The History of Dartmouth College
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Title: The History of Dartmouth College
Author: Baxter Perry Smith
Release date: April 30, 2009 [eBook #28641]
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[Illustration: Portrait]
THE HISTORY
OF
Dartmouth College.
BY
BAXTER PERRY SMITH.
BOSTON:
HOUGHTON, OSGOOD AND COMPANY.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge.
1878.
Copyright, 1878,
by Baxter Perry Smith.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge:
_Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company._
PREFACE.
In the preparation of this work the writer has deemed it better to let
history, as far as possible, tell its own story, regarding reliability
as preferable to unity of style.
The imperfect records of all our older literary institutions, limit
their written history, in large measure, to a record of the lives and
labors of their teachers.
To the many friends of the college, and others, who have kindly given
their aid, the writer is under large obligations.
The following names deserve especial notice: Hon. Robert C. Winthrop,
Hon. Charles L. Woodbury, Hon. R. R. Bishop, Wm. H. Duncan, Esq.,
Richard B. Kimball, Esq., Rev. Eden B. Foster, D.D., Hon. James
Barrett, N. C. Berry, Esq., Dr. F. E. Oliver, Hon. J. E. Sargent, Dr.
C. A. Walker, Hon. A. O. Brewster, Hon. A. A. Ranney, Dr. W. M.
Chamberlain, Hon. James W. Patterson, Rev. Carlos Slafter, Hon. J. B.
D. Cogswell, Gen. John Eaton, Rev. H. A. Hazen, Rev. S. L. B. Speare,
H. N. Twombly, Esq., Caleb Blodgett, Esq., Hon. Benj. F. Prescott, Dr.
C. H. Spring, Prof. C. O. Thompson, Hon. Frederic Chase, Rev. W. J.
Tucker, D.D., L. G. Farmer, Esq., and N. W. Ladd, Esq.
With profound gratitude he mentions also the name of Hon. Nathan
Crosby, but for whose valuable pecuniary aid the publication of the
work must have been delayed; and the names of Hon. Joel Parker, Hon.
William P. Haines, Hon. John P. Healy, Hon. Lincoln F. Brigham, John
D. Philbrick, Esq., Dr. Jabez B. Upham, Hon. Harvey Jewell, and Hon.
Walbridge A. Field, who have aided in a similar manner. Particular
mention should also be made of the kindness of gentlemen connected
with numerous libraries, especially that of Mr. John Ward Deane, and
Mr. Albert H. Hoyt, and the late J. Wingate Thornton, Esq., of the New
England Historic-Genealogical Society, by whose kindness the writer
was furnished with the valuable letter from David McClure to General
Knox, and Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, D.D., and Dr. Samuel A. Green, of the
Massachusetts Historical Society, to whom he is indebted for the
invaluable list of English donations given in the Appendix. Valuable
aid has been rendered also by Messrs. Kimball and Secor, of the New
Hampshire State and State Historical Society Libraries, at Concord. In
this connection the well known names of W. S. Butler, Prof. F. B.
Dexter, Hon. C. J. Hoadley, F. B. Perkins, Hon. J. Hammond Trumbull,
and Hon. E. P. Walton also deserve notice.
The writer is deeply indebted to Hon. John Wentworth, of Chicago, for
his kindness in examining the more important portions of the work
previous to its publication.
For the carefully-prepared draught of the original college edifice,
the writer is indebted to the artistic skill of Mr. Arthur Bruce
Colburn.
In closing, especial mention should be made of the kindness of Prof.
Charles Hammond, Marcus D. Gilman, Esq., and others representing the
family of the founder, of the family of Hon. Elisha Payne, an early
and honored Trustee, of the Trustees and Faculty of the college, and
the courteous liberality of the publishers.
BAXTER P. SMITH.
Brookline, Mass., _June_, 1878.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Introduction 1
CHAPTER II.
Ancestry and Early Life of Eleazar Wheelock.--His Settlement
at Lebanon.--Establishment of the Indian Charity
School.--Mr. Joshua More 6
CHAPTER III.
Education in New Hampshire.--Action in Regard to a
College.--Testimonial of Connecticut Clergymen.--Legislative
Grant to Mr. Wheelock 15
CHAPTER IV.
A College Contemplated by Mr. Wheelock.--Lord
Dartmouth.--Occom and Whitaker in Great Britain 23
CHAPTER V.
Sir William Johnson.--Explorations for a Location.--Advice
of English Trustees 29
CHAPTER VI.
A College Charter 40
CHAPTER VII.
President Wheelock's Personal Explorations in New
Hampshire.--Location at Hanover 49
CHAPTER VIII.
Commencement of Operations.--Course of Study.--Policy of
Administration 57
CHAPTER IX.
Progress to the Death of President Wheelock.--Prominent
Features of his Character 65
CHAPTER X.
Progress During the Administration of the Second President,
John Wheelock 76
CHAPTER XI.
Lack of Harmony Between President Wheelock and Other
Trustees.--Removal of the President From Office.--Estimate
of His Character 88
CHAPTER XII.
Administration of President Brown.--Contest Between The
College and the State.--Triumph of the College 100
CHAPTER XIII.
Character of President Brown.--Tributes by Professor
Haddock And Rufus Choate 117
CHAPTER XIV.
Progress From 1820 to 1828.--Administrations of President
Dana and President Tyler 126
CHAPTER XV.
Inauguration of President Lord 143
CHAPTER XVI.
The Policy of the College, its Progress and Enlargement
under President Lord's Administration from 1828 to 1863 157
CHAPTER XVII.
Character of President Lord 168
CHAPTER XVIII.
Administration of President Smith 177
CHAPTER XIX.
Inauguration of President Bartlett 190
CHAPTER XX.
Prof. John Smith.--Prof. Sylvanus Ripley.--Prof. Bezaleel
Woodward 211
CHAPTER XXI.
Prof. John Hubbard.--Prof. Roswell Shurtleff 225
CHAPTER XXII.
Prof. Ebenezer Adams.--Prof. Zephaniah S. Moore.--Prof.
Charles B. Haddock 241
CHAPTER XXIII.
Prof. William Chamberlain.--Prof. Daniel Oliver.--Prof.
James Freeman Dana 256
CHAPTER XXIV.
Prof. Benjamin Hale.--Prof. Alpheus Crosby.--Prof. Ira
Young 276
CHAPTER XXV.
Prof. Stephen Chase.--Prof. David Peabody.--Prof. William
Cogswell 298
CHAPTER XXVI.
Prof. John Newton Putnam.--Prof. John S. Woodman.--Prof.
Clement Long.--Other Teachers 316
CHAPTER XXVII.
Medical Department.--Professors Nathan Smith, Reuben D.
Mussey, Dixi Crosby, Edmund R. Peaslee, Albert Smith, and
Alpheus B. Crosby--Other Teachers 339
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Chandler Scientific Department.--The Agricultural
Department.--The Thayer Department of Civil Engineering 367
CHAPTER XXIX.
Benefactors.--Trustees 380
CHAPTER XXX.
Labors of Dartmouth Alumni.--Conclusion 395
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
The most valuable part of a nation's history portrays its institutions
of learning and religion.
The alumni of a college which has moulded the intellectual and moral
character of not a few of the illustrious living, or the more
illustrious dead,--the oldest college in the valley of the
Connecticut, and the only college in an ancient and honored
State,--would neglect a most fitting and beautiful service, should
they suffer the cycles of a century to pass, without gathering in some
modest urn the ashes of its revered founders, or writing on some
modest tablet the names of its most distinguished sons.
The germ of Dartmouth College was a deep-seated and long-cherished
desire, of the foremost of its founders, to elevate the Indian race in
America.
The Christian fathers of New England were not unmindful of the claims
of the Aborigines. The well-directed, patient, and successful labors
of the Eliots, Cotton, and the Mayhews, and the scarcely less valuable
labors of Treat and others, fill a bright page in the religious
history of the seventeenth century. To numerous congregations of red
men the gospel was preached; many were converted; churches were
gathered, and the whole Bible--the first printed in America--was given
them in their own language.
This interest in the Indian was not confined to our own country, in
the earlier periods of our history. In Great Britain, sovereigns,
ecclesiastics, and philosophers recognized the obligations
providentially imposed upon them, to aid in giving a Christian
civilization to their swarthy brethren, who were sitting in the
thickest darkness of heathenism in the primeval forests of the New
World. Societies, as well as individuals, manifested a deep and
practical interest in the work.
We can only touch upon some of the more salient points of this
subject. But it is especially worthy of note, that the elevation of
the Indian race, by the education of its youth, was not an idea of New
England, nor indeed of American, birth.
In Stith's "History of Virginia" (p. 162), we find in substance the
following statements: At an early period in the history of this State,
attempts were made to establish an institution of learning of a high
order. In 1619, the treasurer of the Virginia Company, Sir Edwin
Sandys, received from an unknown hand five hundred pounds, to be
applied by the Company to the education of a certain number of Indian
youths in the English language and in the Christian religion. Other
sums of money were also procured, and there was a prospect of being
able to raise four or five thousand pounds, for the endowment of a
college. The king favored the design, and recommended to the bishops
to have collections made in their dioceses, and some fifteen hundred
pounds were gathered on this recommendation. The college was designed
for the instruction of English, as well as Indian, youths. The Company
appropriated ten thousand acres of land to this purpose, at Henrico,
on James River, a little below the present site of Richmond. The plan
of the college was, to place tenants at halves on these lands, and to
derive its income from the profits. The enterprise was abandoned in
consequence of the great Indian massacre, in 1622, although operations
had been commenced, and a competent person had been secured to act as
president. This is believed to have been the first effort to found a
college in America.
Passing to the middle of the century, we find the distinguished
Christian philosopher, Robert Boyle, appointed governor of "a company
incorporated for the propagation of the gospel among the heathen
natives of New England, and the parts adjacent in America," and that,
after his decease, in 1691, a portion of his estate was given, by the
executors of his will, to William and Mary's College, which was
possibly, in a measure, the outgrowth of the efforts of Mr. Sandys and
his coadjutors, for the support of Indian students.
In 1728, Col. William Byrd, in writing upon this subject, laments "the
bad success Mr. Boyle's charity has had in converting the natives,"
which was owing in part, at least, to the fact, that the interest of
their white brethren in their welfare was confined chiefly to their
residence at college.
Pursuing these researches, we come to the name of another
distinguished British scholar and divine, George Berkeley, who has
been styled "the philosopher" of the reign of George II.
We quote a portion of a letter relating to his educational plans, from
Dean Swift to Lord Carteret, Lieutenant of Ireland, dated Sept. 3,
1724, in which he says:
"He showed me a little tract which he designs to publish, and
there your Excellency will see his whole scheme of a life
academico-philosophic, of a college at Bermuda for Indian scholars and
missionaries. I discourage him by the coldness of courts and
ministers, who will interpret all this as impossible and a vision, but
nothing will do. And therefore I do humbly entreat your Excellency
either to use such persuasions as will keep one of the first men in
this kingdom for learning and virtue quiet at home, or assist him by
your credit to compass his romantic design, which, however, is very
noble and generous, and directly proper for a great person of your
excellent education to encourage."
The pamphlet alluded to begins, as one of his biographers informs us,
by lamenting "that there is at this day little sense of religion and a
most notorious corruption of manners in the English colonies settled
on the continent of America, and the islands," and that "the Gospel
hath hitherto made but very inconsiderable progress among the
neighboring Americans, who still continue in much the same ignorance
and barbarism in which we found them above a hundred years ago." After
stating what he believes to be the causes of this state of things, he
propounds his plan of training young natives, as missionaries to their
countrymen, and educating "the youth of our English plantations," to
fill the pulpits of the colonial churches. His biographer is
doubtless correct in the opinion, that "it was on the savages,
evidently, that he had his heart."
He obtained a charter from the crown for his proposed college, and a
promise, never fulfilled, of large pecuniary aid from the government,
and early in 1729 he arrived in America, settling temporarily at
Newport, R. I. Failing to accomplish his purpose, he remained in this
country but two or three years, yet long enough to form the
acquaintance of many eminent men, and among them President Williams,
of Yale College.
Finding that there was no prospect of receiving the promised aid for
his college, Berkeley returned to England in 1731. Soon after, in
addition to a large and valuable donation of books for the library, he
sent as a gift, to Yale, a deed of his farm in Rhode Island, the rents
of which he directed to be appropriated to the maintenance or aid of
meritorious resident graduates or under-graduates.
Although he failed to carry out his plan of establishing a college
himself, in America, perhaps he "builded better than he knew." Most
fitting is it, as we shall see hereafter, for the current literature
of our day to place in intimate association, the names of Boyle,
Berkeley, and Dartmouth.
Passing to 1734, we find Rev. John Sergeant commencing missionary
labor among the Indians at Stockbridge, Mass. After a trial of a few
years, he writes in a manner showing very plainly that he believes
civilization essential to any permanent success. In one of his letters
to Rev. Dr. Colman, of Boston, he says: "What I propose, in general,
is, to take such a method in the education of our Indian children as
shall in the most effectual manner change their whole manner of
thinking and acting, and raise them as far as possible into the
condition of a civil, industrious, and polished people, while at the
same time the principles of virtue and piety shall be instilled into
their minds in a way that will make the most lasting impression, and
withal to introduce the English language among them instead of their
own barbarous dialect."
"And now to accomplish this design, I propose to procure an
accommodation of 200 acres of land in this place (which may be had
gratis of the Indian proprietors), and to erect a house on it such as
shall be thought convenient for a beginning, and in it to maintain a
number of children and youth." He proposes "to have their time so
divided between study and labor that one shall be the diversion of the
other, so that as little time as possible may be lost in idleness,"
and, "to take into the number, upon certain conditions, youths from
any of the other tribes around." His plan included both sexes. Mr.
Sergeant died in 1749. Besides accomplishing much himself, he laid the
foundations for the subsequent labors of Jonathan Edwards.
This rapid glance at the earlier efforts in behalf of the Aborigines
of our country, shows that the next actor upon the stage, undaunted by
any lack of success on their part, measurably followed in the
footsteps of learned and philanthropic predecessors.
CHAPTER II.
ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE OF ELEAZAR WHEELOCK.--HIS SETTLEMENT AT
LEBANON, CONN.--ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL.--MR.
JOSHUA MORE.
Eleazar Wheelock, the leading founder of Dartmouth College, was a
great-grandson of Ralph Wheelock, a native of Shropshire, in England,
through whom Dartmouth traces her academic ancestry to the ancient and
venerable Clare Hall, at Cambridge, where he graduated in 1626, the
contemporary of Thomas Dudley, Samuel Eaton, John Milton, John Norton,
Thomas Shepard, and Samuel Stone.
Coming a few years later to this country, he became a useful and an
honored citizen of the then new, but now old, historic town of Dedham,
from which place he removed to Medfield, being styled "founder" of
that town, where he remained till his death. He devoted his time
largely to teaching, although, having been educated for the ministry,
he rendered valuable service to the infant community as an occasional
preacher. His name is also conspicuous among the magistrates and
legislators of that period.[1]
[1] His daughter Rebecca married John Craft, whose birth is the
earliest on record among the pioneer settlers at Roxbury. Some
of his descendants (by another marriage) are conspicuous in
history. Medfield records connect the names of Fuller,
Chenery, and Morse with the Wheelock family.
In the character of his son, Eleazar Wheelock, of Mendon, we are told
there was a union of "the Christian and the soldier." Having command
of a corps of cavalry, he was "very successful in repelling the
irruptions of the Indians," although he treated them with "great
kindness," in times of peace. From him, his grandson and namesake
received "a handsome legacy for defraying the expenses of his public
education," and from him, too, he doubtless acquired, in some
measure, that peculiar interest in the Indian race which so largely
moulded his character and guided the labors of his life.
Near the time of Ralph Wheelock's arrival in America, were two other
arrivals worthy of notice: that of Thomas Hooker, at Cambridge, "the
one rich pearl with which Europe more than repaid America for the
treasures from her coasts," and that of the widowed Margaret
Huntington, at Roxbury, of which there is still a well-preserved
record, in the handwriting of John Eliot. The guiding and controlling
influence of Hooker's masterly mind upon all, whether laymen or
divines, with whom he came in contact, must be apparent to those who
are familiar with the biography of one, to whom the learned and
religious institutions of New England are more indebted, perhaps, than
to any other single person. Hooker's settlement at Hartford is fitly
styled "the founding of Connecticut."
When a little later the family of Margaret Huntington settled at
Saybrook, their youthful pastor, who was just gathering a church, was
James Fitch, a worthy pupil of Thomas Hooker. Not satisfied with their
location, pastor and people sought an inland home, and in 1660 laid
the foundations of what is now the large and flourishing town of
Norwich. From this time Huntington and Fitch are honored names in the
history of Connecticut.
A quarter of a century after the settlement of Norwich, an English
refugee from religious oppression began the settlement of the
neighboring town of Windham. To this place, Ralph Wheelock the
younger, a grandson of the Dedham teacher and preacher, was attracted,
marrying about the same time, Ruth, daughter of Dea. Christopher
Huntington, of Norwich. Mr. Ralph Wheelock was a respectable farmer,
universally esteemed for his hospitality, his piety, and the virtues
that adorn the Christian character, and in his later years was an
officer of the church.
Of Mrs. Wheelock, it is said:[2] "Every tradition respecting her makes
her a woman of unusual intelligence and rare piety. Her home, the main
theatre of her life, was blessed equally by her timely instructions,
her holy example, and the administration of a gentle yet firm
discipline." Their son Eleazar was born at Windham, April 22, 1711.
[2] Huntington Family Memoir, p. 78.
The first minister of this honored town was Rev. Samuel Whiting, a
native of Hartford, and trained in the "Hooker School." For a helpmeet
he had secured a lineal descendant of that noble and revered puritan,
Gov. Wm. Bradford. The labors of this worthy pair were largely blessed
to their people. At one period, in a population of hundreds, it is
said "the town did not contain a single prayerless family."
Thus kindly and wisely did the Master arrange, by long and closely
blended lines of events, that the most genial influences should
surround the cradle of one for whom He designed eminent service and
peculiar honor.
The mother of Eleazar Wheelock having died in 1725, for a second wife
his father married a lady named Standish, a descendant of Myles
Standish, whose heroic character she perhaps impressed, in some
measure, upon her adopted son. "Being an only son," says his
biographer,[3] "and discovering, at an early age, a lively genius, a
taste for learning, with a very amiable disposition, he was placed by
his father under the best instructors that could then be obtained." At
"about the age of sixteen, while qualifying himself for admission to
college, it pleased God to impress his mind with serious concern for
his salvation. After earnest, prayerful inquiry, he was enlightened
and comforted with that hope in the Saviour, which afterwards proved
the animating spring of his abundant labors to promote the best
interests of mankind." At the time of his admission to the Windham
church, the distinguished Thomas Clap was its pastor.
[3] Memoirs of Wheelock, by McClure and Parish.
Having made the requisite preparation, he entered Yale College, of
which President Williams was then at the head, "with a resolution to
devote himself to the work of the Gospel ministry." Among his college
contemporaries were Joseph Bellamy and President Aaron Burr.
"His proficiency in study, and his exemplary deportment, engaged the
notice and esteem of the rector and instructors, and the love of the
students. He and his future brother-in-law, the late Rev. Doctor
Pomeroy of Hebron, in Connecticut, were the first who received the
interest of the legacy, generously given by the Rev. Dean Berkeley,"
for excellence in classical scholarship.
Soon after his graduation, in 1733, he commenced preaching. Having
declined a call from Long Island, to settle in the ministry, he
accepted a unanimous invitation from the Second Congregational Society
in Lebanon, Connecticut, and was ordained in June, 1735.
This town occupies a conspicuous place in American history; for,
whoever traces the lineage of some of the most illustrious names that
grace its pages, finds his path lying to or through this "valley of
cedars," in Eastern Connecticut. Here the patient, heroic Huguenot
aided in laying foundations for all good institutions. Here the
learned, indefatigable Tisdale taught with distinguished success. Here
lived those eminent patriots, the Trumbulls. By birth or ancestry, the
honored names of Smalley, Ticknor, Marsh, and Mason, are associated
with this venerable town.
