeUniversity (1848-61).
Numk,r Four: Hopkinsianism spread through all the'Calvin-
iSi church aad for several decades dominatedPresbyterianism
in the middle states. Thus some of the graduates of Princeton
went north to become pastorsof influential Congregational
churches, a situation enhanced byefforts at coordinating Pres-
byterians and Congregationalists,begun as early as 1766 and
formalized in the Plan of Unionadopted in 1801. For example,
at least three of SamuelKirkland's Hopkinsian classmatesbe-
came pastors of NewEngland churches: John Bacon of Old North
in Boston made famous byIncrease and Cotton Mather and later
by Paul Revere; JonathanEdwards, Jr., of the White Churchin
New Haven and later the secondpresident of Union College and
instigator of the Plan of Unionby means of which he hoped to 1 stifle Congregationalism westof the Hudson; and Theodore
Ritomeyn, of the Dutch ReformedChurch in Schenectady.
During the administrationof Timothy Dwight at Yale (1795- of it 1817) New EnglandIlopkinsianism gave way to a revision
made by Professor Nathaniel W.Taylor (Yale 1807) and soon
thereafter in New England itbecame known both as Taylorism
and the New Haven Theology. For a period had a considerable
1Hislop,p. 44.
53 Cum 5.4) vogue among Presbyterians who became known as New School men
in opposition to anti-Taylorites labeled Old School. In New
York State the Plan of Union had facilitated the spread of
Presbyterian polity rather than of Congregationalism, and among New Yorkers, especially Finncyites, New School theology predominated.
Upon his graduation from Hamilton in 1820 Albert Barnes attended PTS for several years where, despite the points of view of Professors Alexander and Miller, he became a Taylor -
ite. That is, he endorsed the position of the New Haven School on theological topics but, like Taylor and his supporters, he opposed Finney's revivalist ideas and practices.
Soon after leaving PTS the important First Presbyterian
Church of Philadelphia installed Barnes as its pastor, and that greatly alarmed the still extant Hopkinsians there and throughout the. Presbyterian sphere of influence. One Old
School stalwart attempted to prevent his installation; and when that effort to unseat him failed, President George Junkin of Lafayette College -- Monteith's classmate and former asso- ciate at the Germantown Manual Labor Academy -- charged Barnes in 1835 with heresy. The General Assembly, however, upheld
Barnes; and that precipitated the 1837 split between Old School and New School Presbyterians which continued bitterly until after the Civil War.
It will be recalled from the body of this paper that the
1837 breach consisted in the excision from the General Assembly
54 Cum 5-7 of four synods, three in New York(Genesee, Geneva, and Utica) and Western Reserve in northernOhio and southern Michigan.
The break ostensibly related primarily todoctrinal issues,
but Finney's new measure revivalismhad long been commingled
with them. Yet many Presbyterians couldmaintain at the time
of tlie split -- as did Monteith -- thatalthough they endorsed ' Finneyite revivals they belongeddoctrinally to the Old School.
Number Five: A thumbnail sketch of Weld seemsessential.
"Measured by his influence" writes oneof his biographers, he rand) also one of was "the greatest ofthe abolitionists . . . 2 the greatest figures of his time."
Weld, son of the Rev. LudovicusWeld (Harvard 1789) and
brother of evangelist CharlesWeld (Yale 1822), had been
Monteith's student at Hamilton. For reasons hard to under-
stand Hamilton historians do notmention him, but one of his
collateral descendants whomI've known for more than three
decades wrote me several years agothat Weld had been "kicked
out for starting areligious revival that offended"President information about the Davis. I've written her requesting more
time of Weld's dismissal,and pending its arrival it canbe
reported that Weld joinedFinney's "Hold Band" in 1825,became
1Elyria Democrat.
2Barnes.
55 Cum 5-8 a student at theOneida Institute in 1827, and about 1830 be- gan his powerful career as ananti-slaverypropagandist.'
Barely 27 years old, Weld started west in January1831 primarily to foster Pinney revivalism, theanti-slaverycru- sade, and te5Terance; and this his agreement tobe the field agent of the Society for Promoting ManualLabor in Literary
Institutions gave him a fourth cause. Endowed with phenomenal energy, however, he did not neglecthis new commission and ac- counted for a significant number of theinstitutions in the middle-western states which adopted thework-study plan. The fight against slavery, however, haddeveloped into the epi- center of his dynamic dedication toreform; and, deflected while in Northern Ohio from theanti-slavery cause to immedi- atism (abolitionism), in 1833 heresigned his manual labor agency. Weld's achievements included almostclosing down the Lane
Theological Seminary where in 1833 hehad begun a short-lived plan to become a Presbyterianminister. Having become an abo-
litionist, he arranged a seriesof debates on the slavery is-
sue, but theystirred up so much town gownfriction that the
trustees forbade theircontinuance. Harriet Beecher, a 22-
year old daughter ofLane's recently-arrived presddent,Lyman
Beecher, attended sonic if not allof the 18 debates; and, con-
vinced by Weld's eloquence,she joined the abolitionist cause.
