I'D >^^ / 7yj /)0 / ''X St Ml HISTORICAL SKETCH I OWA COLLEGE, PRESIDEI^T MAGOUI^. lilll^^ yy HISTORICAL SKETCH. The first movement for tlie founding of Iowa College was made hj " a called meeting of ministers and others," held at Denmark, March 12, 1844. It was proposed to enter a to^mship of land, and by the sale thereof to set- tlers favorable to the enterprise commence an endow- ment. A committee of three was chosen to examine the location contemplated, who reported favorably to another and larger mecrlag April 16th. "The Iowa College As- sociation " was then formed, a board of Trustees agreed upon, an Executive Committee appointed, and an agent to secure funds for the entry of land employed. The agent, Rev. Asa Turner, Jr., went East immediately, (April 26,) his expenses being defrayed by the ministers composing the Association. He met in Boston (May 28-9, ) gentlemen who had just organized the "Society for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Educa- tion at the "West " and others, who condemned the plan, and advised that a' location be first secured and a fund commenced from the gifts of the churches, and gave assurance that, through the new Society, "aid may be obtained when the plan and system of instruction shall be so matured that they can secure the confidence of the Eastern mind." The agent abandoned the original plan 4 HISTORICAL SKETCH. and returned witliout further effort. Had it been carried througli, in all probability it would have been highly suc- cessful, and the College long since had a large endow- ment, — the site proposed, which had been secured by a friend of the College, embracing a superior water power "in a section of country mostly subject to entry," and being now occupied by one of our largest and most pros- perous interior towns. The sympathies also of its friends in the State would have been enlisted and fostered as they could not be by years of weakness, suspense, and dis- heartenment. In June 1846 it was decided to locate at Davenport, "provided the citizens would raise $1,500 for buildings, aud furnish certain specified grounds for a site," and the members of the Association pledged them- selves to raise |100 each. Twelve Trustees were elected to secure a College charter, who incorporated themselves — with others — under the general incorporation law of the Territory, Burlington, June 4, 1847, at the last meet- ing of the Association. Although the amount named had not been yet subscribed ( $1,362 and thirteen lots secured ) the College was located at Davenport, and a building resolved upon — "not to exceed in cost $2,000." The members pledged themselves to meet within one year any deficiency in the necessary funds up to the amount of $600. In 1848 a Professor of Languages was secured (who was also Principal of the Preparatory Department) on a salary of $500 per annum, and the Preparatory De- partment opened ISTov. 1, 1848. In 1850 there were 26 stu- dents in Latin and 8 in Greek. The first Freshman Class of 6 was admitted to the College Department that fall. In 1854 the first Senior Class of 2 was graduated, and there were 109 names on the Catalogue. In 1856 there were 139. The Professorship of Mathematics was filled in 1851, that of Natural Science in 1853, and that of Mental and Moral Science in 1855. (See General Catalogue published this year. ) Since the College was opened in HISTORICAL SKETCH. 5 1848 there have been in all, notwithstanding its interrupted sessions and crippled condition, more than a thousand young persons under instruction. But the work of raising funds was found, on the plan substituted for the original one, almost impossible to carry forward, though temporary agents were often appointed, sometimes a number of them, for the State and for the East. In 1849 at the meeting of the Congre- gational Association in Davenport, there was subscribed $442,65, — all but four of the subscribers being ministers. At the meeting at Dubuque in 1850 the sum of $450 was raised. "The wives also of the ministers, anxious to share in the enterprise of founding this College, resolved to raise $100 out of their own resources, and $70 was sub- scribed by fourteen persons who were present." At the meeting in Muscatine in 1852 the ministers again sub- scribed $153, and at the meeting in Mt. Pleasant in 1853, a subscription was made of $711. Dea. P. W. Carter, of Waterbury, Conn., gave that year $5,080 to endow the Professorship of Languages. In 1856 Eev. E. Adams, Agent, secured about $11,000 on subscription, a large part of which Avas realized. The Society for Western Colleges made appropriations from time to time to the amount of about $6,000, for current expenses. The College has never been attached to any ecclesias- tical body. Like the New England Colleges, founded by the fathers, its Charter requires neither Trustees nor In- structors to be connected with any particular denomina- tion. Although nearly all its support has come from Congregationalists, in Iowa and at the East, it has had both Trustees and' instructors of other denominations. Presbyterians (E. S.) were in the first Board and the original "Iowa College Association," and took part in the proceedings down to 1852, when the Des Moines Presbytery proposed to undertake the founding of a Pro- fessorship, on condition that it should be "always subject 6 HISTORICAL SKETCH. to the control of the Presbytery." The Trustees respond- ed that they would be happy to have the Professorship endowed on the principles "upon which the members of Des Moines Presbytery and the Congregational Associa- tion of Iowa united in founding the College, and the rules and regulations that are usually adopted