Mr. Wheelock's parish was in the northern and most retired part of the
town, and the least inviting, perhaps, in its physical aspects and
natural resources. The products of a rugged soil furnished the
industrious inhabitants with a comfortable subsistence, but left
nothing for luxury. It was at that period a quiet agricultural
community, living largely within itself. As at the present day, there
was but one church within the territorial limits of the parish. The
"council of nine," selected from the more discreet of the male
members, somewhat in accordance with Presbyterian usage, aided in the
administration of a careful and thorough discipline.
There can be no doubt that Mr. Wheelock was accounted one of the
leading preachers and divines of his day. Both as a pastor, and the
associate of the eminent men who were prominent in the great revival
which marked the middle of the last century, his labors were crowned
with large success. Rev. Dr. Burroughs, who knew him intimately, says:
"As a preacher, his aim was to reach the conscience. He studied great
plainness of speech, and adapted his discourse to every capacity, that
he might be understood by all." His pupil, Dr. Trumbull, the
historian, says: "He was a gentleman of a comely figure, of a mild and
winning aspect, his voice smooth and harmonious, the best by far that
I ever heard. He had the entire command of it. His gesture was
natural, but not redundant. His preaching and addresses were close and
pungent, and yet winning beyond almost all comparison."[4] By an
intermarriage of their relatives, he was allied to the family of
Jonathan Edwards, whose high regard for him is sufficiently indicated
in a letter dated Northampton, June 9, 1741, from which we make brief
extracts. "There has been a reviving of religion of late amongst us,
but your labors have been much more remarkably blessed than mine. May
God send you hither with the like blessing as He has sent you to some
other places, and may your coming be a means to humble me for my
barrenness and unprofitableness, and a means of my instruction and
enlivening. I want an opportunity to concert measures with you, for
the advancement of the kingdom and glory of the Redeemer."
[4] The venerable Prof. Stowe states that, when a professor in the
College, he was informed by an aged man, living in the
vicinity, that President Wheelock's earnestness in preaching
at times led him to leave the pulpit, and appeal to
individuals in his audience.
We are fortunate in having the testimony of a member of his own
family, in regard to the beginning of Mr. Wheelock's more practical
interest in the unfortunate Aborigines. His grandson, Rev. William
Patten, D.D., says,[5] "One evening after a religious conference with
a number of his people at Lebanon, he walked out, as he usually did on
summer evenings, for meditation and prayer; and in his retirement his
attention was led to the neglect [from lack of means] of his people in
providing for his support. It occurred to him, with peculiar
clearness, that if they furnished him with but half a living, they
were entitled to no more than half his labors. And he concluded that
they were left to such neglect, to teach him that part of his labors
ought to be directed to other objects. He then inquired what objects
were most in want of assistance. And it occurred to him, almost
instantaneously, that the Indians were the most proper objects of the
charitable attention of Christians. He then determined to devote half
of his time to them."
[5] Memoirs of Wheelock, p. 177.
We will now allow this eminent Christian philanthropist to speak for
himself. In his "Narrative," for the period ending in 1762, after
referring to the too general lack of interest in the Indian, he says:
"It has seemed to me, he must be stupidly indifferent to the
Redeemer's cause and interest in the world, and criminally deaf and
blind to the intimations of the favor and displeasure of God in the
dispensations of His Providence, who could not perceive plain
intimations of God's displeasure against us for this neglect,
inscribed in capitals, on the very front of divine dispensations, from
year to year, in permitting the savages to be such a sore scourge to
our land, and make such depredations on our frontiers, inhumanly
butchering and captivating our people, not only in a time of war, but
when we had good reason to think (if ever we had) that we dwelt safely
by them. And there is good reason to think that if one half which has
been expended for so many years past in building forts, manning, and
supporting them, had been prudently laid out in supporting faithful
missionaries and schoolmasters among them, the instructed and
civilized party would have been a far better defence than all our
expensive fortresses, and prevented the laying waste so many towns and
villages; witness the consequence of sending Mr. Sergeant to
Stockbridge, which was in the very road by which they most usually
came upon our people, and by which there has never been one attack
made upon us since his going there." After referring to the ordinary
obligations of humanity, patriotism, and religion, he says:
"As there were few or none who seemed to lay the necessity and
importance of Christianizing the natives so much to heart as to exert
themselves in earnest and lead the way therein, I was naturally put
upon consideration and inquiry what methods might have the greatest
probability of success; and upon the whole was fully persuaded that
this, which I have been pursuing, had by far the greatest probability
of any that had been proposed, viz.: by the mission of their own
[educated] sons in conjunction with the English; and that a number of
girls should also be instructed in whatever should be necessary to
render them fit to perform the female part, as house-wives,
school-mistresses, and tailoresses. The influence of their own sons
among them will likely be much greater than of any Englishmen
whatsoever. There is no such thing as sending English missionaries, or
setting up English schools among them, to any good purpose, in most
places, as their temper, state, and condition have been and still
are." In illustration of his theory, he refers to the education, by
the assistance of the "Honorable London Commissioners,"[6] of Mr.
Samson Occom, "one of the Mohegan tribe, who has several years been a
useful school-master and successful preacher of the Gospel."[7]
[6] Agents of the Corporation in London referred to on page 2, of
which Robert Boyle was governor.
[7] See Appendix.
"After seeing the success of this attempt," he continues, "I was more
encouraged to hope that such a method might be very successful, and
above eight years ago I wrote to Rev. John Brainerd [brother of the
distinguished David Brainerd], missionary in New Jersey, desiring him
to send me two likely boys for this purpose, of the Delaware tribe. He
accordingly sent me John Pumpshire in the fourteenth, and Jacob
Woolley in the eleventh years of their age. They arrived December 18,
1754.
"Sometime after these boys came, the affair appearing with an
agreeable aspect, I represented it to Col. Elisha Williams, late
Rector of Yale College, and Rev. Messrs. Samuel Moseley, of Windham,
and Benjamin Pomeroy, of Hebron, and invited them to join me. They
readily accepted the invitation. And Mr. Joshua Moor,[8] late of
Mansfield, deceased, appeared, to give a small tenement in this place
[Lebanon], for the foundation, use and support of a charity school,
for the education of Indian youth, etc." Mr. More's grant contained
"about two acres of pasturing, and a small house and shop," near Mr.
Wheelock's residence.
[8] Mr. M.'s own orthography is More.
This gentleman was one of the more prominent of the early settlers at
Mansfield. He owned and resided upon a large estate on the Willimantic
river, a few miles north of the present site of the village bearing
that name. There is sufficient evidence to warrant the belief, that
the first husband of Mr. More's mother was Mr. Thomas Howard (or
Harwood), of Norwich, who was slain in the memorable fight at
Narragansett Fort, in December, 1675, and that her maiden name was
Mary Wellman. From the church records, he appears to have been of a
professedly religious character, as early as 1721. As his residence
was in the neighborhood of Mr. Wheelock's early home, and but little
farther removed from Lebanon "Crank," as the north parish in that town
was styled, Mr. More had ample opportunities for a thorough
acquaintance with the person to whom he now generously extended a
helping hand. It is not known that this worthy man left any posterity,
to perpetuate a name which will be cherished with tender regard, so
long as the institution to which he furnished a home, in its infancy,
shall have an existence.
In a summary of his work for the eight years, Mr. Wheelock says: "I
have had two upon my hands since 1754, four since April, 1757, five
since April, 1759, seven since November, 1760, and eleven since
August, 1761. And for some time I have had twenty-five, three of the
number English youth. One of the Indian lads, Jacob Woolley, is now in
his last year at New Jersey College."
There is reason to believe that Occom would have taken a collegiate
course, but for the partial failure of his health. On the whole, we
are fully warranted in the opinion that, from the outset, Mr. Wheelock
designed to have all his missionaries, whether Indian or English,
"thoroughly furnished" for their work.
Before closing the "Narrative," he gives an interesting account of
material resources.
"The Honorable London Commissioners, hearing of the design, inquired
into it, and encouraged it by an allowance of £12 lawful money, by
their vote November 12, 1756. And again in the year 1758 they allowed
me £20; and in November 4, 1760, granted me an annual allowance of £20
for my assistance; and in October 8, 1761, they granted me £12 towards
the support of Isaiah Uncas, son of the Sachem of Mohegan, and £10
more for his support the following year. In October, 1756, I received
a legacy of fifty-nine dollars of Mrs. Ann Bingham, of Windham. In
July, 1761, I received a generous donation of fifty pounds sterling
from the Right Hon. William, Marquis of Lothian; and in November,
1761, a donation of £26 sterling from Mr. Hardy, of London; and in
May, 1762, a second donation of £50 sterling from that most honorable
and noble lord, the Marquis of Lothian; and, at the same time, £20
sterling from Mr. Samuel Savage, merchant in London; and a collection
of ten guineas from the Rev. Dr. A. Gifford, in London; and £10
sterling more from a lady in London, unknown, which is still in the
hands of a friend, and to be remitted with some additional advantage,
and to be accounted for when received. And, also, for seven years
past, I have, one year with another, received about £11 lawful money,
annually, interest of subscriptions. And in my journey to Portsmouth
last June, I received, in private donations, £66 17_s._ 7-1/4_d._,
lawful money. I also received, for the use of this school, a bell of
about 80 lb. weight, from a gentleman in London. The Honorable Scotch
Commissioners,[9] in and near Boston, understanding and approving of
the design of sending for Indian children of remote tribes to be
educated here, were the first body, or society, who have led the way
in making an attempt for that purpose. While I was in Boston they
passed a vote, May 7, 1761, 'that the Reverend Mr. Wheelock, of
Lebanon, be desired to fit out David Fowler, an Indian youth, to
accompany Mr. Samson Occom, going on a mission to the Oneidas; that
said David be supported on said mission for a term not exceeding four
months; and that he endeavor, on his return, to bring with him a
number of Indian boys, not exceeding three, to be put under Mr.
Wheelock's care and instruction, and that £20 be put into Mr.
Wheelock's hands to carry this design into execution.' In November,
1761, the Great and General Court or Assembly of the Province of
Massachusetts Bay, voted that I should be allowed to take under my
care six children of the Six Nations, for education, clothing, and
boarding, and be allowed for that purpose, for each of said children,
£12 per annum for one year."[10]
[9] Agents of the Scotch "Society for Propagating Christian
Knowledge."
[10] For tribes represented in the school, and other donors to the
school and college, see Appendix.
CHAPTER III.
EDUCATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.--ACTION IN REGARD TO A
COLLEGE.--TESTIMONIAL OF CONNECTICUT CLERGYMEN.--LEGISLATIVE GRANT TO
MR. WHEELOCK.
The importance of education to the welfare of any community, has been
duly appreciated by the people of New Hampshire from the earliest
periods of her history.
Such an item as the following is worthy of notice:
"At a publique Town Meeting held the 5: 2 mo. 58 [1658,] It is agreed
that Twenty pounds per annum shall be yearly rayzed for the
mayntenance of a School-master in the Town of Dover."[11] Harvard
College being in need of a new building in 1669, the inhabitants of
Portsmouth "subscribed sixty pounds, which sum they agreed to pay
annually for seven years to the overseers of Harvard College. Dover
gave thirty-two pounds, and Exeter ten pounds for the same
purpose."[12] Very few towns at the present day are as liberal, in
proportion to their ability.
[11] Dover Town Records.
[12] Adams's Annals of Portsmouth, p. 50.
Classical schools were established in all the more populous towns, and
these were furnished with competent teachers, who were graduates of
Harvard College, or European universities.
In 1758, in the midst of the din and tumult of the French war, we find
the clergy--ever among the foremost in laudable enterprise--making an
earnest effort for increased facilities for liberal education.
We give official records:
"The Convention of the Congregational Ministers in the Province of New
Hampshire, being held at the house of the Rev. Mr. Pike in
Somersworth on the 26th day of Sept. 1758: The Rev. Joseph Adams was
chosen Moderator." After the sermon and transaction of some business:
"The Convention then taking into consideration the great advantages
which may arise, both to the Churches and State from the erecting [an]
Academy or College in this Province, unanimously Voted that the
following Petition shall be preferred to the Governor, desiring him to
grant a Charter for said purpose:
"To his Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq., Capt.-General and
Governor-in-Chief in and over his Majesty's Province of New Hampshire
in New England. May it please your Excellency,--
"We, the Ministers of the Congregational Churches in this Province of
New Hampshire under your Excellency's Government now assembled in an
Annual Convention in Somersworth, as has been our custom for several
years past, the design of which is to pray together for his Majesty
and Government, and to consult the interests of religion and virtue,
for our mutual assistance and encouragement in our proper business:
Beg leave to present a request to your Excellency in behalf of
literature, which proceeds, not from any private or party views in us,
but our desire to serve the Government and religion by laying a
foundation for the best instruction of youth. We doubt not your
Excellency is sensible of the great advantages of learning, and the
difficulties which attend the education of youth in this Province, by
reason of our distance from any of the seats of learning, the
discredit of our medium, etc. We have reason to hope that by an
interest among our people, and some favor from the Government, we may
be able in a little time to raise a sufficient fund for erecting and
carrying on an Academy or College within this Province, without
prejudice to any other such seminary in neighboring Colonies, provided
your Excellency will be pleased to grant to us, a number of us, or any
other trustees, whom your Excellency shall think proper to appoint, a
good and sufficient charter, by which they may be empowered to choose
a President, Professors, Tutors, or other officers, and regulate all
matters belonging to such a society. We therefore now humbly petition
your Excellency to grant such a charter as may, in the best manner,
answer such a design and intrust it with our Committee, viz.: Messrs.
Joseph Adams, James Pike, John Moody, Ward Cotton, Nathaniel Gookin,
Woodbridge Odlin, Samuel Langdon, and Samuel Haven, our brethren, whom
we have now chosen to wait upon your Excellency with this our
petition, that we may use our influence with our people to promote so
good a design, by generous subscriptions, and that we may farther
petition the General Court for such assistance, as they shall think
necessary. We are persuaded, if your Excellency will first of all
favor us with such a charter, we shall be able soon to make use of it
for the public benefit; and that your Excellency's name will forever
be remembered with honor. If, after trial, we cannot accomplish it, we
promise to return the charter with all thankfulness for your
Excellency's good disposition. It is our constant prayer that God
would prosper your Excellency's administration, and we beg leave to
subscribe ourselves your Excellency's most obedient servants.
Joseph Adams, Moderator.
"Proceedings attested by Samuel Haven, Clerk."
"The Convention of Congregational Ministers in the Province of New
Hampshire being held at the house of the Rev. Mr. Joseph Adams in
Newington on the 25th of September, 1759, the Rev. Mr. Adams was
chosen Moderator. We then went to the house of God. After prayer and a
sermon:
"A draught of a charter for a college in this Province being read:
Voted, That the said charter is for substance agreeable to the mind of
the Convention. Whereas a committee chosen last year to prefer a
petition to his Excellency the Governor for a charter of a college in
this Province have given a verbal account to this Convention of their
proceedings and conversation with the Governor upon said affair, by
which, notwithstanding the Governor manifests some unwillingness, at
present, to grant a charter agreeable to the Convention, yet there
remains some hope, that after maturer consideration and advice of
Council, his Excellency will grant such a charter as will be agreeable
to us and our people, therefore, Voted, that Rev. Messrs. Joseph
Adams, James Pike, Ward Cotton, Samuel Parsons, Nathaniel Gookin,
Samuel Langdon, and Samuel Haven, or a major part of them, be and
hereby are a Committee of this Convention, to do everything which to
them shall appear necessary, in the aforesaid affair, in behalf of
this Convention; and, moreover, to consult upon any other measures for
promoting the education of youth, and advancing good literature in the
Province, and make report to the next Convention.
Attested by Samuel Haven, Clerk."
The Convention was holden at Portsmouth, September 30, 1760, and at
the same place in September, 1761, but nothing appears in the
proceedings of those years concerning the charter. But at the
convention held at Portsmouth, September 28, 1762, the Rev. Mr. John
Rogers having been chosen moderator, after prayer and sermon, the
following testimonial was laid before the Convention:
"Chelsea, Norwich, July 10, 1762.
"We ministers of the gospel and pastors of churches hereafter
mentioned with our names, having, for a number of years past, heard of
or seen with pleasure the zeal, courage, and firm resolution of the
Rev. Eleazar Wheelock of Lebanon, to prosecute to effect a design of
spreading the gospel among the natives in the wilds of our America,
and especially his perseverance in it, amidst the many peculiar
discouragements he had to encounter during the late years of the war
here, and upon a plan which appears to us to have the greatest
probability of success, namely, by a mission of their own sons; and as
we are verily persuaded that the smiles of Divine Providence upon his
school, and the success of his endeavors hitherto justly may, and
ought, to encourage him and all to believe it to be of God, and that
which he will own and succeed for the glory of his great name in the
enlargement of the kingdom of our divine Redeemer, as well as for the
great benefit of the crown of Great Britain, and especially of his
Majesty's dominions in America; so we apprehend the present openings
in Providence ought to invite Christians of every denomination to
unite their endeavors and to lend a helping hand in carrying on so
charitable a design; and we are heartily sorry if party spirit and
party differences shall at all obstruct the progress of it; or the old
leaven of this land ferment upon this occasion, and give a watchful
adversary opportunity so to turn the course of endeavors into another
channel as to defeat the design of spreading the gospel among the
heathen. To prevent which, and encourage unanimity and zeal in
prosecuting the design, we look upon it our duty as Christians, and
especially as ministers of the gospel, to give our testimony that, as
we verily believe, a disinterested regard to the advancement of the
Redeemer's kingdom and the good will of His Majesty's dominions in
America, were the governing motives which at first induced the Rev.
Mr. Wheelock to enter upon the great affair, and to risk his own
private interest, as he has done since, in carrying it on; so we
esteem his plan to be good, his measures to be prudently and well
concerted, his endowments peculiar, his zeal fervent, his endeavors
indefatigable, for the accomplishing this design, and we know no man,
like minded, who will naturally care for their state. May God prolong
his life, and make him extensively useful in the kingdom of Christ. We
have also, some of us, at his desire examined his accounts, and we
find that, besides giving in all his own labour and trouble in the
affair, he has charged for the support, schooling, etc., of the youth,
at the lowest rate it could be done for, as the price of things have
been and still are among us; and we apprehend the generous donations
already made have been and we are confident will be laid out in the
most prudent manner, and with the best advice for the furtherance of
the important design: and we pray God abundantly to reward the
liberality of many upon this occasion. And we hope the generosity,
especially of persons of distinction and note, will be a happy lead
and inducement to still greater liberalities, and that in consequence
thereof the wide-extended wilderness of America will blossom as the
rose, habitations of cruelty become dwelling places of righteousness
and the blessing of thousands ready to perish come upon all those
whose love to Christ and charity to them has been shown upon this
occasion. Which is the hearty prayer of your most sincere friends and
humble servants:
Ebenezer Rosetter Pastor of ye 1^st Chh: in Stonington.
Joseph Fish Pastor of ye 2^d Chh: in Stonington.
Nath^l Whitaker Pastor of ye Chh: in Chelsea in Norwich.
Benj^a Pomeroy Pastor of ye 1^st Chh: in Hebron.
Elijah Lothrop Pastor of ye Chh: of Gilead in Hebron.
Nath^l Eells Pastor of a Chh: in Stonington.
Mather Byles Pastor of ye First Chh: in New London.
Jona. Barber Pastor of a Chh: in Groton.
Matt. Graves Missionary in New London.
Peter Powers Pastor of the Chh: at Newent in Norwich.
Daniel Kirtland Former Pastor of ye Chh: in Newent Norwich.
Asher Rosetter Pastor of ye 1^st Chh: in Preston.
Jabez Wight Pastor of ye 4 Chh: in Norwich.
David Jewett Pastor of a Chh: in New London.
Benj^a Throop Pastor of a Chh: in Norwich.
Sam^l Moseley Pastor of a Chh: in Windham.
