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 _Charge
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."