1Barnes. 56 Cum 5-9
Two decades later, having longbeen the wife of Bowdoin's
Professor Calvin Stowe, she wrote UncleTom's Cabin which en-
raged the South and won uncountable opponentsto slavery in
the North and Europe. President Lincoln, so goes a famous
anecdote, greet,A her when she visitedhim at the White House,
"So you're the little woman whostarted this awful war."
As a consequence of theWeld-sponsored debates at Lane
approximately 100 students resigned;and 30 of them, headed
by Woid, moved 250 milesnortheast to the Oberlin ManualLabor members of Lane's Institute. Within a few months one of the
Board of Trustees, CincinnatiPresbyterian minister Asa Mahan,
joined the Oberlin students. He had graduated fromHamilton
in 1824 and -- consideringhis later career -- could wellhave
been the student who hadprayed for President Davis as "a gray-
haired old sinner." In any case, he supportedhis fellow Ham-
iltonian Weld and the other"Lane Rebels"; and he agreed to
leave Cincinnati for thepresidency of Oberlin on condition
that it admit not only womenstudents but also in the language
of the times "studentsof color." Thus Oberlin College (the college in the name adopted in1851) opened as "the first
world to admit young women onequal terms with young menand 1 received colored students28 years beforeemancipation."
1Mahan, Asa.
57 Cum 5-10
Numb,r Six: At least two of Hamilton's trusteesduring the Finncyite disturbances were associated laterwith Oberlin
College: the Rev. John Keep (Yale 1802) ,who moved in 1833 to
pastorate of the First Presbyterian Churchof Cleveland, became the president of the Oberlin Board ofTrustees (1331-
36), and acted as its financial agent for several yearsthere- after; and the Rev. James Fells (Yale 1799) whoresigned from the Westmoreland Presbyterian Church, close toClinton, in 1825 and later moved to Elyria, Ohio, wherehe chiefly devoted his energies to raising money for Finneyitechurches.
Oberlin also attracted a number of Hamiltonalumni, one of whom, Asa Mahan (Hamilton 1524) asobserved in the previous
Cumshaw, became its first president. In addition to being a
Finneyite par excellence, Mahan, asreported in Cumshaw No. S, pioneered for the nation and theworld the visionary and cur-
rently scandalizing practicesof admitting to full status both
students "of color" and young women. Understandably, conser- vative Hamilton never conferred uponhim an honorary degree.
Less understandably, he is not evenmentioned in any published
Hamilton history.
Number Seven: I've been unable to learn whether ornot
Gerrit Smith (Hamilton 1813)attended the 1840 Boston conven-
tion of the "Friends ofUniversal Reform." If he didn't, he
must surely have beenthere in spirit because no contemporary
of whom I know espoused moreuplift efforts than he. One of
his biographers has describedthem as follows: , ti Cum 5-11
He labored in the cause of theSunday' School and of Sunday observance; he was an anti - `Mason; he advocatedvegetarianism; and he opposed the use of tobacco and al- coholic beverages; he joined the national dress reform association and the woman's suffrage cause; he believed in prison re- form, and in the abolition of capital punishnent. lie contributed to home and foreign missions and to the causes of the oppressed Greeks, the Italians, and the Irish. Through his influence his cousin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was interested in temperance and abolition movements. He was vice-president ofthe American Peace Society and advocated compensated emanci- pation of slaves. He joined the anti- slavery crusade in 1835 with his custom- ary enthusiasm, and hebecame one of the best-known abolitionists in the United States.1
During what has been called theAmerican "Millenial Age,"
Emerson remarked that every"reading man" carried around a
social reform scheme in his vestpocket; but Gerrit Smith had
them in all his pockets --usually two or three.
1Harlow.
5 r
S-1
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Cross, WhiLney R THE BURNED-OVER DISTRICT: THE SOCIAL AND INIELLEClUAL HISTORY OF ENTHUSIASTIC RELIGION IN WESTERN NEW YORK, 1800 -1850, New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1965.
Davis, Henry. A NARRATIVE OF THE EMBARRASSMENTS AND DECLINE OF HAMILTON COLLEGE, Clinton: Self-Published, 1833.
Eaton, Edward Dwight. "Asa Mahan," DAB,* Vol. XII, pp. 208- 209.
Elyria Democrat. May 27, 1868.
Fletcher, Robert Samuel. A HISTORY OF OBERLIN COLLEGE: FROM ITS FOUNDATION THROUGH TILE CIVIL WAR,2 volumes, Oberlin: 1943. "John Jay Shipherd," DAB,* Vol. XVII, pp. 111-112.
Gates, Sarah M. Letter of December 7, 1878, PTSArchives. Archives. . Letter of January 10, 1879, PTS
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61 .4