Stephen White Pastor of a Chh: in Windham.
Richard Salter Pastor of a Chh: in Mansfield.
Timothy Allen Pastor of ye Chh: in Ashford.
Ephraim Little Pastor of ye 1^st Chh: in Colchester.
Hobart Estabrook Pastor of a Chh: in East Haddam.
Joseph Fowler Pastor of a Chh: in East Haddam.
Benj^a Boardman Pastor of a Chh: in Middletown.
John Norton Pastor of a Chh: of Christ in Middletown.
Benj^a Dunning Pastor of a Chh: of Christ in Marlborough."
"Voted, the Rev. Messrs. Moody, Langdon, Haven, and Foster be a
Committee of this Convention to consider and report on the above. Said
committee laid the following draft before the Convention, which was
unanimously voted and signed by the moderator:
"We, a Convention of Congregational Ministers assembled at Portsmouth,
September 28, 1762, having read and considered the foregoing
attestation from a number of reverend gentlemen in Connecticut, taking
into consideration the many obligations the Supreme Ruler has laid
upon Christian churches to promote his cause and enlarge the borders
of his kingdom in this land, the signal victories he has granted to
our troops, the entire reduction of all Canada, so that a way is now
open for the spreading of the light and purity of the gospel among
distant savage tribes, and a large field, white unto the harvest, is
presented before us; considering the infinite worth of the souls of
men, the importance of the gospel to their present and everlasting
happiness, and the hopeful prospect that the aboriginal natives will
now listen to Christian instruction; considering also the great
expense which must unavoidably attend the prosecution of this great
design, think ourselves obliged to recommend, in the warmest manner,
this subject to the serious consideration of our Christian brethren
and the public. It is with gratitude to the Great Head of the Church,
who has the hearts of all in his hands, that we observe some hopeful
steps taken by the societies founded for the gospelizing the Indians,
and the hearts of such numbers, both at home and in this land, have
been disposed to bestow their liberalities to enable such useful
societies to effect the great ends for which they are founded. But as
we wish to see every probable method taken to forward so benevolent
and Christian a design, we, therefore, rejoice to find that the Rev.
Mr. Wheelock has such a number of Indian youths under his care and
tuition; and in that abundant testimony which his brethren in the
ministry have borne to his abilities for, and zeal and faithfulness
in, this important undertaking. And we do hereby declare our hearty
approbation of it, as far as we are capable of judging of an affair
carried on at such a distance; and think it our duty to encourage and
exhort all Christians to lend a helping hand towards so great and
generous an undertaking. We would not, indeed, absolutely dictate
this, or any other particular scheme, for civilizing and spreading the
gospel among the Indians; but we are persuaded that God demands of the
inhabitants of these colonies some returns of gratitude, in this way,
for the remarkable success of our arms against Canada, and that peace
and security which he has now given us; we must, therefore, rely on
the wisdom and prudence of the civil authority to think of it as a
matter in which our political interests as well as the glory of God
are deeply concerned; and we refer to our churches and all private
Christians as peculiarly called to promote the Redeemer's kingdom
everywhere, to determine what will be the most effectual methods of
forwarding so noble and pious a design, and to contribute, to the
utmost of their power, either towards the execution of the plan which
the Rev. Mr. Wheelock is pursuing, or that of the corporation erected
in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, or any other which may be
thought of here or elsewhere, for the same laudable purpose.
John Rogers, Moderator."
The first Legislative action in New Hampshire relative to Mr.
Wheelock's work is also worthy of notice. The following is from the
Journal of the House of Representatives:
"June 17, 1762, Voted, that the Hon. Henry Sherburne and Mishech
Weare, Esquires, Peter Gilman, Clement March, Esq., Capt. Thomas W.
Waldron, and Capt. John Wentworth be a committee to consider of the
subject-matter of Rev. Mr. Eleazar Wheelock's memorial for aid for his
school." This committee made a favorable report, saying: "We think it
incumbent on this province to do something towards promoting so good
an undertaking," and recommending a grant of fifty pounds sterling per
annum for five years. The action of the Legislature was in accordance
with this report. Later records, however, indicate that the grant was
not continued after the first, or possibly the second, year. Gov.
Benning Wentworth, after careful investigation, gave his official
sanction to the action of his associates, in aid of Mr. Wheelock.
CHAPTER IV.
A COLLEGE CONTEMPLATED BY MR. WHEELOCK.--LORD DARTMOUTH.--OCCOM AND
WHITAKER IN GREAT BRITAIN.
Mr. Wheelock held relations more or less intimate with the leading
educational institutions of the country. But his favorite college was
at Princeton, New Jersey, far removed from his own residence. A warm
friendship subsisted between him and many of its officers, and thither
he sent most of his students for a considerable period. The
inconvenience of doing this, may have suggested the idea of a college
in connection with his school. However this may have been, nothing
short of a college could satisfy him. The following letter, written in
April, 1763, needs no further preface:
"TO HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL JEFFREY AMHERST, BARONET.
"May it please your Excellency,--The narrative herewith inclosed,
gives your Excellency some short account of the success of my feeble
endeavors, through the blessing of God upon them, in the affair there
related.
"Your Excellency will easily see, that if the number of youth in this
school continues to increase, as it has done, and as our prospects are
that it will do, we shall soon be obliged to build to accommodate them
and accordingly to determine upon the place where to fix it, and I
would humbly submit to your Excellency's consideration the following
proposal, viz.: That a tract of land, about fifteen or twenty miles
square, or so much as shall be sufficient for four townships, on the
west side of Susquehannah river, or in some other place more
convenient in the heart of the Indian country, be granted in favor of
this school: That said townships be peopled with a chosen number of
inhabitants of known honesty, integrity, and such as love and will be
kind to, and honest in their dealings with Indians. That a thousand
acres of, and within said grant, be given to this school, and that
the school be an academy for all parts of useful learning; part of it
to be a college for the education of missionaries, interpreters,
schoolmasters, etc.; and part of it a school to teach reading,
writing, etc., and that there be manufactures for the instruction both
of males and females, in whatever shall be necessary in life, and
proper tutors, masters, and mistresses be provided for the same. That
those towns be furnished with ministers of the best characters, and
such as are of ability, when incorporated with a number of the most
understanding of the inhabitants, to conduct the affairs of the
school, and of such missions as they shall have occasion and ability
for, from time to time. That there be a sufficient number of laborers
upon the lands belonging to the school; and that the students be
obliged to labor with them, and under their direction and conduct, so
much as shall be necessary for their health, and to give them an
understanding of husbandry; and those who are designed for farmers,
after they have got a sufficient degree of school learning, to labor
constantly, and the school to have all the benefit of their labor, and
they the benefit of being instructed therein, till they are of an age
and understanding sufficient to set up for themselves, and introduce
husbandry among their respective tribes; and that there be a moderate
tax upon all the granted lands, after the first ten or fifteen years,
and also some duty upon mills, etc., which shall not be burdensome to
the inhabitants, for the support of the school, or missionaries among
the Indians, etc. By this means much expense, and many inconveniences
occasioned by our great distance from them, would be prevented, our
missionaries be much better supported and provided for, especially in
case of sickness, etc. Parents and children would be more contented,
being nearer to one another, and likely many would be persuaded to
send their children for an education, who are now dissuaded from it
only on account of the great distance of the school from them.
"The bearer, Mr. C. J. S.,[13] is able, if your Excellency desires it,
to give you a more full and particular account of the present state of
this school, having been for some time the master and instructor of
it, and is now designed, with the leave of Providence, the ensuing
summer, to make an excursion as a missionary among the Indians, with
an interpreter from this school.
"And by him your Excellency may favor me with your thoughts on what I
have proposed.
"I am, with sincerest duty and esteem, may it please your Excellency,
your Excellency's most obedient and humble servant,
Eleazar Wheelock."
[13] Charles J. Smith.
In 1764, the Scotch Society, already referred to, manifested
increasing interest in Mr. Wheelock's work, by appointing a Board of
Correspondents, selected from gentlemen of high standing, in
Connecticut, to coöperate with him.
We here insert entire, Mr. Wheelock's first letter to Lord Dartmouth:
"TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH.
"Lebanon, Connecticut, New England, March 1, 1764.
"May it please your Lordship,--
"It must be counted amongst the greatest favors of God to a wretched
world, and that which gives abundant joy to the friends of Zion, that
among earthly dignities there are those who cheerfully espouse the
sinking cause of the great Redeemer, and whose hearts and hands are
open to minister supplies for the support and enlargement of His
kingdom in the world.
"As your Lordship has been frequently mentioned with pleasure by the
lovers of Christ in this wilderness, and having fresh assurance of the
truth of that fame of yours, by the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, from his own
acquaintance with your person and character, and being encouraged and
moved thereto by him, I am now emboldened, without any other apology
for myself than that which the nature of the case itself carries in
its very front, to solicit your Lordship's favorable notice of, and
friendship towards, a feeble attempt to save the swarms of Indian
natives in this land from final and eternal ruin, which must
unavoidably be the issue of those poor, miserable creatures, unless
God shall mercifully interpose with His blessing upon endeavors to
prevent it.
"The Indian Charity School, under my care (a narrative of which,
herewith transmitted, humbly begs your Lordship's acceptance), has
met with such approbation and encouragement from gentlemen of
character and ability, at home and abroad, and such has been the
success of endeavors hitherto used therein, as persuade us more and
more that it is of God, and a device and plan which, under his
blessing, has a greater probability of success than any that has yet
been attempted. By the blessing and continual care of heaven, it has
lived, and does still live and flourish, without any other fund
appropriated to its support than that great one, in the hands of Him,
whose the earth is, and the fullness thereof.
"And I trust there is no need to mention any other considerations to
prove your Lordship's compassions, or invite your liberality on this
occasion, than those which their piteous and perishing case does of
itself suggest, when once your Lordship shall be well satisfied of a
proper and probable way to manifest and express the same with success.
Which I do with the utmost cheerfulness submit to your Lordship,
believing your determination therein to be under the direction of Him
who does all things well. And, if the nature and importance of the
case be not esteemed sufficient excuse for the freedom and boldness I
have assumed, I must rely upon your Lordship's innate goodness to
pardon him who is, with the greatest duty and esteem, my lord,
"Your Lordship's most obedient,
"And most humble servant,
"Eleazar Wheelock."
It is interesting to observe here the agency of Mr. Wheelock's old and
intimate friend, Whitefield. As early as 1760, after alluding to
efforts in his behalf in Great Britain, he wrote to Mr. Wheelock:
"Had I a converted Indian scholar, that could preach and pray in
English, something might be done to purpose."
After much deliberation, Mr. Wheelock determined to send Mr. Occom and
Rev. Nathaniel Whitaker of Norwich, who was deeply interested in his
work, to solicit the charities of British Christians, with a purpose
of more extended operations.
They left this country late in 1765, carrying testimonials from a
large number of eminent civilians and divines.
The following letter indicates that they were cordially welcomed in
England:
"London, February 2, 1766.
My dear Mr. Wheelock,--This day three weeks I had the pleasure of
seeing Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Occom. On their account, I have deferred
my intended journey into the country all next week. They have been
introduced to, and dined with the Daniel of the age, viz., the truly
noble Lord Dartmouth. Mr. Occom is also to be introduced by him to his
Majesty, who intends to favor their design with his bounty. A short
memorial for the public is drawn, which is to be followed with a small
pamphlet. All denominations are to be applied to, and therefore no
mention is made of any particular commissioners or corresponding
committees whatsoever. It would damp the thing entirely. Cashiers are
to be named, and the moneys collected are to be deposited with them
till drawn for by yourself. Mr. Occom hath preached for me with
acceptance, and also Mr. Whitaker. They are to go round the other
denominations in a proper rotation. As yet everything looks with a
promising aspect. I have procured them suitable lodgings. I shall
continue to do everything that lies in my power. Mr. S.[14] is
providentially here,--a fast friend to your plan and his dear country.
"I wish you joy of the long wished for, long prayed for repeal, and
am, my dear Mr. Wheelock,
"Yours, etc., in our glorious Head,
"George Whitefield."
[14] Mr. John Smith, of Boston.
We are now introduced to Mr. Wheelock's most valuable coadjutor, the
son of Mark Hunking Wentworth,--another active and earnest friend:
"Bristol, [England,] 16th Dec., 1766.
"The Rev. Mr. Whitaker having requested my testimony of an institution
forming in America, under the name of an Indian School, for which
purpose many persons on that continent and in Europe have liberally
contributed, and he is now soliciting the further aid of all
denominations of people in this kingdom to complete the proposed plan,
I do therefore certify, whomsoever it may concern, that the said
Indian School appears to me to be formed upon principles of extensive
benevolence and unfeigned piety; that the moneys already collected
have been justly applied to this and no other use. From repeated
information of many principal gentlemen in America, and from my own
particular knowledge of local circumstances, I am well convinced that
the charitable contributions afforded to this design will be honestly
and successfully applied to civilize and recover the savages of
America from their present barbarous paganism.
"J. Wentworth,
"Governor of New Hampshire."
The annals of philanthropy unfold few things bolder or more romantic
in conception, or grander in execution, or sublimer in results than
this most memorable, most successful pilgrimage. The unique, but
magnetic, marvelous eloquence of this regenerated son of the forest,
as he passed from town to town, and city to city, over England and
Scotland, engaged the attention and opened the hearts of all
classes--the clergy, the nobility, and the peasantry. The names of the
men and women and children, who gave of their abundance or their
poverty, primarily and apparently to civilize and evangelize their
wild and savage brethren across the sea, but ultimately and really to
found one of the most solid and beautiful temples of Christian and
secular learning, in the Western hemisphere, deserve affectionate and
perpetual remembrance, along with those of their kindred, who in a
preceding century dedicated their whole treasure upon Plymouth Rock.
With sincere regret that we have not the name of every donor, yet with
devout gratitude for the preservation of so full a record, we append
the original list of donors in England, as prepared and published at
the time, by Lord Dartmouth and his associates.[15]
[15] See Appendix.
Never was more timely aid given to a worthy cause. When Mr. Wheelock's
agents went abroad he had a school of about thirty, and an empty
treasury. These funds gave him present comfort, and enabled him to
effect the long-desired removal.
CHAPTER V.
SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON.--EXPLORATIONS FOR A LOCATION. ADVICE OF ENGLISH
TRUSTEES.
Mr. Wheelock was in friendly correspondence, for several years, with
Sir William Johnson, the distinguished Indian agent and
superintendent, who resided in the province of New York, near the Six
Nations. Through his agency, the famous Mohawk, Joseph Brant, was sent
to Mr. Wheelock's school. After enjoying some opportunities for an
estimate of his abilities and character, Mr. Wheelock speaks of him in
highly complimentary terms, as a gentleman, "whose understanding and
influence in Indian affairs, is, I suppose, greater than any other
man's, and to whose indefatigable and successful labors to settle and
secure a peace with the several tribes, who have been at war with us,
our land and nation are under God chiefly indebted."
In September, 1762, Mr. Wheelock writes to Sir William: "I understand
that some of our people are about to settle on a new purchase on
Susquehannah river. It may be a door may open for my design on that
purchase." He also intimates that he desires to set up the school in
his neighborhood. This plan does not meet Sir William's approval, but
in January, 1763, Mr. Wheelock addresses him again, saying: "Gov.
Wentworth has offered a tract of land in the western part of the
province of New Hampshire which he is now settling, for the use of the
school if we will fix it there, and there has been some talk of fixing
it in one of the new townships in the province of the Massachusetts
which lie upon New York line near Albany. I much want to consult your
Honor in the affair." Mr. Wheelock's confidence in his friend having
been strengthened by the receipt of several cordial letters, and
other circumstances, he writes to him, July 4, 1766: "I apprehend you
are able above any man in this land to serve the grand design in
view," desiring to "act in every step" agreeable to his mind, and
informing him that he has sent his son, with Dr. Pomeroy, to confer
with him about a location for the school. He also refers to "arguments
offered to carry it into the Southern governments." But Mr. Johnson
did not see fit to invite the settlement of the school in the
neighborhood of the Six Nations, deeming it unwise, apparently, to
encourage a movement which might be regarded by them as an invasion of
their territory, especially if they were asked to give lands to the
school. This decision virtually determined the location. If Mr.
Wheelock could not follow his old neighbors and friends to the
westward, and plant himself beside the great Indian Confederacy, he
must turn his attention to the northward, where other neighbors and
friends were settling within easy reach of the far-extended Indian
tribes of Canada. Other localities, as we shall see hereafter,
presented some inducements, but they were all of minor importance.
Hence, when his agents returned from Great Britain placing the
long-desired funds for the accomplishment of his purposes in his
hands, we may well imagine that Mr. Wheelock gladly turned toward that
worthy magistrate, who had already shown "a willing heart," for more
aid.
In the meantime, Mr. Wheelock was giving the matter of a location his
most earnest and careful attention. In a letter to Mr. Whitefield,
dated September 4, 1766, he says: "We cannot get land enough on Hudson
river." Nor has he any more hope of success on the Mohawk. "Large
offers have been made in the new settlements on Connecticut river. It
is likely that near twenty thousand acres would be given in their
several towns." After stating that "Col. Willard" has made generous
offers of lands, "on Sugar river," he says: "that location would be
the most inviting of any part of that country. Samuel Stevens, Esq.,
offers two thousand acres to have it at No. 4. Col. Chandler offers
two thousand acres in the centre of the town of Chester, opposite to
No. 4, nine miles from the River. The situation of Wyoming, on
Susquehannah river, is very convenient."[16] A few months later,
General Schuyler earnestly advocated the claims of Albany as a
favorable location.
[16] See Appendix.
But Mr. Wheelock's friends were very unwilling that he should leave
Connecticut. Windham and Hebron[17] made earnest efforts to obtain the
school. We quote from Lebanon parish records:
[17] See Appendix.
"At a legal and full meeting of the Inhabitants, legal voters of the
second society in Lebanon [now Columbia], in Connecticut, held in said
society on the 29th day of June, Anno Domini 1767, We made choice of
Mr. James Pinneo to be moderator of said meeting, and passed the
following votes, _nemine contradicente_:
"1. That we desire the Indian Charity School now under the care of the
Rev. Mr. Eleazar Wheelock, may be fixed to continue in this society:
provided it may consist with the interest and prosperity of said
School.
"2. That as we have a large and convenient house for public and divine
Worship, we will accommodate the members of said school with such
convenient seats in said house as we shall be able.
"3. That the following letter be presented to the Rev. Mr. Eleazar
Wheelock, by Messrs. Israel Woodward, James Pinneo, and Asahel Clark,
Jun., in the name and behalf of this society; and that they desire him
to transmit a copy of the same, with the votes foregoing, to the Right
Honorable the Earl of Dartmouth, and the rest of those Honorable and
Worthy Gentlemen in England who have condescended to patronize said
school; and to whom the establishment of the same is committed.
"The Inhabitants of the Second Society in Lebanon in Connecticut to
the Rev. Mr. Eleazar Wheelock, Pastor of said Society.
"Rev. and ever dear Pastor,--As you are witness to our past care and
concern for the success of your most pious and charitable undertaking
in favor of the poor perishing Indians on this continent, we are
confident you will not be displeased at our addressing you on this
occasion; but that you would rather think it strange if we should
altogether hold our peace at such a time as this; when we understand
it is still in doubt both with yourself and friends where to fix your
school; whether at Albany or more remote among the Indian tribes, in
this society where it was first planted, or in some other part of this
colony proposed for its accommodation.
