B U L L E T I N O F THE (its age of Wilt ta m a a h fia t }; I LLI A M : I TS W ORK I I I OLLE GE OF W AND MARY , D SC PL NE I I FOU NDATI ON TH H STORY , F RO M T S TO E PRESE NT TIME B Y N I ‘ LYO GARD NER TYLE R , Pre si de nt t e re d a t t h e Po s t Offi ce i n W illi a m sb ur a s s e o n -cla g c d ss m a t te r . ) (flang e of W illia m a nt wa rp FOUNDATION . The C o lle g e of W illia m and M a r y is in its antecedents the Oldest o f American colleges ; in actual operation it is second only f fo r to Harvard . The proj ect o a college Virginia was agitated 1 6 1 7 l as early as , three years before the Pilgrims anded at Ply mouth Rock . An Indian massacre put a stop to the enterprise , but after many years the original intention was consu m mated in the college established at M iddle Plantation (now Williamsburg) 1 693 o f K W illia m ' a nd in , and named in honor ing Queen Mary , the ruling monarchs . PRI ORITIES I t is the only American college that received its charter direct o f o n e from the crown England , and the only that received its - f - coat o arms from the College of Heralds in London . It was the first college in the United States to have a full faculty o f professors the first to adopt the Lecture System the first to establish the Elective and Honor Systems the first to widen its scope into that o f a University the first; to establish courses in M unicipal and Constitutional Law M o dern Languages Political Economy History the first to organize a Greek L ett er K Intercollegiate Fraternity , the Phi Beta appa Society and the first to award gold medals as collegiate prizes , donated by Lord Botetourt in 1 7 70 . M AKI NG OF THE UN I ON . The alumni of the College exerted more influence o n the o f o f making the Union than the alumni any other institution . Richard Bland was the first to announce in a pamphlet that f K America was no part o the ingdom of England , and was only united with it by the common tie o f the crown Dabney 4 BULLE TI N OF THE Carr was the patron of the resolutions for the appointm ent . o f com m it t ees on intercolonial correspondence Peyto n ' Randolph w a s t h e first President o f the Continental Congress ” Carter Henry Harrison was the author o f the resolu — d 2 2 1 7 76e t h e tions of Cumberland County adopte April , first positive I nstructions for independence anywhere in the United States . Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of I nde - e nd e nce l . n p John Ty er , Sr , carried through the Virgi ia Legislature the p roposition for the convention at Annapolis Ed m und Randolph opened the proceedings at Phila “ delphia by submitting t h e Virginia plan John Mar sha ll set t le d t h e construction of the Const itution . George l t h e Washington , though not an a umnus , received from College his first public office o f surveyor and his last as Chancellor o f the institut ion . DE VELO PMENT OF THE UN ION . f e o O the sev n Presidents of the United States , b rn in Virginia , m s e e Tho a J fferson , James Monroe and John Tyler were educat d n at William a nd M a ry . To these men is to be ascribed the a n e x t io n n a of Louisia a , Florida , Texas and most of the western r s . te ritory , thu trebling the original area of the Union The mo st illustrious of the chief j ustices , John Marshall , was an nd a s m o f alum nus , a so w the most distinguished com ander the 1 86 1 . Federal Army down to , General Winfield Scott James M n rOe . o announced the Monroe Doctrine , defining our relations 1 7 8 9 1 8 61 t o this continent . In the period from to the College - furnished sixteen out of twenty seven senators from Virginia , three out of four Speakers of the House o f Representatives from t o ut Virginia , w o of the three ministers plenipotentiary to Eng land , four out of the six ministers to France ; and John James Beckley , first Librarian of Congress , and first Clerk of the House of Representatives was a William and Mary m a n . COLON IAL SYSTEM OF STUDY . r e 8 1 693 The cha ter of the College bore date F bruary , t h o f — and , during e existence Virginia as a colony , it followed the COLLEGE O F WILLIAM AND MARY . c o f example o f the mother ountry in its plan instruction . There were four schools in the College ' * ' A n rdi na r Co m m o n Sch o o l t o f I . O y teach the rudiments o learning , reading , writing , and arithmetic , to the Indian chil dren o f the tributary tribes . But to this school white children o f Williamsburg were admitted , according to the discretion o f “ o n e th e Master . There was teacher in this school called Master ” n o f the Indian School , who had a seat i the Faculty . Th e Indians roomed in the building known as the Braffer' ton (erected in 1 7 2 3) and the school was kept th ere . This school was de dependent upon the rents of the Brafferton Manor in Yorkshire , England , and was discontinued at the time of the American Revolution , which diverted the funds from the College . ra m m a r Sch o o l I I A G , in which was taught the Latin and Greek languages to boys who had at that time passed through . o r some elementary school There were five forms , classes , in h this sc ool , and the scholars ranged from ten to fifteen years of r age . It was taught by a Master , an usher , an assistant ushe . i n and a writing master The Principal had a seat the Faculty , l and the school was held in the Hall of the Co lege , which then f occupied the ground floor O the north wing . After completing the course the boys were publicly examined before the Society ‘ s w e no w a d m it t e d to (or Faculty , a call it) , and the Philosophy Sch o o LT l I I I A Phi lo s o p h y Sch o o . On entering this school the scholar a d s ca became a student n a sumed the p and gown . In it there were two departments , presided over by two professors . — o f one Natural Philosophy and Mathematics , and the other o f i Moral Philosophy , under which head were compr sed Rhetoric , s Ethics and Logic . To thi school were allotted under the statutes of 1 7 2 7 two years o f study fo r the degree of Bachelo r o f o f fo r o f f Arts and four years study the degree Master o Arts . In 1 7 5 8 the time was changed to four years f o r Bachelor o f Arts and seven for Master of Arts . * T 1e r Hi s to r o Wi lli a m s bur a t e r III . y , y f g , Ch p Fo r e a r r e o r s o f t h e o e e s e e Vi r i ni a Hi s to ri ca l M a a zi n I T ly c d C ll g , g g e , V , 1 . 6 1 t se . e "; VII , VIII , IX 6 B ULLET I N OF THE A D vi ni c o o l I . i t V y S h . In this school there were likewis e two departments with two professors— o n e of whom taught the t h e Hebrew tongue and expounded scriptures , and the other “ the Common Places o f Divinity and the controversies with ” Heretics . This school held a post graduate relation t o the Philosophy School . After passing satisfactory examinations o in this school , the student was prep ared to g over to England fo r o e i d ordination by the Bishop f London , whose dioces nclu ed Virginia . All the schools were not established at one time . The first m school to be established was the Gram ar School , which began 1 4 1 1 69 . 1 7 in Then the Indian School began before , next the chair of Natural Philosophy and Mathematics was permanently 1 1 2 established in 7 1 7 . By 7 9 the College had established a ll the chairs contemplated in the charter . There were a President no Six i who had professorial duties and professors , ncluding the 1 2 .