in the endowment of Professorships in Literary Institutions." Nothing more was done by the Presbyterians, and they gradually ceased to be members of the Board of Trustees. The original site of the College was on the bluif in Davenport overlooking the river. The first building is now the residence of S. S. Gillett, Esq. In 1854 the city having laid out a street through the grounds, destroying their use for College purposes, and declining to vacate it on request of the Trustees, they were obliged to remove to a new location farther back. A fine stone building- was there erected, and a boarding house of wood. The new grounds were of great beauty, containing nearly ten acres, part of which however was granted to the public for adjacent streets. In 1857 the city took steps to extend a street through these grounds, and in 1858 it was decided to dispose of them and again remove. The funds of the College were insufficient to make needed improvements, or sustain the Faculty, — now consisting of four profess- ors, — the unsettled condition of things prevented pro- gress, — through misrepresentation and breach of trust by the financial ofiacer the treasury had become helplessly embarrassed, and in 1859 the property was sold to Bish- op H. "W. Lee and others for an Episcopal College, the first of the proceeds being devoted to liquidating the debts. Proposals were invited for a new site. Meantime, another institution had been founded at Grinnell, Poweshiek Co., by a colony from ISTew England. The town was laid out in May 1854, a building for wor- ship and school purposes being immediatel}' erected, and a church organized in May 1855.] ^" All funds arising HISTORICAL SKETCH. 7 from tlie sale of town lots over and above the original cost" were devoted to education, and in December 1855 the " Grinnell University " was founded. " The Univer- sity was the soul, the animating spirit of the colony." A "Literary Fund" was commenced, by the payment of $20,00 to which any male citizen became an "Elector," with power to vote in the election of half the Trustees and the President. A school had been commenced in" 1856 by the present Carter Prof, of Languages, which was now opened to students in the higher branches, of whom there were in 1859 more than thirty. The Trustees of the "University" oiFered the College the property of the institution, including site of twenty acres and the " Sem- inary" partly finished, together with an additional citizens' subscription, — which was accepted, Sept. 1858, and the College exercises at Davenport suspended in December. The College professors resigned, and in Sept. 1859, preparatory classes were organized in the College building at Grinnell. The first Freshman class entered Sept. 1861. The present Prof, of Languages was elected in 1861, the President in 1862, the Prof of Mathematics in 1863, the Professors of Il^atural Science and Rhetoric, and the Principals of the Preparatory and Ladies' Depart- ments in 1864. Most of the instructors entered at once upon their duties. . In 1861, the Congregational churches raised, for cur- rent expenses of the College $285,97,' in 1862, $367,34, and in 1863, $ . In the Spring of that year Rev. J. C, Holbrook, of Dubuque, went East by arrangement with the Society for Western Colleges to obtain $2,000 pledged by the Society to the current expenses of the College. It was agreed, upon earnest representation, that if he could secure pledges also for future endowment funds he should do so. The prospects of the government and the country were not bright ; benevolent contribu- tions had been diminished by the war; and ^A^^ources LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 029 892 429 8 8 HISTORIOAL SKETCH. of the College Society so largely cut ofi" that a tract was issued by the Secretary to show that its mission was not yet ended, or disbanding a necessity. The success of the agency was unexpectedly so great in a short time as to induce the Society to consent to his raising $20,000 for endowment, and at length $50,000, of which about $40,000 has been secured — in funds and property — including a pledge of $10,000 from Hon. Samuel Willis- ton of East Hampton, Mass., conditioned upon the whole amount being obtained. This is the first general effort for an endowment, and is still going forward. Hon. James W. Grimes, U. S. Senator from Iowa, has recently given a section of land to found Scholarships, and other benefac tors are remembering the College with similar gifts. The Institution has now about $100,000 of property of which half is productive. It has seven instructors, including President, four Professors, and Principals of the Prepara- tory and Ladies' Departments. It has twenty-four grad- uates, — ten from the Ladies' Department, — and two hundred and eight undergraduates in the four depart- ments. The attendance during the last year has in- creased beyond all its accommodations, and Boarding and Lodging Houses have been provided which will accom- modate about seventy additional students. More recita- tion rooms, with larger library and cabinet rooms, and a chapel ■ of twice the capacity of the present one, are imperatively needed, as well as the endowments. The in- crease of students is such that more lodging rooms will be required as soon as they can be prepared, and rooms for a Normal Department or Training School for Teach- ers. A nobler or more promising opportunity for far-see- ing benevolence could hardly be opened, and donations for these objects are urgently requested from the fiiends of Christian Education in this and other States, / LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 029 892 429 8 HoUinger Corp. pH 8.5