"We have some of us heard most of the arguments offered for its
removal, and however plausible they appear we are not at all convinced
of their force, or that it is expedient, everything considered, it
should be removed, nor do we think we have great reason to fear the
event, only we would not be wanting as to our duty in giving such
hints in favor of its continuance here as naturally and easily occur
to our minds, for we have that confidence in you and the friends of
the design, that you will not be easily carried away with appearances:
but will critically observe the secret springs of those generous
offers, made in one place and another, (some of which are beyond what
we can pretend to,) whether some prospect of private emolument be not
at the bottom; or whether they will finally prove more kind to your
pious institution as such considered, (whatever their pretenses may
be,) than they have been or at present appear to be to the Redeemer's
Kingdom in general. We trust this institution, so well calculated to
the advancement of its interest, will flourish best among the
Redeemer's friends; and although with respect to ourselves we have
little to boast as to friendship to our divine Redeemer or his
interest, yet this we are sure of, that he has been very kind to us,
in times past, and we trust has made you the instrument of much good
to us, and to lay a foundation for it to succeeding generations; we
humbly hope God has been preparing an habitation for himself here, and
has said of it, this is my resting place, here will I dwell forever,
(not because they deserved it,) but because I have desired it, and
where God is pleased to dwell, under his influence your institution
(which we trust is of Him) may expect to live and thrive. We desire it
may be considered that this is its birth place, here it was kindly
received, and nourished when no other door was set open to it--here it
found friends when almost friendless, yea when despised and contemned
abroad--its friends are now increased here as well as elsewhere, and
although by reason of our poverty and the hardness of the times, our
subscriptions are small compared with what some others may boast,
being at present but about £810 lawful money, yet there are here some
other privileges which we think very valuable and serviceable to the
design, viz. 400 acres of very fertile and good land, about forty
acres of which are under improvement, and the remainder well set with
choice timber and fuel, and is suitably proportioned for the various
branches of Husbandry which will much accommodate the design as said
land is situated within about half a mile of our Meeting House, and
may be purchased for fifty shillings lawful money per acre. There is
also several other small parcels of land suitably situate for building
places for the use of the school to be sold at a reasonable rate. We
have also a beautiful building place for said school within a few rods
of said meeting house, adjacent to which is a large and pleasant
Green: and we are confident that wood, provisions, and clothing, etc.,
which will be necessary for the school, may be had here not only now,
but in future years, at as low a rate as in any place in the colony,
or in any other place where it has been proposed to settle your
school. These privileges, we think, are valuable and worthy your
consideration, and also of those honourable and worthy gentlemen in
England to whom you have committed the decision of the affair, and
from the friendly disposition which has so many years past and does
still reign in our breasts towards it, we think it may be presumed we
shall from time to time be ready to minister to its support as
occasion shall require and our circumstances permit. We take the
liberty further to observe that such has hitherto been the peace and
good order (greatly through your instrumentality), obtaining among us
that the members of your school have all along been as free from
temptations to any vicious courses or danger of fatal error as perhaps
might be expected they would be on any spot of this universally
polluted globe.
"Here, dear sir, your school has flourished remarkably. It has grown
apace; from small beginnings how very considerable has it become; an
evidence that the soil and climate suit the institution--if you
transplant it you run a risk of stinting its growth, perhaps of
destroying its very life, or at least of changing its nature and
missing the pious aim you have all along had in view; a danger which
scarce needs to be hinted, as you are sensible it has been the common
fate of institutions of this kind that charitable donations have been
misapplied and perverted to serve purposes very far from or contrary
to those the pious donors had in view; such is the subtilty of the old
serpent that he will turn all our weapons against ourselves if
possible. Aware of this, you have all along appeared to decline and
even detest all such alliances and proposals as were calculated for,
or seemed to promise any private emolument to your self or your
friends. This, we trust, is still your prevailing temper, and rejoice
to hear that your friends and those who are intrusted with the affair
in England are exactly in the same sentiments, happy presage not only
of the continuance of the institution itself but we hope of its
immutability as to place. One thing more we beg leave to mention (not
to tire your patience with the many that occur), viz. if you remove
the school from us, you, at the same time, take away our Minister, the
light of our eyes and joy of our hearts, under whose ministrations we
have sat with great delight; whose labors have been so acceptable, and
we trust profitable, for a long time; must, then, our dear and worthy
Pastor and his pious institution go from us together? Alas, shall we
be deprived of both in one day? We are sensible that we have abused
such privileges and have forfeited them; and at God's bar we plead
guilty--we pray Him to give us repentance and reformation, and to
lengthen out our happy state; we own the justice of God in so heavy
losses, if they must be inflicted; and even in the removal of our
Candlestick out of its place, but we can't bear the thought that you
our Dear Pastor and the dear friends to your pious institution should
become the executioners of such a vengeance. However, we leave the
matter with you, and are with much duty and filial regard, dear sir,
Your very humble servants or rather obedient children.
"By order of said Society, Israel Woodward,
James Pinneo,
Asahel Clark, Jr."
"June 29, 1767."
This interesting document bears the same date with Mr. Wheelock's
Doctorate in Divinity, from the University of Edinburgh.
Dr. Wheelock, appreciating the importance of a better knowledge of the
comparative advantages of the various proposed locations, finally
determined to commission trustworthy agents, to make thorough
explorations. We give his language, in substance:
"Lebanon, Connecticut, July 20, 1768.
"Whereas the number in my Indian Charity School is now, by the
blessing of God, become so large as that it is necessary the place
where to fix it should be speedily determined, and so many and
generous have been the offers made for that purpose by gentlemen of
character and distinction in several neighboring governments, I do,
therefore, hereby authorize and appoint the Rev. Mr. Ebenezer
Cleaveland, of Gloucester, in the province of the Massachusetts Bay,
and my son, Ralph Wheelock (while the Rev. Dr. Whitaker is performing
the like part in Pennsylvania) in my name and stead, to wait upon his
Excellency John Wentworth, Esq., Governor of New Hampshire, and his
associates in office, to know what countenance and encouragement they
will give to accommodate and endow said school, in case it should be
fixed in the western part of that province."
Deep interest in Dr. Wheelock's work being manifested by Rev. Thomas
Allen and others, at Pittsfield; Timothy Woodbridge and others, at
Stockbridge;[18] and Abraham J. Lansing, the founder of
Lansingburg,[19] and many others in that Province, they were also
instructed to extend their explorations to Western Massachusetts and
to New York.
[18] See Appendix.
[19] See Appendix.
The following is the material portion of Mr. Cleaveland's report:
"I waited upon his Excellency John Wentworth, Esq., Governor of New
Hampshire. He appeared very friendly to the design--promised to grant
a township, six miles square, to the use of the school, provided it
should be fixed in that Province, and that he would use his influence
that his Majesty should give the quit-rents to the school, to be free
from charge of fees except for surveying. Esquire Whiting, the Deputy
Surveyor, being present, offered his assistance to look out the
township and survey it, and give the service to the school. His
Excellency the Governor recommended him to me for that purpose (since
which, we found Landaff, a good township, to have forfeited the
charter, of which we advised the Governor, and were informed [that] he
promised to reserve it for the school). After spending a few days on
our way with gentlemen of the lower towns, who appeared universally
desirous that the school should come into that Province, and were
generous in their offers to encourage the same, but proposed their
donations, generally, where their interests in land lay we proceeded
to Plymouth, Romney, and Compton, where Mr. Whiting left me. Five
thousand acres of land were proposed to be given, on condition the
school be fixed in either of these towns. Seventy-five pounds sterling
and twenty thousand feet of boards (besides land) are offered on
condition it should be fixed in Compton. The arguments used for fixing
the school here are--'t is the centre of that province; good and easy
portage by land and water to Portsmouth and Newbury; but twenty-seven
miles further than Connecticut river from the Indians.
"From thence I travelled to Cohos, on Connecticut river; the
inhabitants of that new country were universally much engaged to have
the school fixed there, both from a respect to Dr. Wheelock's person
and a regard to the general design; it would be too lengthy to mention
the particular offers that were generously made. Besides what has been
already mentioned, upwards of sixteen thousand acres are already
subscribed, chiefly by gentlemen of the most noted and public
characters in the Province of New Hampshire; and more is subscribing
to have it fixed in the country of Cohos. Besides which, large
subscriptions have been made and are still making which centre in
particular towns, the principal of which and those where I was
advised, and thought proper to take the most particular view, were
Haverhill and Orford. These places are about equally distant from
Portsmouth, ninety-two miles, thirty of which is good water carriage,
the rest may be made a good wagon road. In this new country there are
more than two hundred towns chartered, settled, and about to settle,
and generally of a religious people, which do, and soon will, want
ministers; and they have no college or public seminary of learning for
that purpose in that Province, which want they apprehend may be
supplied by this school without any disadvantage to, or interfering in
the least, with the general design of it. These places are situate
about forty miles nearer to the Six Nations than the place where the
school now is; they are about one hundred miles from Mount Royal and
about sixty from Crown Point; and, perhaps, about sixty from the
Indians at St. Francis, to whom there is water portage by Connecticut
and St. Francis Rivers, except a mile or two; there is also water
carriage from hence by the Lakes and St. Lawrence River, etc., by the
Six Nations and the tribes many hundred miles west, except very small
land carriages. Population in this new country is very rapid, and will
doubtless be much more so if the Doctor should remove there with his
school, and their lands will soon bear a great price. From hence I
went with Mr. John Wright (whom the Doctor sent to accompany me in my
further inquiry) to Hatfield, in the Province of the Massachusetts;
and found gentlemen there universally desirous to have the school
fixed in Berkshire County in the western part of that Province."
This region was visited by them, as well as New York. During the
autumn of 1768, by commission of Dr. Wheelock, Mr. Cleaveland, in
company with Mr. Allen Mather, also attended a large "Congress" of
several Indian tribes, at Fort Stanwix. In his report, after referring
to friendly conference with other chiefs, he says: "I also saw one
from Caghnawaga near Montreal, who desired to know if he could get his
son into Dr. Wheelock's school, and manifested a great desire to send
him. I told him there was talk of the school's going to Cohos. He said
if it should be fixed there, he believed that many of that tribe would
send their children to it."[20] This Canadian chief's statement was
considered, most carefully, by Dr. Wheelock. The proper documents were
forwarded with the least practicable delay to the English Trustees,
and elicited the following response:
[20] See Appendix.
"London, 3d April, 1769.
"Reverend Sir:--Last week we received your letters of the 22d and 23d
December, 1768, and 10th of January, 1769; and being convinced how
necessary it is for the prosperity of your pious institution, as well
as for the peace of your own mind, that a place should be fixed upon
for the future establishment of your school as soon as possible, we
have attentively considered the report of Mr. Ebenezer Cleaveland,
whom you employed to take a view of the several spots proposed for
that purpose, together with the other papers which have now and
heretofore been transmitted to us relative to that matter; and, upon
weighing the several generous offers and proposals that have been made
to you by gentlemen of different governments for the benevolent
purpose of promoting the important design of your institution, and the
reasons that have been offered or have occurred to us in support of
each, we are unanimously of opinion that the most advantageous
situation for carrying on the great purposes of your school, will be
in one of the townships belonging to the District of Cowas, in the
Government of New Hampshire, agreeable to the proposal of Governor
Wentworth and the gentlemen who have generously expressed their
intention of contributing to that design; but whether Haverhill or
Orford may be the most eligible for this purpose, we must leave to
your judgment to determine. According to the best information we can
procure of the state of those towns, we think you may possibly give
the preference to the former, especially if the farm which you mention
as very convenient for an immediate supply of provisions, can be
procured upon reasonable terms.
"We found our opinion, principally, upon this reason, that it appears
to us that Cowas is the most central of the situations that have been
proposed between the Indians of the Six Nations, on the one hand, and
those of St. Francis and of the other tribes to the eastward, on the
other; and that it is not inferior to any of the rest in other
respects. For this reason, we cannot but recommend to you to accept
the offers of Governor Wentworth and the Gentlemen in New Hampshire.
And we heartily pray that the same good Providence which has so
remarkably blessed your undertaking hitherto, may continue to protect
and prosper it in its farther progress, and may prolong your life,
that you may have the satisfaction to see it fixed upon such a plan as
may afford a reasonable hope of answering all the good purposes you
have in view.
"We are, Reverend Sir,
"Your most obedient servants,
Dartmouth,
S. S. Smythe,
Samuel Roffey,
John Thornton,
Daniel West,
Charles Hardy,
Samuel Savage,
Jos. Robarts,
Robert Keen."
"Received August 10, 1769."
CHAPTER VI.
A COLLEGE CHARTER.
The long-protracted efforts of Mr. Wheelock,[21] to provide legal
safeguards for donations in aid of his great work, now demand careful
attention.
[21] It will be observed that the appropriate title, at the period
under consideration, is given to the founder of the college
here as elsewhere in this work.
The deed of Mr. Joshua More, conveying two acres of land with
buildings attached, was dated July 17, 1755, a short time previous to
his death. Mr. Wheelock now placed himself in confidential relations
with two eminent lawyers in New York, William Smith, and his son
William Smith, Jr., the latter of whom, perhaps, may be said to have
left his impress upon the Constitution of the United States, through
his distinguished pupil, Gouverneur Morris. The correspondence, at
first, seems to have been chiefly with Mr. Smith, Senior. August 6,
1755, he writes to Mr. Wheelock: "The means for the accomplishment of
so charitable a design seem at present very imperfect." He suggests,
that there is "no incorporation" of Mr. Wheelock and the other
gentlemen to whom Mr. More conveyed the property; that the deed
contains "no consideration;" and that the estate is at most only "for
life." He advises Mr. Wheelock, at least, to procure a better deed,
which was afterwards executed by Mrs. More. The death of Mr.
Wheelock's most influential and valuable associate trustee,
ex-President Williams, only a few days after the conveyance by Mr.
More, was a severe loss, and a temporary embarrassment to his
associates. But Mr. Wheelock determined to proceed in his efforts for
an incorporation, relying mainly upon the dictates of his own judgment
for direction. After the lapse of some five years, in February, 1760,
he gives the results to Mr. Smith, in language of which the following
is the substance: "We sent home some years ago for the royal favor of
a Charter. Lord Halifax approved the design, but [to save expense]
advised, instead of a Charter, the establishment of the school by a
law of Connecticut Colony, and promised that when sent there it should
be ratified in Council, which he supposed would be as sufficient as
any act there. Hereupon I attended our Assembly, in May, 1758, with a
memorial, the prayer of which was granted by the House of
Representatives; the Governor and Council negatived it, upon the
ground that their action would not be valid, if ratified in England,
beyond this Colony, and that a corporation within a corporation might
be troublesome, as Yale College had sometimes been. I am since
informed that the Earl of Dartmouth has promised, if the matter shall
be put into a proper channel, to undertake and go through with it at
his own expense."
Thus it appears that Lord Dartmouth was desirous of aiding Mr.
Wheelock by his influence, and otherwise, long before being asked by
him for pecuniary aid. In explanation of the governor's objections, it
should be stated, that Mr. Wheelock desired such an incorporation as
would enable him to locate his school in any of the American Colonies,
and that there was just at that period an earnest contest between the
corporation of Yale College, led by President Clap, and the Colonial
government, in regard to the control of that institution.
Nothing having been accomplished in the meantime, Mr. Wheelock writes
in July, 1763, to his friend, Dr. Erskine, as follows: "Governor Fitch
privately proposes my removing my prayer for an incorporation from
this government [Connecticut]. It is likely we shall delay, it till we
see the success of our suit for the Royal favor." In September
following, he writes to his friend, Mr. De Berdt, in London, that he
has sent to him "materials, by General Lyman[22] and Colonel
Dyer,"[23] to enable him to "make application for an incorporation."
Unsuccessful as before in England, for reasons which will become more
apparent hereafter, in May, 1764, we find Mr. Wheelock petitioning
the Connecticut Assembly "to incorporate" six gentlemen of the Colony,
including George Wyllis, of Hartford, and himself, as legal guardians
of his school. But he did not procure the long-desired incorporation.
[22] The distinguished Gen. Phineas Lyman.
[23] Hon. Eliphalet Dyer, of Windham.
In 1765, being about to send solicitors of charity on a larger scale
to England, Mr. Wheelock decided to make yet one more effort there for
an act of incorporation. A letter from Mr. Smith, written evidently
about this time, no date being attached, contains advice to Mr.
Wheelock in which we trace one of the most prominent features of the
Charter. He proposes, in substance: "an application to the King for a
short Charter incorporating. First, A sett of gentlemen in the
Colonies near Mr. Wheelock, who shall have all the power of a
corporation, as to managing estates, supplying vacancies, etc. Second,
Another sett in England and elsewhere in Europe, who, shall be
correspondents of the first sett, and only have the general power of
securing donations to be transferred to them."
Lord Dartmouth and the other gentlemen in England who were
constituted, by Mr. Wheelock, a Board of Trust for the moneys
collected in that country, by Messrs. Occom and Whitaker, seem to have
thought this private incorporation amply sufficient for the security
of these funds. In writing to Mr. Keen, in November, 1767, Mr. (now
Dr.) Wheelock alludes to the fact that this gentleman had expressed an
opinion that his successor should be "in all respects accountable to
the present Trust." Although dissenting from this opinion, Dr.
Wheelock seems to have been prudent and conciliatory in his
intercourse with his worthy benefactors, wisely deeming it an object
of primary importance to raise the requisite funds for his operations.
Messrs. Occom and Whitaker having fulfilled their mission abroad, and
generous promises of aid having been made by Governor Wentworth, we
find Dr. Wheelock, in October, 1768, writing to him as follows: "As
soon as the place to fix the school shall have been determined to be
in your Province, I will appoint your Excellency, or the Governor for
the time being, to be a Trustee on this side the water till a legal
incorporation may be obtained." This shows that Dr. Wheelock was not
averse to a judicious admixture of the clerical and lay elements in
the Board of Trust, although the Trustees named in his will, the germ
of the charter, were clergymen.
The suggestion seems to have been most kindly received by Governor
Wentworth. Dr. Wheelock now determined to avail himself of the aid of
his firm and valuable friend, Rev. Dr. Langdon, of Portsmouth. A
letter from him to this gentleman is as follows:
"Lebanon, April 7, 1769.
"Reverend and dear Sir,--Yours by Captain Cushman is safe arrived, and
I have considered the contents. And for several reasons I am of
opinion that it will be best that the Trustees be the same for the
present, as I have already appointed in my will, which I have made at
the desire of the Trust in England, whose names were, with the will,
some time ago transmitted to them. The affair is very delicate, and as
such must be conducted, or it will disgust those worthy gentlemen, and
overset all. Their sentiments of an incorporation have been differing
from mine. They have insisted that I should conduct the whole affair
without one, and that my successor should be nominated and appointed
by my will. Experience, they think, has fully taught them that, by
means of an incorporation, such designs become jobs, and are soon
ruined thereby. They choose to hold the moneys collected there in
their own hands for this purpose, and accordingly have publicly
declared their Trust of the same under their hands and seals, and have
disposed of it, as their wisdom directed, for the benefit of the
school. I have, therefore, after much study and consultation in the
affair, appointed two setts of Trustees, namely, those in England who
have voluntarily condescended to make themselves so, to take care of
whatever concerns the object in view on that side the water; and a
sett in this vicinity, to take care of and perform whatever shall
concern it on this side. I have appointed a successor, to take care of
the school, etc., only till he shall be approved and confirmed by the
concurrence of both setts of Trustees, or till they all agree in
another, nominated by either and approved by both, each sett to have
power to supply vacancies in their Trust, made by death or
resignation, by the major vote of the survivors; something like this I
conceive will be most agreeable to the Right Honorable, Honorable, and
generous benefactors who have accepted the Trust in England, and I
apprehend it will make the design popular and respectable.
"The Trustees here will hold and have the disposal of lands given in
America for this use; and I apprehend it will be proper for his
Majesty's Governor of the Province for the time being to be a Trustee,
but at present I have not light enough to determine a propriety in
making his Majesty himself one on this side the water.
"I have several reasons, which appear to me weighty, for having the
body of the Trustees first incorporated in this vicinity.
"1. They will be at hand to conduct the affairs of the school,
missionaries, schoolmasters, etc., till I can get settled in the
wilderness, which will be impracticable, if they are at the distance
of Portsmouth.
"2. Several of the Trustees talk of removing with me to settle in that
vicinity; and if so, they may for a time act as a committee, till a
sufficient number suitable for that Trust shall be settled (as you
will observe will be expedient) near to the school.
"3. Till this be done, my connections will likely be such as will
oblige me to make frequent visits to these parts, where we may have a
full meeting of the Board without any expense.
"4. Gentlemen here have been so much concerned in Indian affairs, that
I suppose it not to be immodest to say _ceteris paribus_, they are at
present better qualified to act therein than those who will have to
encounter a thousand dangers and difficulties before unthought of.
"5. By having the body corporate here, I can claim a valuable
subscription of £400 or £500 for the use and support of the school,
payable as soon as it becomes a body corporate, besides a tenement in
this place, given for the same purpose.
"If the school should once be settled in those parts, it is likely
population will proceed with much greater rapidity than ever, and the
whole will be soon effected.
"I design to consult some gentlemen of the law relative to an
incorporation, and get a rough draught made, with a view to save time
if the School should be fixed in your Province. Please to discourse
his Excellency of thoughts I have here suggested, and transmit such
remarks as he shall please to make thereon. Please to commend my
respects suitably to him, and accept the same yourself from, reverend
and dear sir,
Your Friend and Brother, etc.,
"Eleazar Wheelock."
"Colonel Wyllis and Esquire Ledyard," of Hartford, were among Dr.
Wheelock's legal advisers in 1768, and probably at this period.
June 7, 1769, we find Dr. Wheelock addressing Governor Wentworth as
follows:
"I have been making some attempt to form a Charter, in which some
proper respect may be shown to those generous benefactors in England
who have condescended to patronize this school, and I want to be
informed whether you think it consistent to make the Trust in England
a distinct corporation, with power to hold real estate, etc., for the
uses and purposes of this school."
But the impress of Governor Wentworth does not appear till a somewhat
later period. August 22, 1769, Dr. Wheelock informs him that he is
about to present him a "rough draught" of a Charter, for an "Academy,"
adding this somewhat significant postscript: "Sir, if you think proper
to use the word College instead of Academy in the Charter, I shall be
well pleased with it."
Dr. Wheelock's son-in-law, Mr. Alexander Phelps, and Rev. Dr. Whitaker
seem to have been the principal agents to confer with Governor
Wentworth in regard to the Charter.
October 18, 1769, he gives his views at length, in a letter to Dr.
Wheelock, advising some amendments. Proposing some additions to the
Board of Trust, he says: "The nomination of the Provincial officers I
strongly recommend, though I do not insist upon. It was indeed
resolved on my side that the Governor should be one" of the Board.
"That I did not mention any other than the Governor can by no means be
preclusive. Neither did I so intend it. The three Provincial officers
will be a natural defense, honor and security to the institution."
The following letter indicates that Governor Wentworth had eminent
legal counsel:
"Rev. Sir: I have had an opportunity of conferring with Colonel Phelps
on the affair of the College proposed to be erected here. You'll find
some alterations in the scheme and draft of the Charter; they are
supposed to be amendments, and I think they, to say the least, will
not be impediments. I cannot stay to enumerate them; the Charter will
show them and the Colonel will be able to explain the grounds and
reasons of them. I have spent some considerable time with the Governor
to form the plan in such a manner as will make it most beneficial, and
to prevail on him to make such concessions as would suit the gentlemen
with you. I am apt to think the plan will be more serviceable as it
now stands than as it was before.
I shall be glad to serve the cause, and have persuaded Colonel Phelps
to communicate it before the finishing stroke, though it will cost him
another journey. I have only to add that I am, with great esteem,
"Your most obedient humble servant,
"William Parker.
"Portsmouth, October 28, 1769."
Six Connecticut clergymen, selected by Dr. Wheelock, with one member
of the Connecticut Colonial government, Governor Wentworth, with three
of his Council, and the Speaker of the New Hampshire House of
Representatives, were constituted the first Board of Trust. This
arrangement, the result of friendly negotiation, appears to have been
satisfactory to both parties.
October 25, 1769, Dr. Wheelock writes to Governor Wentworth,
expressing much satisfaction with his "catholic views," and warm
friendship, as indicated by his letter of the 18th, and says: "If your
Excellency shall see fit in your wisdom and goodness to complete the
Charter desired, and it will be the least satisfaction to you to
christen the House to be built after your own name, it will be
exceedingly grateful to me, and I believe to all concerned." He deems
it important that the public should understand, "that the benevolent
charities are not designed to be applied merely and exclusively to the
advancement of sectaries, with a fixed view to discourage the
Established Church of England." It should here be remarked that
three of the original Trustees of the College were nominally
Episcopalians, and the remaining nine were, most or all, nominally
Congregationalists, although some had Presbyterian tendencies.
In writing to Lord Dartmouth, March 12, 1770, after referring to the
"enclosed copy of incorporation," which was dated December 13, 1769,
President Wheelock says: "Governor Wentworth thought best to reject
that clause in my draught of the Charter which gave the Honorable
Trust in England equal power with the Trustees here to nominate and
appoint the president, from time to time, apprehending it would make
the body too unwieldy, but he cheerfully consented that I should
express my gratitude and duty to your Lordship, by christening after
your name; and as there seemed to be danger of many embarrassments, in
many ways, in the present ruffled and distempered state of the
kingdom, I thought prudent to embrace the first opportunity to
accomplish it." The letter indicates that Dr. Wheelock determined what
should be the name of the institution without conferring with his
distinguished benefactor on that point.
That the English Trustees were somewhat dissatisfied, temporarily,
with the measure of responsibility assumed by Dr. Wheelock, there is
no doubt. But nearly perfect harmony was restored, by the prudence of
that excellent diplomatist. In writing to these gentlemen, June 20,
1771; he says: "I am confident that, had you been upon the spot, you
would have approved every step I have taken, unless it was my attempt
to effect so great an affair as settling in this wilderness in so
short a time, which the event has fully justified, although my trials
have been very great." He also expresses the opinion, that, if they
will compare his plan proposed in his former letters with his
procedure since, they will find that he has "invariably kept the same
object in view." Later records indicate that President Wheelock still
numbered Lord Dartmouth and others of the English Board among his
faithful friends. Although not officially connected with the college,
they evidently cherished an abiding interest in its welfare.
The Charter, so remarkable in its history, is a valuable and an
enduring monument to the genius, skill, and learning of its
distinguished framers.[24] Like the Charters of Harvard and Yale, it
indicates that the clergy were regarded, generally, as the best
depositaries of educational trusts. In the former case, the "teaching
elders" of the "six next adjoining towns" were ex-officio,
"Overseers;" in the latter, the original Trustees were all clergymen.
It may safely be asserted that, of the large number of eminent
gentlemen, who, as Trustees, have administered the affairs of
Dartmouth College, none have been more eminent for their wisdom or
fidelity than the reverend clergy.
[24] See Appendix.
[Illustration: Handwritten letter]
CHAPTER VII.
PRESIDENT WHEELOCK'S PERSONAL EXPLORATIONS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.--LOCATION
AT HANOVER.
In his "Narrative" for 1771, President Wheelock tells the story of
Dartmouth's location in the Granite State so plainly and
satisfactorily, that we can do no better than to give his own
recapitulation and condensation of the leading facts.
"The smiles of heaven upon this school were such that it appeared
quite necessary to build to accommodate it; and the plan which I laid
for this purpose was to secure a sufficient tract of good land for the
only use and benefit of the school, and that the English charity
scholars should be led to turn their exercises for the relaxation of
their minds from their studies, and for the preservation of health,
from such exercises as have been frequently used by students for these
purposes, to such manual labor as might be subservient to the support
of the school, thereby effectually removing the deep prejudices, so
universal in the minds of the Indians, against going into the business
of husbandry."
"The necessity of building, and also that I proposed to fix it at any
distance where the design might be best served by it, became publicly
known, whereupon great numbers in Connecticut and in neighboring
Provinces made generous offers to invite the settlement of it in their
respective places. In which affair I employed proper agents to view
the several situations proposed, and hear the several arguments and
reasons that might be offered by the solicitors for it, and make a
faithful report of the same.
"The magistracy of the city of Albany offered an interest estimated at
£2,300 sterling, besides private donations, which it was supposed
would be large, to fix it in that city. Several other generous offers
were made to fix it in that vicinity. His Excellency, Sir Francis
Bernard, Governor of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in
company with two others, offered 2,000 acres of good land in a central
town[25] in the county of Berkshire in said Province. To which were
added several other donations, amounting in the whole to 2,800 acres
of land, and a subscription said to be about £800 sterling. Also
generous offers were made to it in Stockbridge and other towns in that
Province. Several generous offers were made by particular towns and
parishes in the Colony of Connecticut, and particularly to continue it
where it had its rise. But the country being so filled up with
inhabitants, it was not practicable to get so large a tract of lands
as was thought to be most convenient and useful for it in those old
settlements. The Honorable Trust in England gave the preference to the
western part of the Province of New Hampshire, on Connecticut river,
as the site of the school."
[25] Pittsfield.
Before this period he "began to be convinced by many weighty reasons
that a greater proportion of English youth must be prepared for
missionaries to take entirely the lead of the affairs in the
wilderness." He also was deeply impressed with the want of ministers
in a large number of towns, nearly two hundred in all, just then newly
settling in the Connecticut valley. In view of all the circumstances,
and especially the fact that there was a disposition on the part of
many young men who had the ministry in view to seek preparation for it
elsewhere, than at Yale or Harvard, he felt it his duty to adhere to
his plan of extension.
"As neither the Honorable Trust in England nor the Charter had fixed
upon the particular town or spot on which the buildings should be
erected, wherefore to complete the matter, as soon as the ways and
streams would allow, I took the Rev. Mr. Pomeroy, and Esq. [Samuel]
Gilbert (a gentleman of known ability for such a purpose) with me to
examine thoroughly, and compare the several places proposed, within
the limits prescribed for fifty or sixty miles on or near said River;
and to hear all the reasons and arguments that could be offered in
favor of each of them, in which service we faithfully spent eight
weeks. And in consequence of our report and representation of facts,
the Trustees unanimously agreed that the southwesterly corner of
Hanover adjoining upon Lebanon was the place above any to fix it in;
and that for many reasons, namely, it is most central on the River,
and most convenient for transportation up and down the River; as near
as any to the Indians; convenient for communication with Crown Point
on Lake Champlain, and with Canada. The situation is on a beautiful
plain, the soil fertile and easy of cultivation. The tract on which
the college is fixed, lying mostly in one body, and convenient for
improvement, in the towns of Hanover and Lebanon, contains upwards of
3,000 acres."
We quote from official records:
"Portsmouth, New Hampshire, July 5, 1770.
"We, the subscribers nominated Trustees of Dartmouth College, in the
Charter of said college, and being duly qualified as directed by said
Charter, have taken into consideration the places whereon said college
might be situated; and do hereby certify that it is our advice,
opinion and vote that said Dartmouth College be situated and erected
upon lands in the township of Hanover upon Connecticut river in the
Province aforesaid, provided the lands, moneys, and other aids
subscribed for the use of said Dartmouth College, if placed in Hanover
aforesaid, be firmly and securely conveyed to the Trustees of and for
the use of said College. And also that the said town of Hanover, and
Lebanon, previously consent and petition to the Legislature that a
contiguous parish of at least three miles square, in and adjoining to
these aforesaid towns of Hanover and Lebanon, be set off and
incorporated into a separate and distinct parish under the immediate
jurisdiction of the aforesaid Dartmouth College.
"In witness whereof we have hereunto signed this instrument for
placing buildings and establishing the said college in Hanover
aforesaid, upon the aforesaid conditions.
"J. Wentworth.
"Theodore Atkinson.
"Eleazar Wheelock.
"George Jaffrey.
"D. Pierce.
"P. Gilman.
"Benj. Pomeroy."
"Hartford, 17th July, 1770.
"We, the subscribers, being nominated Trustees of Dartmouth College,
and being duly qualified according to the Charter of such college, do
hereby agree to the situation of said college as determined by the
Trustees as above signed; provided (in addition to the conditions they
have specified), that Dr. Wheelock may be accommodated with a suitable
farm, at or near the college; apprehending that his past labors and
expenses, and his present connection with said institution, justly
merit such consideration.
"Wm. Pitkin,
"James Lockwood,
"Timothy Pitkin,
"John Smalley."
The "Coos" region now demands our more careful attention.
While southern New England was largely occupied by emigrants from the
Mother Country, and their descendants, in the seventeenth century,
much of its northern portions, and especially the rich valley of the
upper Connecticut, was still covered with the virgin forests. As early
as 1752, Theodore Atkinson (whose name will become more familiar to
us) and others in Eastern New Hampshire, had formed a plan for
acquiring and colonizing the best portion of this unoccupied, but
fertile and inviting, basin. But the proud and lordly Indian disputed
their right to invade this ancient and charming hunting-ground, whose
meadows almost spontaneously produced the choicest corn, and they
desisted from their purpose.
The immediate occasion of the settlement of this part of the
Connecticut valley was the French war. In the progress of that war,
the New England troops had cut a road from the older settlements in
the south part of the Province through Charlestown, then called No. 4,
to Crown Point. The soldiers in passing through this valley became
acquainted with its fertility and value.
The soil of Eastern Connecticut being exhausted in some measure, her
hardy and enterprising yeomanry now gladly turned toward a region
where honest industry would find a surer and better reward. Many of
them knew the value of religion by a vital experience, and all knew
the value of sound learning by experience or close observation.
The leading founders of Hanover were of the highly respectable Freeman
family, of Mansfield, Conn. The early history of this family in
America connects it with the Bradford and Prince families. The pioneer
settler at Hanover was Edmund Freeman. Of this worthy and enterprising
man, sincere Christian, earnest patriot, and valuable coadjutor of
President Wheelock, it is said: "Of distinguished uprightness and
integrity, he commanded universal respect and esteem." Hon. Jonathan
Freeman was his brother.
Another family to whom Hanover is largely indebted for its solid
foundations bears the no less distinguished name of Storrs, also of
Mansfield, the old ancestral home of all, or nearly all, of that name,
who in various ways have been conspicuous in giving "strength and
beauty" to American institutions. Of Joseph Storrs, an early donor to
Dartmouth, it is said: "He was the younger son of Samuel Storrs the
second, and grandson of Samuel Storrs the elder, from whom all of the
name in America are descended, excepting one family near Richmond, Va.
He was a member of the first board of selectmen of the town of
Hanover."
The town contained about twenty families at the period of which we are
writing. The relations of some other early settlers with President
Wheelock deserve equally careful notice. John Wright, from Lebanon,
Conn., was a man of marked ability and decided religious character. He
was deeply interested in the new college, and as pioneer explorer and
artisan rendered its founder invaluable aid. His name also heads the
list of the Hanover donors of lands.
David Woodward, formerly a parishioner of President Wheelock, and
afterward widely known for his strong mind, his public spirit, and
patriotism, also coöperated earnestly with him while he was laying
foundations. His house appears to have furnished the venerable
president his first headquarters, while planning future operations.
Nathaniel Wright, from Coventry, Conn., was a relation of John
Wright. His descendants have honored the college, as some of them
still honor the memory of an ancestor, whose name is inseparably and
prominently connected with the civil and religious history of the
town. His heart and hand were with President Wheelock, and his log
cabin was a welcome resting-place.
James Murch, one of the more enterprising among the early settlers,
was also from Connecticut, where he had formed some acquaintance with
President Wheelock and his plans. Upon him it seems to have devolved,
in some measure at least, to set forth in homely but vigorous language
the leading attractions of this locality.
Reverting to the "Narrative," we give President Wheelock's own graphic
account of labor and privation, which, in view of all the
circumstances, has few parallels in history:
"After I had finished this tour [of exploration] and made a short stay
at home, to settle some affairs, I returned again into the wilderness,
to make provision for the removal and settlement of my family and
school there before winter. I arrived in August [1770], and found
matters in such a situation as at once convinced me of the necessity
of being myself upon the spot. And as there was no house conveniently
near, I made a hutt of logs about eighteen feet square, without stone,
brick, glass, or nail, and with thirty, forty, and sometimes fifty
laborers appointed to their respective departments, I betook myself to
a campaign. I set some to build a house for myself and family, of
forty by thirty-two feet, and one story high, and others to build a
house for my students of eighty by thirty-two, and two stories high."
His family and about twenty or thirty students arriving before the
completion of his house, difficulty in locating having arisen, he
says: "I housed my stuff with my wife and the females of my family in
my hutt. My sons and students made booths and beds of hemlock boughs,
and in this situation we continued about a month, till the 29th day of
October, when I removed with my family to my house."
A few last words to one who for a long period had regarded his work
with more than fraternal interest, and himself with more than
fraternal affection, fitly portray the state of President Wheelock's
mind and heart in those days of toil and trial and hope:
"From my Hutt in Hanover Woods in the Province of New Hampshire,
August 27, 1770.
"My dear Sir:--I long to see you and spend one day with you on the
affairs of the Redeemer's kingdom. It would be vain to attempt to tell
you of the many and great affairs I am at present involved in, in all
which I have had much of the loving-kindness, faithfulness, and
goodness of God. I am this day sending for my family and expect the
house will be made comfortable for their reception by the time they
arrive. My prospects are, by the goodness of God, vastly encouraging.
A series of merciful occurrences has persuaded me that God designs
great good to his church among English as well as Indians by this
institution. I was informed at Boston, in my late journey, that the
Commissioners have plenty of their constituents' money which lies
useless for want of missionaries, and for many weighty reasons I have
thought that the Redeemer's cause might be much served by Mr.
Kirtland's[26] going to their pay. This was an important point I
wished to consult you in. Likely your own thoughts may suggest some
reasons and such as you shall think sufficient without my disclosing
many that are not public. If you think favorably of it, please to
propose it to them, as you will likely have an opportunity for before
you leave the continent. I have a number fitted and fitting for
missions more than the fund already collected will support, and if
that may be saved, and at the same time uniformity and good agreement
between the Boards is promoted, it will be well. I wrote you from
Dedham on my late journey from Boston. I rejoice to hear that your bow
yet abides in strength; that God has once more made you useful in
America. I am chained here; there is no probability that the buildings
will be seasonably and well accomplished if I should leave them. I
don't expect to see you till we meet in the general convention on the
other shore. Please to favor me with a line, and your thoughts on the
question proposed. You may send from Boston by the Northfield post,
directed to me at Hanover in this Province. Oh, how glad should I be
to see you in this wilderness!
[26] The modern orthography is Kirkland.
"My dear sir, farewell.
"I am yours in the dear Jesus.
"Eleazar Wheelock.
"Rev. George Whitefield."
There appears to have been no subsequent meeting, on earth, of these
eminent coadjutors in all good works. The one was called to his reward
above, just as the other was beginning to enjoy the fruition of his
labors on earth. Few names deserve more honor, in connection with the
founding of Dartmouth College, than that of
George Whitefield.[27]
[27] Many things, which cannot be specified, illustrating the
history of this period and others, are necessarily placed
in the Appendix.
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF THE FIRST COLLEGE EDIFICE:
Erected in 1770, near what is now the Southeast corner of the
Common.]
CHAPTER VIII.
COMMENCEMENT OF OPERATIONS.--COURSE OF STUDY.--POLICY OF
ADMINISTRATION.
Instruction at Dartmouth appears to have commenced in December
following the removal, with four classes in attendance.
In writing to Dr. Erskine, December 7, 1770, President Wheelock says:
"I am now removed into the wilderness with my family, and about thirty
students, English and Indians, who are all designed for the Indian
service." After referring to the erection of a house for his family,
and "another" for his students, he says: "I have also built a
school-house, which is convenient. My nearest neighbor in the town is
two and one half miles from me. I can see nothing but the lofty pines
about me. My family and students are in good health, and well pleased
with a solitude so favorable to their studies."
In President Wheelock's account-book, David Huntington, Thomas
Kendall, Ebenezer Gurley, Augustine Hibbard, James Dean, and Joseph
Grover, are charged with tuition from various dates, ranging from
December 7th to December 14th. The rate is _1s. 4d._ per week,
"deducting abscences." In Connecticut, the tuition, for classical
instruction in the school, had been _1s. 6d._ per week.
The following, from President Wheelock to a distant correspondent,
indicates sufficient patronage of the new institution:
"Hanover, December 3, 1770.
"Dear Sir,--Your son, with companion, are safely arrived. I've sent
back part of my students to Connecticut. I've just got studies fitted,
and made provision for the support of the rest of them. The great
difficulty in taking your son is the want of provisions in this
starved country. I send to Northfield and Montague for my bread, and
expect supply chiefly from thence."
The facilities for acquiring classical and scientific education appear
to have been substantially the same at Dartmouth, at the outset, as in
other American colleges of that period.
The discoveries of Newton and Franklin had a marked, if not
controlling, influence upon the thought of the eighteenth century.
No American college, perhaps, felt this influence more than President
Wheelock's Alma Mater, in which Franklin took a deep interest.
At the period of the founding of Dartmouth, we find that, in Yale
College, the Faculty consisted of Dr. Daggett, who was President, and
Professor of Divinity; Rev. Nehemiah Strong, Professor of Mathematics
and Natural Philosophy, and two or three tutors.
President Wheelock doubtless had his Alma Mater especially in mind, in
planning the curriculum of Dartmouth. He was himself Professor of
Divinity, as well as President. His first associate in instruction,
who acted in the capacity of tutor, was Mr. Bezaleel Woodward, who had
graduated at Yale College in 1764, during the presidency of Rev.
Thomas Clap, of whom his associate in the Faculty, the future
President Stiles, says: "In Mathematics and Natural Philosophy I have
reason to think he was not equaled by more than one man in America."
The fact that Mr. Woodward was subsequently, for many years, a highly
esteemed professor of Mathematics in the college, indicates that he
was a worthy pupil of his distinguished teacher.
There can be no doubt that the college was highly favored, in its
beginnings, in having a president who had been, while at college,
distinguished as a classical scholar, and in later life as an able and
a learned divine, aided by a younger teacher, whose scientific
attainments well qualified him for the duties of his position.
The first preceptor of the Charity School, at Hanover, was David
McClure, who had recently graduated at Yale College. He was an able
and a successful teacher. The various relations of the school and
college were so intimate at this period, that it is nearly impossible
to dissociate them. The word "school," as used by President Wheelock,
frequently includes the college.
Three of Dartmouth's first class were prepared for college at the
"Indian Charity School" in Lebanon, and passed their first three years
at Yale.
The following letter from an eminent teacher, referred to in a
previous chapter, addressed to President Wheelock, introduces their
only new classmate:
"Lebanon, August 10, 1770.
"Rev. Sir: The bearer, Samuel Gray, entered my school about two years
ago, and in that time has been about four months absent. He was well
fitted for college when he was first under my care, and having applied
himself with proper diligence to his studies, and being favored with a
genius somewhat better than common, has made a progress in his
learning answerable to his industry. He will be found upon examination
to be pretty well acquainted with Virgil, Tully, and Horace. He is
likewise able to construe any part of the Greek Testament. He parses
and makes Latin rather better than common. He has been through the
twelve first books of Homer, but, as 't is more than a year since he
recited that author, am afraid he has lost the greater part of what he
then understood pretty well. In Arithmetic, vulgar and decimal, he is
well versed. I have likewise taught him Trigonometry, Altimetry,
Longimetry, Navigation, Surveying, Dialing, and Gauging. He has been
through Martin's 'Philosophical Grammar' twice,--the greater part of
which he understands very well. He has likewise studied Whiston's
'Astronomy,' all except the calculations, which he doth not
understand. He is likewise pretty well acquainted with Geography and
the use of the globes. He went through Watts' 'Logic' last winter, but
having no taste for that study, or rather an aversion to it, he is not
so well skilled in that as in some other parts of learning. About a
year ago he went through so much of rhetoric as is contained in the
'Preceptor,' but suppose he has forgot the most of it. Upon the whole,
though he may not, perhaps, be so well versed in some parts of
learning as the class which he proposes to enter, yet if he applies
himself to his studies with proper diligence, he will be rather an
honor than a disgrace to any college where he shall be graduated. I
ought in justice to him to add, that he is an orderly, well-behaved
youth, and has conducted so well in my school ever since he has been
with me that I have never had the least difference with him on any
account whatever.
"I am, reverend sir, with much esteem,
"Your most humble servant,
"Nathan Tisdale.
"P. S. I have another pupil whom I shall offer for admission into your
college at the end of the vacancy [vacation], if I can fit him by that
time."
* * * * *
A portion of a letter from a somewhat distinguished clergyman and
teacher, Rev. Simeon Williams, of Windham, N. H., introducing several
prominent members of the class of 1774, is worthy of notice here,
although written in 1772. In connection with the reply, it throws
additional light upon the first prescribed course of study at
Dartmouth. After expressions indicating confidence that President
Wheelock will attend, faithfully, to the welfare of the young men, the
language is as follows:
"When they first came to my school they had read enough of Virgil and
the lower Latin classics, together with a sufficient knowledge of the
Greek Testament, to enable them to pass into any of the colleges as
Freshmen. But when their fathers informed me that they intended their
residence only for two years, and that they expected, if they were
under my care, I would qualify them in all the parts of the Freshman
and Sophomore years, so as they might with honor and ability enter the
Junior class, with mature deliberation, I undertook the arduous task.
The first year I confined their studies to Virgil, Cicero's
'Orations,' together with their improvement in Geography, Rhetoric,
and occasional declamations, etc. This second year they have been
reading Homer and Horace, Cicero de Oratore, and a part of Xenophon. I
have also carefully instructed them in all the four parts of Logic
from Doctor Finlay's 'Latin Compend,' expounding the same by familiar
lectures, for the most part extracted from Mr. Locke and Doctor Watts.
There is one kind of study which this last year they have been much
employed in,--I mean double translation,--their improvement therein
will appear to you by casting your eye on their various manuscripts. I
would observe to you that I have not introduced them to the knowledge
of mathematical learning, knowing it is most usual in colleges to put
them to those studies in the Junior year."
In reply President Wheelock says: "We have examined the youth you
sent, and find them deficient in several parts of learning which the
[Junior] class have made some proficiency in, viz., Mathematics,
Geography, and parsing Greek. They have studied Tullie de Oratore, and
Xenophon, and some in Homer, more than that class have done. On the
whole I have concluded to take them into that class, only with this
condition, that they recite those things in which they are deficient
with the Sophomore class while their own class recite other parts in
which they exceed them." The studies of the Senior year do not appear
to have differed materially from those of other colleges, of that
period. Jonathan Edwards was a favorite author in metaphysics and
theology.
President Wheelock in his "Narrative," for 1771, gives the following
lucid statement of the policy and aims of the school and college: "It
is earnestly recommended to the students both in college and school,
"1. That all the English students in the college and school treat the
Indian children with care, tenderness and kindness, as younger
brethren, and as may be most conducive to the great ends proposed.
"2. That they turn the course of their diversions and exercises for
their health to the practice of some manual arts, or cultivation of
gardens, and other lands, at the proper hours of leisure and
intermission from study and vacancies in the college and school.
"3. That no English scholar, whether supported by charity or
otherwise, shall, at any time, speak diminutively of the practice of
labor, or by any means cast contempt upon it, or by word or action
endeavor to discredit or discourage the same, on penalty of his being
obliged, at the discretion of the president or tutor, to perform the
same or the equivalent to that which he attempted to discredit; or
else (if he be not a charity scholar) to hire the same done by others,
or, in case of refusal and obstinacy in this offense, that he be
dismissed from college, and denied all the privileges and honors of
it.
"4. That no scholar shall be employed in labor in the hours of study,
or so as to interrupt him in his studies, unless upon special
emergencies, and with liberty from the president or a tutor.
"5. That accounts be faithfully kept of all the labor so done by them,
either for the procuring provisions for the support of the college and
school, or that which shall be for real and lasting advantage to this
institution; and such accounts shall be properly audited, and a record
kept of the same for the benefit of such scholars, if they should be
called by the providence of God to withdraw from their purpose of
serving as missionaries in the wilderness, or to leave the service
before they have reasonably compensated the expense of their
education.
"6. That such as are not charity scholars, but pay for their
education, may have liberty to labor for the benefit of the
institution at such times as are assigned to charity scholars, and the
just value of their labor be accounted towards the expense of their
support.
"7. That no Freshman shall be taken off, or prevented labor, by any
errand for an under-graduate, without liberty obtained from the
president or a tutor.
"_N. B._ Occasional errands and services for the college and school
are not designed to be accounted, nor their procuring fuel for their
fires, and things equivalent for their own and their chamber's use in
particular, nor anything which shall not be of real or lasting benefit
for the whole, unless in cases where they are incapacitated for labor,
and yet are able to perform such errands for or in the room of those
who can and do labor in their stead.
"Lastly. That this Indian Charity School, connected with Dartmouth
College, be constantly hereafter and forever called and known by the
name of 'Moor's School.'
"Moreover poor youth, who shall seek an education here, at their own
expense, may not only have the advantage of paying any part of that by
turning their necessary diversions to manual labor, but also, as all
that will be paid by such as support themselves will be disposed of
for the support of the Indian, or other charity scholars, therefore,
whatever clothing or provisions shall be necessary for the school will
be good pay at a reasonable price.
"His Excellency Governor Wentworth, among many other expressions of
his care and zeal to preserve the purity and secure the well-being of
this seminary against such evils as have been the ruin of, or at least
have a very threatening aspect upon others which have come within his
knowledge, has insisted upon it as a condition of location, to which
all the trustees have cheerfully subscribed, that wherever it should
be fixed, there should be a society of at least three miles square,
which should be under the jurisdiction of the college, that thereby
unwholesome inhabitants may be prevented settling, and all hurtful or
dangerous connections with them, or practices among them may be
seasonably discovered and prevented in a legal way.[28]
[28] The town of Hanover, at three different times within the next
twenty-five years, by their vote sanctioned this
incorporation of the "College District." But the plan was
never favorably regarded, apparently, by the New Hampshire
Legislature.
"As this institution is primarily designed to christianize the
heathen, that is, to form the minds and manners of their children to
the rules of religion and virtue; and to educate pious youth of the
English to bear the Redeemer's name among them in the wilderness; and
secondarily to educate meet persons for the sacred work of the
ministry, in the churches of Christ among the English; so it is of the
last and very special importance, that all who shall be admitted here
in any capacity, and especially for an education, be of sober,
blameless and religious behavior, that neither Indian children nor
others may be in danger of infection by examples which are not
suitable for their imitation. And accordingly I think it proper to let
the world know there is no encouragement given that such as are vain,
idle, trifling, flesh-pleasing, or such as are on any account vicious
or immoral, will be admitted here; or, if such should by disguising
themselves obtain admittance, that they will not be allowed to
continue members after they are known to be such; nor will it be well
taken, if, on any pretense whatever, any shall attempt to introduce or
impose any youth upon this seminary, whose character shall be
incongruous to, and militates against, the highest, chiefest, and
dearest interests of the first objects of it.
"And it is my purpose, by the grace of God, to leave nothing undone,
within my power, which is suitable to be done, that this school of the
prophets may be and long continue to be a pure fountain.
"And I do with all my heart will this my purpose to all my successors
in the presidency of this seminary, to the latest posterity; and it is
my last will never to be revoked, and to God I commit it, and my only
hope and confidence for the execution of it is in Him alone, who has
already done great things for it and does still own it as his cause;
and blessed be his name that every present member of it, as well as
great numbers abroad, I trust, do join their hearty Amen with me."
CHAPTER IX.
PROGRESS TO THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT WHEELOCK.--PROMINENT FEATURES OF
HIS CHARACTER.
The foundations being completed, the superstructure now claims our
attention. We give somewhat full details of affairs during the opening
years. The following is an extract from a letter from Mr. M'Clare to
his early friend, General Knox, dated at Hanover, March 20, 1771:
"The winter has been very moderate and the heavens clear and serene.
The situation is much more agreeable than I imagined it would be last
fall, before I set out from Connecticut. The number of the students in
the college and school is about thirty. I have at present the care of
the Grammar School, and I find no small pleasure in 'teaching the
young idea how to shoot.' Heaven has remarkably smiled upon the
generous and pious design of the Reverend Doctor, and supported it
amidst numberless difficulties and embarrassments, and it affords a
prospect of being in time a great and extensive blessing to this part
of the world and to the tawny inhabitants of our continent."
The first Commencement, in August, 1771, attracted a large audience,
including many from a distance, among them Governor Wentworth. Dr.
Langdon had previously manifested his deep interest in the college by
a personal visit.
In his "Narrative," for the period from May, 1771, to September, 1772,
President Wheelock says:
"I have now finished (so far as to render comfortable and decent) the
building to accommodate my students, of eighty by thirty-two feet, and
have done it in the plainest and cheapest manner, which furnishes
sixteen comfortable rooms, besides a kitchen, hall, and store-room. I
have also built a saw-mill and grist-mill, which appear to be well
done, and are the property of the school, and will likely afford a
pretty annual income to it. I have also built two barns, one of
twenty-eight by thirty-two feet, the other of fifty-five by forty, and
fifteen feet post. I have also raised, and expect to finish, within a
few days, a malt-house of thirty feet square, and several other lesser
buildings which were found necessary. I have cleared, and in a good
measure fitted for improvement, about seventy or eighty acres of land,
and seeded with English grain about twenty acres, from which I have
taken at the late harvest, what was esteemed a good crop, considering
the land was so lately laid open to the sun. I have cut what is judged
to be equal to fourteen or fifteen tons of good hay, which I stacked,
by which the expense of supporting a team and cows the ensuing winter
may be considerably lessened. I have also about eighteen acres of
Indian corn now on the ground, which promises a good crop. My laborers
are preparing more lands for improvement; some to sow with English
grain this fall, and others for pasturing, which sad experience has
taught me the necessity of, as I have suffered much by being
disappointed of this benefit, through the negligence of a number, who
subscribed labor to encourage the settlement of the school in this
place, and, in excuse for their not being as punctual in performing as
they appeared liberal in subscribing, plead their poverty and the
necessities of their families in their new beginnings in this
wilderness.
"I hope through the blessing of God, even the ensuing year, we shall
find that near sufficient has been raised on these lands to supply the
school with bread, which will be a great relief not only as to the
expense, but as to care and fatigue in procuring it; as the greatest
and cheapest part of the support of my family has been transported
above an hundred, and much of it near two hundred miles through new
and bad roads; which has made the expense of some articles equal to
the first cost, and many of them much more. The cheapest fodder I had
the last winter to support my team and a few cows was brought forty
miles on sleds by oxen.
"It is not easy for one who is not acquainted with the affair of
building and settling in such a wilderness to conceive of the many
difficulties, fatigues, and extraordinary expenses attending it; nor
does it make the burden at all less, if there are numbers settling
within a few miles, who are poor and needy, and so far from having
ability to contribute their assistance to others, as to stand in
constant need of help themselves.
"The number of my students belonging to the college and school has
been from forty to fifty, of which from five to nine have been
Indians. The English youth on charity are all fitting for
missionaries, if God in his providence shall open a door for their
serving him in that capacity, and they have been about twenty.
"My students have been universally well engaged in their studies, and
a number of independent as well as charity scholars, have only by
turning a necessary diversion to agreeable manual labor, done much to
lessen the expense of their education the last year."
In an appendix to this "Narrative," dated September 26, 1772, after
referring to a prospect of obtaining sons of some of the Caghnawaga
chiefs, President Wheelock says: "One was a descendant from the Rev.
Mr. Williams, who was captivated from Deerfield in 1704. Another was a
descendant from Mr. Tarbell, who was captivated from Groton [in 1707],
who is now a hearty and active man, and the eldest chief, and chief
speaker of the tribe. The other was son to Mr. Stacey, who was
captivated from Ipswich, and is a good interpreter for that tribe."
In view of all the facts within our knowledge, it seems more than
possible that the influence of these and other captives, now venerable
with age, upon their red brethren, on the one hand, and dim but
precious memories of their own childhood, on the other, had aided
materially in determining the location of the college. The patronage
of the Canadian tribes was President Wheelock's main reliance for
Indian students after his removal to Hanover.
In regard to the missionaries sent out by President Wheelock at this
period, his biographer says: "Some went into the Mohawk and Oneida
country, others to the Indians upon the Muskingum, and several to the
tribes within the bounds of Canada. They found the Indians, the
Oneidas excepted, universally opposed to them."[29]
[29] Memoirs of Wheelock, p. 63.
Perhaps it will be safe to make a slight abatement from the somewhat
sweeping statement which closes this quotation.
In his "Narrative" for the period between September, 1772, and
September, 1773, President Wheelock says: "My crops were considerably
shortened the last year, by an uncommon rain at the beginning of
harvest, and by an untimely frost, yet the benefit of that which is
saved is very sensible. I have this year cut about double the quantity
of hay which I cut last year, namely, about thirty tons. I have reaped
about twenty acres of English grain, which crop appeared to be very
heavy before harvest, and proved too much so, as a considerable part
of it fell down of its own weight before maturity; however, though it
be much less than the prospect was, it is a very considerable relief.
I have about twenty acres of Indian corn on the ground, which,
considering the newness and imperfect tillage of the land, promises a
considerable crop.
"I have cleared sufficient for pasturing, _i. e._ have cut and girdled
all the growth upon five hundred acres, and a part of it have sowed
with hay-seed; the rest I expect will be ready to receive the seed as
soon as it shall be dry enough to burn the trash upon it in the
spring. The soil is generally good, and I hope the school will
experience the benefit of it in due time. I have inclosed with a fence
about two thousand acres of this wilderness, that I might be able to
restrain oxen, cows, horses, etc., from rambling beyond my reach.
"I have seven yoke of oxen and about twenty cows, all the property and
employed in the service of the school. The number of my laborers for
six months past has generally been from thirty to forty, besides those
employed at the mills, in the kitchen, wash-house, etc. The number of
my students, dependent and independent, the last year was about
eighty. A little more than three years ago there was nothing to be
seen here but a horrid wilderness; now there are eleven comfortable
dwelling-houses (beside the large one I built for my students), built
by tradesmen and such as have settled in some connection with, and
have been admitted for the benefit of, this school, and all within
sixty rods of the college. By this means the necessities of this
school have been relieved in part as to room for my students. Yet the
present necessity of another and larger building appears to be such
that the growth of this seminary must necessarily be stinted without
it.
"When I think of the great weight of present expense for the support
of sixteen or seventeen Indian boys, which has been my number all the
last year, and as many English youth on charity, eight in the
wilderness who depend upon their support wholly from this quarter,
which has been the case a considerable part of this year, such a
number of laborers, and under necessity to build a house for myself
(as the house I have lived in was planned for a store-house, and must
be used for that purpose) and expense for three and sometimes four
tutors, which has been the least number that would suffice for well
instructing my students, I have sometimes found faintness of heart.
But I have always made it my practice not to exceed what my own
private interest [property] will pay, in case I should be brought to
that necessity to do my creditors justice."
In his "Narrative" for the period between September, 1773, and
February, 1775, President Wheelock says: "The number of Indians in
this school since my last 'Narrative,' has been from sixteen to
twenty-one, and the whole number of charity or dependent scholars
about thirty." The whole number of students was now about one hundred.
"The progress of husbandry on this farm, the last year, has not been
equal in every respect to my hope, the season proving so wet as not to
favor some branches of it. However, the progress of it and the benefit
by it, have been very considerable. I have raised and reaped upon the
school land, the last year, about three hundred bushels of choice
wheat, but the crop of Indian corn fell much short of my expectations,
being but about two hundred and fifty bushels. I have cut sixty tons
of hay the last season, and have a prospect of a very considerable
addition to that quantity the next, if Providence shall favor it.
"I have begun to prepare and have a prospect that I shall be able to
fit about sixty acres of new land to sow with wheat the next season. I
have improved about twelve or fourteen oxen, and about twenty cows,
the property of the school, and have a prospect of plenty for their
support for summer and winter, and I find already the great benefit of
having wherewith to do it this winter without the fatigue and expense
of going forty miles for it, as I have been forced to do till this
year."
He also refers to important agricultural operations, and the erection
of buildings at Landaff--Governor Wentworth's first choice as a
location for the college--and preparations for a new college edifice.
To Messrs. Savage and Keen, he writes, October 24, 1775: "The progress
of the great design under my hand has been as rapid since resources
from your side the water have been suspended as ever. Every day turns
out some new wonder of Divine favor towards it. I have this day been
out to see my laborers who have near finished sowing one hundred and
ten acres of wheat and rye, but mostly of wheat, one hundred acres of
it on new land. No providences, however calamitous to others, not even
our present public distresses, but seem as though they were calculated
to favor this design. God gives me all I ask for, and He is a
prayer-hearing God."
We are indebted to the present librarian of the college[30] for the
following interesting facts relating to this period:
[30] Professor C. W. Scott.
"The library of Dartmouth College may be considered as older than the
college itself, as it had its origin in the 'Indian Charity School,'
and existed as a handful of books before the granting of the college
Charter. These books are found principally among the theological
works, in folio volumes, with Latin texts or notes, and uninviting
type. Received as they were more than a hundred years ago, they were
then publications of the preceding century; and they would hardly find
their way into the library to-day, if admitted upon the demand of
readers, yet in their bindings and worn leaves they show that by some
one they were thoroughly used. A copy of 'Lightfoot's Harmony of the
New Testament,' under date of June, 1764, has written across a leaf:
'Received from the Rev. Dr. Gifford, of London, sundry second-hand
books given by poor persons to the Indian Charity School in Lebanon,
of which this is one.' Marks on other volumes show that Dr. Gifford
was a contributor as well as a collector. Edinburgh, too [through Dr.
Erskine], sent its offering of books, and as the struggling school
came to be better known in England, through the commissioners sent to
solicit aid, and through other sources, such gifts probably became not
infrequent. The early history and intentions of the college were such
as to particularly interest clergymen, and in proportion to their
means they were doubtless the most generous givers of books. Their
names written across fly-leaves show that many volumes, in different
parts of New England, did service in their studies before finding a
place in the college library. One of the most noteworthy of such
benefactors was Rev. Diodate Johnson, of Millington, Conn., who,
besides other gifts, in 1773 bestowed his entire library."
Nearly at the same period with Mr. Johnson's donation, Hon. John
Phillips, of Exeter, made a handsome donation, for a philosophical
apparatus. The subsequent appropriation of the money, for another
purpose, compelled the college to dispense with this useful furniture
for a considerable period.
The commencement of the Revolutionary struggle soon proved a serious
embarrassment to President Wheelock: "The din of war drowned the
feeble voice of science; men turned away from this 'school of the
prophets' to hear tidings from the camp." But the heroic founder stood
manfully at his post, faithfully performing his duty, with only brief
interruptions, until, in the midst of that great conflict which made
us a nation, he was called to his reward. He died, after a lingering
illness, at Hanover, on the 24th of April, 1779. His first wife, Mrs.
Sarah (Davenport) Maltby Wheelock, of the distinguished John Davenport
family, died in Connecticut. His second wife, Mrs. Mary (Brinsmead)
Wheelock, was spared to minister to the last earthly wants of her
revered companion.
President Wheelock lived to see his earnest efforts to promote sound
learning crowned with a good measure of success.
The graduates of this period attained such eminence, in nearly all
the paths of professional usefulness, as to indicate most plainly that
they had laid good foundations in college. They were honored as
teachers, as divines, and as legislators. The condition of the college
and the country gave them abundant opportunities for appreciating the
inscription on the armor of the Dartmouth family: "Gaudet tentamine
virtus."
Instead of burning the "midnight oil" of the modern student, they kept
the midnight watch against savage foes, at least at certain periods.
To us, this all looks like romance. To them, it was stern reality.
In a fitting tribute to President Wheelock,[31] Rev. Dr. Allen says:
[31] Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit.
"If it should be asked what success attended the efforts of Dr.
Wheelock to communicate the gospel to the Indian nations, it may be
replied that he accomplished something for their benefit, and that
great and insuperable obstacles in the providence of God prevented him
from accomplishing more. It was soon after he sent out missionaries
into the wilderness, that the controversy with Great Britain blighted
his fair and encouraging prospects. During the last four years of his
life there was actual war, in which many of the Indian tribes acted
with the enemy. Yet the Oneidas, to whom Mr. Kirkland was sent as a
missionary, kept the hatchet buried during the whole Revolutionary
struggle, and by means of this mission, probably, were a multitude of
frontier settlements saved from the tomahawk and the scalping-knife.
But even if nothing had been accomplished for the benefit of the
Indians, yet the zeal which chiefly sought their good, reared up a
venerable institution of science, in which many strong minds have been
disciplined and made to grow stronger, and nerved for professional
toils and public labors, and in which hundreds of ministers have been
nurtured for the church of Christ.
"For enlarged views and indomitable energy, and persevering and most
arduous toils, and for the great results of his labors in the cause of
religion and learning, Dr. Wheelock must ever be held in high honor.
He early placed one great object before him, and that object held
his undivided attention for nearly half a century. It is not
easy to describe the variety of his cares and the extent of his
toils. When he removed to Hanover his labors were doubled. The two
institutions--the school and the college--were ever kept distinct; in
both he was a teacher; of both he was the chief governor. He was also
the preacher of the college and village. In the government of his
school and college, Dr. Wheelock combined great patience and kindness
with the energy of proper and indispensable discipline. He was of a
cheerful and pleasant temper and manifested much urbanity in his
deportment."
This clear and forcible language has additional weight when we
consider, that, during nearly the whole period of his administration,
he had only the aid of tutors, with no other professor.
President Wheelock's usefulness in the great field of education was
not confined to the sons of the forest, during his residence in
Connecticut. He sought out John Smalley, the son of one of his
parishioners, in his humble home, prepared him for college, and
thereby gave him the primary impulse and aid, without which one of New
England's ablest theologians, and the teacher of others of widely
extended influence, might have remained in life-long retirement. He
took Samuel Kirkland, the son of a worthy but indigent brother in the
ministry, and, to use his own language, "carried him" in his arms,
till he had completed a thorough preparation for the ministry, and
finally furnished him a wife from his own kindred and his own
household. His distinguished beneficiary, beside all his other labors,
laid the foundation of Hamilton College, and gave to Harvard the
president of its "Augustan age," his son, John Thornton Kirkland. He
left the impress of his intellectual and religious character upon his
pupil, Benjamin Trumbull, the records of whose life give him a
conspicuous place among the earnest preachers and careful historians
of his day. The valuable influence of others of his early pupils will
be felt in ever extending circles, down to "the last syllable of
recorded time."
There was no need that Eleazar Wheelock should found a college at that
advanced period of life when men naturally seek a measure of repose,
in order to secure for his name an honorable position in the long and
brilliant catalogue of American educators. The crowning act of his
life, in the mellowed maturity of age, was scarcely more or less than
the logical, inevitable result of what preceded it.
The scope of our work does not permit any extended eulogy of President
Wheelock, nor any thorough analysis of his character. With a brief
reference to some leading points, we must close the record.
He was eminent as a scholar. The constantly recurring and ever
pressing duties of earnest and varied professional life, left him
little leisure for indulging in the luxuries of mere æsthetic culture;
but his active mind ranged widely through the realms of ancient and
modern thought, and freely appropriated of the richest of their
treasures.
He was eminent as an orator. His eloquence was not graced with the
well-rounded periods of a Burke, or a Webster; but in many a village
and hamlet, the burning words which fell from his lips stirred the
hearts of men to their profoundest depths.
He was eminent as a teacher. Through life he gladly embraced every
opportunity of opening the treasuries of knowledge to his fellow-men;
and many who sat under his instruction were thereby laid under large
obligations, although, in the rude halls of the infant college, he was
always more or less embarrassed by the cares of business and the
infirmities of advancing years.
He was eminent in affairs. He raised funds; procured corporate
franchises and safeguards; leveled forests, and reared edifices in the
face of apathy, opposition, and rivalry, with a fertility of resources
in planning, and an energy in executing, which won the admiration of
contemporaries in both hemispheres.
He was eminent as a patriot. When his faithful friend, the last Royal
Governor of New Hampshire, upon whom through years of toil and trial
he had leaned as upon a strong staff, abandoned his office, and
resolutely adhered to his Sovereign, and many others to whom he was
strongly attached, arrayed themselves on the same side, he as
resolutely espoused the cause of American Independence, and labored to
the extent of his ability for its accomplishment.
But neither the scholar, nor the orator, nor the teacher, nor the man
of affairs, nor the patriot, nor all combined, would have secured to
any man that conspicuous position upon the page of history which the
leading founder of Dartmouth College will occupy, so long as solid
worth and successful achievement shall command the attention of the
discriminating, thoughtful reader.
Religion was the mainspring of his entire life, the real source of all
his success. Without it, he might have been honored of men; with it,
he was honored of God. Encircling all the separate parts of his
character, like a golden chain, it bound them in one grand, beautiful,
harmonious whole.
In the hallowed seclusion of that thrice-honored valley, where
Jonathan Edwards was born and Thomas Hooker died,--on the western
verge of that modest plain, where his long and fruitful life bore its
latest, richest fruit,--his precious dust will slumber "till the
heavens be no more," and not till then will the Christian scholar, who
lingers among the hills of central New England, cease to pay his
devotions at the grave of
Eleazar Wheelock.
CHAPTER X.
PROGRESS DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SECOND PRESIDENT, JOHN
WHEELOCK.
The first President of the College, availing himself of a provision in
the Charter, named three persons in his will, some one of whom he
desired should be his successor in the office. These were his son, Mr.
John Wheelock, Rev. Joseph Huntington, of Coventry, Conn., and Prof.
Sylvanus Ripley. Mr. Wheelock, although a young man, in response to
the somewhat earnest solicitation of the Trustees, after mature
deliberation decided to accept the position. His son-in-law, Rev. Dr.
Allen, gives the leading points in his earlier life in the following
language:
"He was born [a son by the father's second marriage] at Lebanon,
Conn., January 28, 1754, and graduated in Dartmouth's first class, in
1771. In 1772, he was appointed a tutor, and was devoted to the
business of instruction until the beginning of the Revolution. In
1775, he was a member of the [N. H.] Assembly. In the spring of 1777,
he was appointed a Major in the service of New York, and in November,
a Lieutenant-colonel in the Continental army under Colonel Bedel. In
1778 he marched a detachment from Coos to Albany. By direction of
Stark he conducted an expedition into the Indian country. At the
request of General Gates, he entered his family, and continued with
him, until he was recalled to Hanover by the death of his father, in
1779."
The following pages, extracted from the "Sketches of the History of
Dartmouth College and Moor's Charity School," prepared and published
under President Wheelock's sanction, are deemed worthy of insertion in
this connection.
"The founder and first president spent nine years in planting
and raising up a new society, in converting forests into
fields,--supporting many youths on charity. Persevering through
difficulties, without any stipend for his labors, the seminary grew in
vital strength;--but destitute of patronage in America, its resources
in Europe mostly expended, and the residue wholly obstructed, beset
with calamities by the troubles and disasters of the Revolutionary
War, it was reduced, in childhood, to nakedness and want, in the year
1779. Soon after the treasurer, making an estimate of the demands upon
it, pronounced that all the property of the corporation, if sold at
vendue, would not be sufficient to cancel its debts. Under these
clouds, the successor of the founder came into office, with a humble
sense of his duty, and a belief that God, who had protected and
sustained the seminary in floods of trouble, would relieve and build
it up. He solicited benefactions abroad for support of the charity
youths of the school in 1780, 1781, and 1782.
"In the latter part of that year Dr. Wheelock, the president, set off
for Europe. The Institution and his design were known, and sanctioned
by very ample recommendations, unnecessary to be inserted here,
issuing from the highest sources in America--from the President and a
great majority of the members of Congress, in their official
characters;--it ought to be recorded--from the Father of his Country,
George Washington, who well knew Dr. Wheelock, while an officer in the
Revolutionary War, and honored him with his particular notice and
friendship; from many of the most celebrated generals of the army, and
Governors of the different states, with introductory letters from the
Chevalier de Luzerne, minister plenipotentiary from the court of
Versailles, to Count de Vergennes, prime minister of France, from the
Secretary of the United States, and other eminent characters to
different parts of Europe.
"After some weeks spent in France, Dr. Wheelock, receiving
introductory and friendly letters to Mr. Dumas, the American _Chargé
d'Affaires_, and others in Holland, from Dr. Franklin, and John Adams,
proceeded to the Netherlands. A considerable sum was obtained in the
Netherlands; but we omit a particular account of the respectful
treatment and generous benefactions he received from the Prince of
Orange and others high in office.
"Thence he embarked for Great Britain, partly with a view, much
lessened by the public feelings from the Revolution in America, to
obtain some new aids; but chiefly to reclaim and negotiate for the
fund in Scotland, belonging to the school. It had been barred from
before the death of his predecessor, whose bills were protested, and
still lay with their charges unredeemed, besides large accounts for
the support of Indian youths, without the means of payment, unless by
exhausting the residue of the property of the college. He traveled
from Poole to London, where he paid his first and grateful respects to
the Earl of Dartmouth, Mr. John Thornton and others, who, being
formerly of the Board of Trust, had been in friendly relations with
the founder, and patronized and cherished the seminary, in the
jeopardies of its infancy. With his eyes invariably on the object, by
an introductory letter from Dr. Macclion, to Ralph Griffith, Esq., LL.
D., he obtained friendly access to Mr. Straghn, member of parliament
and the king's printer, and became acquainted with his son-in-law, Mr.
Spotswood. This respected gentleman, largely connected, and concerned
in the agencies of Scotland, took a benevolent and decisive part in
consulting, and adopting measures to restore the fund, at Edinburgh,
in the care of the Society, to its primitive channel. Communications
were opened--the bills were paid; and the way prepared for future
negotiations, till the Society were convinced of the justice of the
claim. The money has since been applied to the support of the school
in its original design; and arrearages of interest remitted to the
president to cancel the debts overwhelming the seminary. He, also,
while in England, as on the continent, procured some coins and
articles appreciated by the _virtuosi_. By the benevolence of Paul
Wentworth, Esq., Doctor Rose, and other friends to the college, some
valuable philosophical instruments were obtained, and others promised,
the making of which the two former kindly engaged to superintend, and
forward the whole, so soon as completed, to America. A way, besides,
was preparing to provide natural curiosities for a museum. Those
instruments, with their additions, well constructed, forming an
apparatus sufficient for all the more important experiments and
observations in Natural Philosophy, afterwards arrived; and at the
same time a curious and valuable collection of stones and fossils from
India, and different parts of Europe, for the museums from the
beneficent Mr. Forsythe, keeper of the king's gardens, at Kensington.
All these with costs of transportation, were gifts received at the
college, by the Trustees. Only a word more; a large and elegant gold
medal was presented by Mr. Clyde of London, to Dr. Wheelock, in his
official character. It is wholly irrelevant to our purpose, and
needless to speak of the personal civilities and friendly notices of
Lord Rawden, by whose goodness he was introduced at the House of
Lords, of Sir John Wentworth, Sir J. Blois, Dr. Price, and others,
besides those before mentioned.
"Within three months after the President's return (in 1784) the Board
of Trustees convened and resolved, if sufficient means could be
obtained, to erect an edifice of about one hundred and fifty by fifty
feet, three stories in height, for the college, with convenient
accommodations for the members. The president, professors, and some of
the Trustees in the vicinity, were requested by the Board to solicit
subscriptions for the purpose. They depended on Dr. Wheelock's
exertions, he cheerfully undertook. By his arrangement and exertions,
in that and the following year 1785, and by his agents, near fifteen
thousand dollars were given but mostly subscribed to be paid, and
chiefly by responsible men in different places. The subscriptions and
payments were all put into the hands of the contractor. He commenced
and carried on the building. But in 1786 he was unable to procure
supplies and nothing but an immediate cessation of the business
appeared. Dr. Wheelock afforded relief, by furnishing the joiners,
about twenty in number, with sustenance through the season, and aiding
in the collection of materials. In the succeeding years, the
subscriptions and means in the hands of the contractor being
exhausted, he procured by bills on Mrs. Wheelock's agent in the West
Indies, and by a residue remitted from Holland and in other ways by
his friends abroad, and his own donation of $333.00, all the glass,
the nails, the vane and spire and other articles and some pay towards
the labor. A bell he had by solicitation obtained before. By the
seventh year from the beginning of its foundation, the edifice
[Dartmouth Hall] was finished, and well prepared for the reception of
the students. We will now return to trace another chain of operation.
"Dr. Wheelock, though not at the particular request of the Board,
attended the Legislature of Vermont, June 14, 1785. He solicited; and
they made a grant of a township [Wheelock], 23,040 acres, one half to
the college and the other half to the school, to be free from all
public taxes forever. As soon as practical he procured a survey,
obtained a charter, and made calculations for its settlement. Families
rapidly moved in, till near the number of one hundred. He disposed of
a large part of the tract in small portions on long leases. A few
years rent free, the annual product has been to the college and
school, each, six hundred dollars.
"We now turn to the State of New Hampshire. Dr. Wheelock had applied,
by the desire of the Board, to the General Court for a lottery, and
obtained it; but from unexpected events not answering the purpose,
they requested him in 1787 to present a memorial to the Legislature
for another lottery under different modifications. Professor Woodward
attended as agent--the design was effected, and the avails received by
the Board.
"The pressure of demands on the college induced him to apply and
attend the Legislature, in the month of January, 1739, for the charter
of a tract of land on Connecticut river and near the northern confine
of the State. A committee was appointed; occasional discussions arose
for several days; the matter was finally brought before the House. The
Senate and House of Representatives passed an act granting to the
Trustees of Dartmouth College a valuable tract of eight miles square,
about 42,000 acres adjoining north of Stewarts town. [Ebenezer Webster
was the chairman of the Legislative committee recommending this
grant.] The forcible and energetic eloquence of General Sullivan, that
eminent commander in the Revolutionary War, in the debate on this
subject cannot be forgotten. It drew him from his bed, amidst the
first attacks of fatal disease--and it was the last speech which he
ever made in public. This interesting grant scattered the clouds just
bursting on the institution. It was now harrassed with heavy debts of
an early standing in its losses at Landaff, which amounted to $30,000.
"At the time of obtaining the above grant, Dr. Wheelock also
negotiated to recover the donation of $583, made by Dr. John Phillips,
in 1772 [for a philosophical apparatus], to the college, and deposited
in the hands of Governor Wentworth, which, after he left the country
was considered, from his circumstances, as wholly lost. But Dr.
Wheelock adopted measures and secured an account of the same and
interest out of confiscated property $1,203, in notes and
certificates, which he received of the Treasurer of the State, for the
Trustees. He also received, about that period, $125, committed to his
agency by the same great benefactor, in a particular conference to
transact with the Board, said sum to be given in his name to them;
only on the express condition, that they would agree to sequester with
it his gift of about 4,000 acres of land by deed to them in 1781, as
an accumulating fund for the express purpose of supporting a professor
of Theology. They accepted the gift and sequestered the property on
the terms of the donor.
"The president had taken into his own hands, at the desire of the
Board, the management of the finances and external interest of the
college, and continued to conduct, and regulate them, for five years,
through its difficult and trying scenes. Having, besides what has been
mentioned, among other arrangements, leased a number of lots
permanently productive, secured the appropriation of several valuable
tracts, in the vicinity of the college, to the use of professorships,
and provided relief by obtaining the means to free the seminary from
its weight of debts, he resigned to the Board, in August following,
the particular charge of the finances, except retaining in trust the
disposal of the college moiety of the township in Vermont till a few
years after, when he had completed the proposed object of settling and
leasing the same.
"The next year, 1790, there being no proper place for the public
religious and literary exercises of the members of the seminary, the
apartment of the old building falling into decay and ruin, he
undertook, made arrangements, provided the means, and erected by
contract, in five months, a chapel, near the new college edifice. It
is fifty feet by thirty-six, of two stories height, arched within and
completely finished, and painted without--convenient, and well adapted
to the objects proposed.
"He caused a new building [for Moor's School] to be erected and
finished, with a yard, in 1791--two stories high, the lower apartment
convenient to accommodate near a hundred youths. The school was
improved in the order and regulation of its members under the
distinguished talents and fidelity of their instructor Mr. [Josiah]
Dunham, the present Secretary of Vermont. At the request of the
Society three years after it was visited by a committee of their
Boston commissioners charged with the solution of a number of queries
in regard to its state, relations, and property. Their favorable
report was transmitted to Scotland.
"Of the large debts accumulated for the support of the school, in the
latter years of the first president, to discharge the most pressing
part, the Trustees had consented to the disposal of lands and property
in their hands, hoping that the amount would be replaced. The
advances, thus made, the president considered himself as holden in
justice to refund; and accordingly paid them for the college, in the
year 1793, $4,000, besides some items of small amount before. [Lands
also appear to have been sold to aid in building Dartmouth Hall.]
"The Rev. Israel Evans [of Concord] at that time was a member of the
Board. He had expressed more than once, in intimate conversation to
Dr. Wheelock, their friendship having been long cemented in scenes of
war and peace, his desire to do something for the good of mankind and
the institution. He finally remarked, that he had made up his mind to
sequester a portion of his property as the foundation for a
professorship of eloquence; which he knew would also be agreeable to
Mrs. Evans. Confined by sickness the succeeding year, at his earnest
request, by a special message, the Doctor paid him a visit. The latter
expressed in his family, his views and design; and receiving from the
former an assent to his wishes to insert his name as one of the
executors, proceeded in the full exercise of his mental faculties, to
complete his will. Besides his bequests otherwise, he gave of money in
the funds, and real estate, the amount of about $7,000, or upwards, in
reversion to the Trustees of Dartmouth College, after the death of his
wife, as a permanent fund for a professor of eloquence.
"About the same time, Dr. Wheelock attended the General Court, to open
the way for their favorable attention to the important objects of the
institution. Matters were in suspense till the next session in June
1807, when he again personally appeared before the Legislature. His
memorial was considered, committed, and after report an act was made,
granting to the Trustees of the college a township of the contents of
six miles square, to be laid out on the border of the District of
Maine, to the approbation of the Governor and Council. The land was
surveyed: mostly an excellent tract, watered by a branch of the river
Androscoggin running central through the whole, and near the northern
turnpike road--he waited on them with the plan, and obtained their
ratification in 1808."
The grant of Landaff to the college had great weight with President
Wheelock, in deciding upon a location. But after he had expended
several thousand dollars in improvements there, the title was found to
be defective, and prior grantees secured the whole. In view of this
loss, the State with commendable liberality made the above grants.
There seems to have been no material change in the policy of the
college, or the course of study, in the earlier years of this
administration.
The following items from the official records of the Trustees are
worthy of notice, the first bearing date, August, 1794:
"Voted that those Freshmen who wish to be excused from going errands
for other students be not obliged to go, and that those who do not go
such errands have not afterwards the privilege of sending Freshmen.
"Adjourned Meeting, February, 1796. No person shall be admitted into
the Freshman class unless he be versed in Virgil, Cicero's Select
Orations, the Greek Testament, be able accurately to translate English
into Latin, and also understands the fundamental rules of
Arithmetic."[32]
[32] Memoirs of Wheelock.
The following statement was published in 1811:
"The immediate instruction and government of the students is with the
president, who is also professor of civil and Ecclesiastical History,
a professor of the Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Oriental Languages, a
professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, a professor of
Divinity, and two tutors. The qualifications for admission into the
Freshman class are, a good moral character, a good acquaintance with
Virgil, Cicero's Select Orations, the Greek Testament, knowledge to
translate English into Latin, and an acquaintance with the fundamental
rules of Arithmetic. The members of the classes, in rotation, declaim
before the officers in the chapel every Wednesday, at two o'clock, P.
M.
"The Senior, Junior, and Sophomore classes, successively pronounce
such orations and other compositions, written by themselves, as the
president and professors shall direct, on the last Wednesday of
November, the second Wednesday of March, and the third Wednesday of
May. Tragedies, plays, and all irreligious expressions and sentiments
are sacredly prohibited.
"The Languages, the Arts, and Sciences are studied in the following
order: the Freshman Class study the Latin and Greek classics,
Arithmetic, English Grammar and Rhetoric. The Sophomore Class study
the Latin and Greek classics, Logic, Geography, Arithmetic, Geometry,
Trigonometry, Algebra, Conic Sections, Surveying, Belles-lettres and
Criticism. The Junior Class study the Latin and Greek classics,
Geometry, Natural and Moral Philosophy, and Astronomy. The Senior
Class read Metaphysics, Theology, and Natural and Political Law."
Chemistry was introduced at about this period. "The study of the
Hebrew and the other Oriental Languages, as also the French Language,
is recommended to the students. Every week some part of the classes
exhibits composition according to the direction of the authority. All
the classes are publicly examined at stated periods; those who are
found deficient lose their standing in the class. It is a fixed rule
that the idle and vicious shall not receive the honors of college.
"The punishments inflicted on offenders are admonition, suspension and
expulsion. The president attends morning and evening prayers with the
students in the chapel, and often delivers lectures to them on
ecclesiastical history, on the doctrines of the Christian religion, or
other important subjects. He hears the recitations of the Senior
class; his fund of general science renders this an interesting part of
collegiate life."
The librarian continues his statements as follows:
"While the library of the college was slowly increasing in numbers and
more slowly in value as measured by the wants of the students, there
were begun two other libraries, designed in the beginning as
supplements, but by their rapid increase and utility soon taking the
leading place. In 1783, was formed the society of under-graduates
known under the title of 'Social Friends' and the collection of a
library was begun. Three years later, by the secession of a part of
the members, the rival society of the 'United Fraternity' came into
existence. The aim of the societies was to furnish literary culture,
and their exercises and constitutions differed but little, while each
attempted to obtain more and better men, and collect a larger library,
than the other. It was provided in the constitution of the last formed
society, that each member should advance for the use of the library
twelve shillings lawful money.
"At a meeting during the next year the society voted to register its
books, which consisted of twenty-three volumes of magazines and
thirty-four other books, making with a few presented at the meeting a
library of sixty-three volumes. In 1790, the two societies subscribed
to what they termed 'articles of confederation,' in which it was
agreed that a case should be procured to contain their books, and that
each society should aid in the increase of the common library. For
this purpose each society was to advance from one to two dollars for
every member, the sum being largest for the lowest class and least for
the Senior class, and a committee was constituted with power to
settle all differences. But however strong the agreement between the
two parties it could not eliminate jealousy; neither were the
societies entirely free from internal dissensions. The records contain
accounts of 'conspiracies,' and attempts to destroy the societies,
accompanied by reports of committees, treating the subject with the
dignity of a danger to the State. One of these 'conspiracies' in 1793,
terminated in the destruction of nearly all the records of the 'Social
Friends' and almost caused the dissolution of the society. Much of the
strife between the societies was caused by the mode of securing
members, and though there were amendments intended to lessen this,
nothing like a settlement was made until 1815, when an order from the
officers of the college limited the membership of each society to one
half of the number in the different classes. It was probably this
question of membership that caused, in 1799, the division of the
'federal library'; the 'United Fraternity' that year demanding a
separation, and the 'Social Friends' replying that they cheerfully
concurred. With the strong rivalry existing, the libraries could but
increase more rapidly under separate management, especially as the
students for many years taxed themselves severely, and contributed
generously by subscriptions and donations to fill up their few
shelves. Nearly all the books were contributed by under-graduates, and
the value placed upon them forms a marked contrast with the present
use of library books. It was upon these libraries that the students
more generally depended, and while their additions were larger they
also had larger losses and suffered more from the wear of usage. They
obtained from time to time the books that were needed, the college
library such as were given, and that was doubtless true during all of
the time which was said of it fifty years later: 'The library contains
some rare and valuable works, but is deficient in new books.' The
society libraries from the beginning had regular and frequent hours
for drawing books, while the college library during a great part of
its history has been from various reasons hardly accessible, or open
only at long intervals. In 1793, the college began the yearly
assessment of eight shillings on each student, one fourth for the
salary of the librarian, and the remainder for the purchase of new
books.
"The first printed catalogue of any of the libraries was of that of
the college, and was merely a list printed in 1810. It mentioned 2,900
volumes, but as there were many duplicates the number of books of any
practical value was less than 2,000. The number of books in each of
the society libraries at this time may be estimated as slightly over
1,000, so that the number of volumes to which access could be had was
not much over 4,000." We quote an item worthy of notice from official
records on this subject:
"Annual Meeting of Trustees, September, A. D. 1783. This Board being
informed that Mr. Daniel Oliver, a student in the Junior class at this
College, has made a donation to Library of the following books [43
volumes; 33 different works], Voted, that the Vice-president be
requested to return him the thanks of this Board and request his
acceptance of the use of the college library free of charge during the
term he shall continue a student at this college."
CHAPTER XI.
LACK OF HARMONY BETWEEN PRESIDENT WHEELOCK AND OTHER
TRUSTEES.--REMOVAL OF THE PRESIDENT FROM OFFICE.--ESTIMATE OF HIS
CHARACTER.
The administration of President John Wheelock is remarkable for two
things; its great length, and its unhappy close.
The great "Dartmouth Controversy" is one of the most impressive
chapters in the annals of American colleges.
In discussing this subject it is necessary to consider some of the
influences which had aided in moulding President Wheelock's character.
His residence at Yale College was at an important period in the
history of that institution, commencing soon after the resignation of
President Clap, who had been driven from his position, virtually, for
opposing any interference in the affairs of the college, by the
Legislature. The friends of education were divided in sentiment, as to
the wisdom of his course, and the institution was in some sense under
a cloud till the accession of President Stiles--a friend of the
Wheelock family--who effected an arrangement by which the State was
admitted to a share in the management of the college. The following
letter from a prominent Trustee of Dartmouth to the president, written
just at this period, shows that the animated contest in Connecticut
was only the natural and logical precursor of one more animated and
much more important, in New Hampshire.
"Charlestown, November 17, 1791.
"Hon. Sir: I have set my name to the petition, etc., although, I
confess not without some hesitation and reluctance. I like the plan
well in general,--but there is one exception. I cannot form any idea
of what is intended by the proposal, That the Council, or Senate, or
both, be admitted to some cern in the government of the university
[college].
"This appears to me to be a proposal of too much or nothing at all,
and of something not in the power of this Board to confer, who I think
cannot admit any foreign jurisdiction, any man, or number of men to
any share in government of the university, properly so termed,
otherwise than what the Constitution specifies.
"I have, however, subscribed under the influence of this
consideration: That in the event it may subject us to no other
inconvenience, but the imputation of inconsistence in conduct in
hereafter rejecting a compliance with our own proposal, if we shall
find that more is performed by others than was intended, or can be
admitted by us, though fairly enough proffered.
"I think some precautionary injunctions to the Agent in this matter
would be wise and prudent.
"In haste--
"I am, sir, with much esteem and sincere affection,
"Your sincere friend and humble servant,
"Bulkley Olcott."
"President Wheelock."
* * * * *
Mr. Wheelock's experiences also as a legislator and military
commander, in early life, doubtless gave him a larger confidence in
his own abilities on the one hand, and on the other a more profound
conviction that everything in the State should, be subordinate to the
State.
The religious aspects of President Wheelock's character, are worthy of
special notice. He was the dutiful, in some sense the favorite son of
an honored father. The former president, although sound in the faith,
had more catholic views and broader sympathies than many of the
leading divines of his day. The son was no less liberal than the
father. This liberality was doubtless the real cause of difference
between the second president and his associates in office. His first
decided opponent was Nathaniel Niles, who entered the Board in 1793, a
man of rare ability, and in early life a pupil of Dr. Bellamy, whose
religious views on some points were materially different from those of
his contemporary and neighbor, the first president.
The first important point gained by Mr. Niles was the election of his
friend, Mr. Shurtleff, to the chair of Divinity, in 1804.
For ten years the breach was constantly widening between the president
and his opponents. We now find the following official records:
"At a meeting of the Trustees, November 11, 1814, the following
preamble and resolutions, introduced by Charles Marsh, Esq., were
adopted.
"Whereas, the duties of the president of this university have become
very multiplied and arduous; and, whereas, it is necessary that he
should continue to attend to the concerns of this institution, and the
various officers and departments thereof, and should have time to
prepare and lay before this Board the business to which its attention
should be directed; therefore, resolved, that, in order to relieve the
president from some portion of the burdens which unavoidably devolve
on him, he be excused in future from hearing the recitations of the
Senior Class, in Locke, Edwards, and Stewart.
"Resolved, that the Professors, Shurtleff and Moore, jointly supply
the pulpit, in such manner as may be agreed between them. That
Professor Shurtleff hear the recitation of the Senior class in Edwards
on the Will; that Professor Adams hear the recitation of the Senior
class in Locke on the Human Understanding, and that Professor Moore
hear the recitation of the Senior class in Stewart's Philosophy of the
Mind, and that he hear them in both volumes of that work."
This action of the Board was followed by the publication of the
"Sketches," and, in June, 1815, the presentation of the following
Petition to the New Hampshire Legislature:
* * * * *
"Honorable Legislators,--The citizens of New Hampshire enjoy security
and peace under your wise laws; prosperity in productive labors by
means which you have adopted; and, by your counsels, increasing
knowledge in the establishment of literature through the State. But,
for none of these, can so much be ascribed to your attention as for
Dartmouth College. By your patronage and munificence it was
flourishing in former years; and so it still would have continued had
the management of its concerns been adapted to answer the designs of
your wisdom, and the hopes of its most enlightened and virtuous
friends.
"To your Honorable body, whose guardian care encircles the
institutions of the State, it becomes incumbent on the citizens to
make known any change in their condition and relations interesting to
the public good. To you alone, whose power extends to correcting or
reforming their abuses, ought he to apply when they cease to promote
the end of their establishment, the social order and happiness.
"Gladly would the offerer of this humble address, avoiding to trouble
your counsels, have locked up his voice in perpetual silence, while
the evils are rolling on and accumulating, were he not otherwise
compelled by a sense of duty to your Legislature, and to the best
interests of mankind, in the present and future times.
"Will you permit him to suggest there is reason to fear that those who
hold in trust the concerns of this seminary have forsaken its original
principles and left the path of their predecessors. It is unnecessary
to relate how the evil commenced in its embryo state; by what means
and practices, they, thus deviating, have in recent years, with the
same object in view, increased their number to a majority controlling
the measures of the Board; but more important is it to lay before you
that there are serious grounds to excite apprehensions of the great
impropriety and dangerous tendency of their proceedings; reasons to
believe that they have applied property to purposes wholly alien from
the intentions of the donors, and under peculiar circumstances to
excite regret; that they have in the series of their movements, to
promote party views, transformed the moral and religions order of the
institution, by depriving many of their innocent enjoyment of rights
and privileges for which they had confided in their faith; that they
have broken down the barriers and violated the Charter, by prostrating
the rights with which it expressly invests the presidential office;
that, to subserve their purposes, they have adopted improper methods
in their appointments of executive officers, naturally tending to
embarrass and obstruct the harmonious government and instruction of
the seminary; that they have extended their powers, which the Charter
confines to the college, to form connection with an academy[33] in
exclusion of the other academies in the State, cementing an alliance
with its overseers, and furnishing aid from the college treasury for
its students; that they have perverted the power, which by the
incorporation they ought to exercise over a branch of Moor's Charity
School, and have obstructed the application of its fund according to
the nature of the establishment and the design of the donors; and that
their measures have been oppressive to your memorialist in the
discharge of his office.
[33] Kimball Union Academy.
"Such are the impressions as now related, arising from the acts and
operations of those who have of late commanded the decisions of the
Board.
"Your memorialist does not pretend to exhibit their motives, whether
they have been actuated by erroneous conceptions, or mistaken zeal, or
some other cause, in attending to the concerns of the institution. But
with great deference he submits the question, unless men in trust
preserve inviolable faith, whether pledged by words, or action, or
usage, to individuals, unless they continuously keep within the limits
assigned to them by law; if they do not sacredly apply the fruits of
benevolence committed to their charge, to the destined purpose; if the
public affairs in their trust are not conducted with openness,
impartiality, and candor, instead of designed and secret management;
if they become pointedly hostile to those who discern their course,
and honestly oppose their measures which are esteemed destructive; if
they bear down their inoffensive servants, who are faithful to the
cause of truth, how can an establishment under these circumstances, be
profitable to mankind? How can there be a gleam of prospective joy to
any except to those who are converting its interest into their own
channel, to serve a favorite design? What motive, then, will remain to
benefactors to lay foundations, or to bestow their charities on such
an object?
"There is also ground for increasing, fearful apprehension, by adding
to the immediate, what may be the ultimate effect of the measures
which have been described. In a collective view they appear to the
best acquainted and discerning to be, in all their adaptations,
tending to one end, to complete the destruction of the original
principles of the college and school, and to establish a new modified
system, to strengthen the interests of a party or sect, which, by
extending its influence under the fairest professions, will eventually
affect the political independence of the people, and move the springs
of their government.
"To you, revered legislators! the writer submits the foregoing
important considerations. He beholds, in your Honorable body, the
sovereign of the State, holding, by the Constitution, and the very
nature of sovereignty in all countries, the sacred right, with your
duty and responsibility to God, to visit and oversee the literary
establishments, where the manners and feelings of the young are
formed, and grow up in the citizen in after life; to restrain from
injustice, and rectify abuses in their management, and, if necessary,
to reduce them to their primitive principles, or so modify their
powers as to make them subservient to the public welfare. To your
protection, and wise arrangements, he submits whatever he holds in
official rights by the Charter of the seminary; and to you his
invaluable rights as a subject and citizen.
"He entreats your honorable body to take into consideration the state
and concerns of the college and school, as laid before you.
"And as the Legislature have never before found occasion to provide,
by any tribunal, against the evils of the foregoing nature, and their
ultimate dangers, he prays that you would please, by a committee
invested with competent powers, or otherwise, to look into the affairs
and management of the institution, internal and external, already
referred to, and, if judged expedient in your wisdom, that you would
make such organic improvements and model reforms in its system and
movements, as, under Divine Providence, will guard against the
disorders and their apprehended consequences.
"He begs only to add the contemplated joys of the friends of man and
virtue, in the result of your great wisdom and goodness, which may
secure this seat of science, so that it may become an increasing
source of blessings to the State, and to mankind of the present and
succeeding ages, instead of a theatre for the purpose of a few,
terminating in public calamity.
"Whatever disposal your Honorable body may please to make of the
subject now presented, the subscriber will never cease to maintain the
most humble deference and dutiful respect.
John Wheelock."
* * * * *
It would not be profitable, at the present time, to re-open the
discussion of the subject matter of the various charges contained in
the above document, which were so fully elaborated in the "Sketches,"
and so carefully considered in the subsequent "Vindication" by the
Trustees.
The prayer of the Memorial was granted by the Legislature, by the
appointment of a committee of investigation. The following letter is
worthy of careful attention in this connection:
"Exeter, August 15, 1815.
"My dear Sir,--In common with many others I have felt considerable
anxiety for the issue of the matter so much in public discussion
relative to Dartmouth College. I do not feel either inclined or
competent to give any opinion as to the course which ought finally to
be adopted by the Board of Trustees for the benefit of that
institution. I am entirely willing to leave that to the determination
of those much better informed on the subject and better able to judge.
From certain intimations which I have lately had, I am led to believe
an intention is entertained by some members of the Board of ending all
difficulty with the president by removing him from office. I greatly
fear such a measure adopted under present circumstances, and at the
present time, would have a very unhappy effect on the public mind. An
inquiry is now pending, instituted after considerable discussion, by
the Legislature of this State, apparently for the purpose of granting
relief for the subject matter of complaint. The Trustees acquiesce in
this inquiry; whether they appear before the committee appointed to
make it formally as a body, or informally as individuals, the public
will not deem of much im
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