action, voice, and the general effect on the auditors. The house was
packed; the crowd outside was as great as that inside. The oration over,
all breathed naturally again; the boys applauded, the ladies waved their
handkerchiefs and fans, and the band struck up enlivening notes, and all
said, as the morning exercises closed, "We have heard an orator to-day."
In the afternoon the representatives of the Washington and Franklin
Societies--George Benagh and Felix Taylor of the former, and Marcellus
Stanley and Rives Waddill, of the latter--did their societies great
honor as their representatives by delivering in the chapel eloquent
orations.
At night the Societies held their annual meetings, at which the
presidents-elect, distinguished honorary members, presided and made
addresses. In the debates following the honorary members were expected
to take part. The Society medals and honors were delivered to graduate
members. These meetings were held in the halls, and were not open to the
public.
At night the parlors of private houses and the hotels were radiant with
the wealth of beauty gathered mainly from the Old Dominion and the old
North State. If there were ever fairer and more lovely women since the
days of Helen this deponent never saw them.
The next day the graduating class made their last bows to a College
audience, having, according to custom, appeared three times before in
the last year of their course. It would be hard to decide which did
best, if the verdict had to be given by the fair auditors who heard
them.
The "Latin Salutatory" came first, delivered by the second-honor man.
This was followed by the orations of others, without regard to grade.
The closing "Valedictory" was delivered by the first-honor man, who in
a manner represented the whole class. Then each graduate received his
"sheep-skin," delivered by the President, who, in Latin, said, "_Accepe
hoc diploma_," as he handed the diploma.
The graduating class was complimented by a "party" given in their honor
by the students at the Steward's Hall, which was largely attended. This
closed the Commencement.
So great was the interest in the Annual Commencements that parties came
for long distances, even as far as South Carolina. Some of them came in
coaches drawn by four horses with out-riders.
COLLEGE YEAR 1844-'45.
The tendency in patronage this year was still downward. The number of
students was smaller than ever before.
A movement was made to carry out the project to raise $20,000 for
endowment. The salaries of the Faculty were reduced, so that the
President only got $1,250; the professors, $1,000; Tutor, $600;
Principal of the Preparatory School, $600. This was done in the face of
the fact that the dues to the Faculty at this time amounted to $7,000.
This unfortunate condition of affairs was brought about and aggravated
by several causes. The poorly paid officers worked without hope of
remuneration. Students failed to attend because the impression was
becoming prevalent that the College would be forced to close its doors.
Besides, the farming community were receiving low prices for their
crops. In 1845 the severest drought prevailed in Virginia ever known
since 1816.
At the Commencement, June, 1845, a case of smallpox was reported on the
morning of the first day. This threatened the total suspension of the
exercises, and many visitors did return home. The exercises were held at
Boydton, and the address of Rev. Dr. William S. Plumer, one of the
greatest men of his day, served to put all in good humor and restore
quiet. The next day the services were held in the chapel.
[Illustration: TURNER M. JONES, A. M., D. D., _President Greensboro
Female College, N.C._]
Degrees were conferred as follows:
A. B.
CHARLES B. STUART, Va.
JOHN G. BOYD, Va.
THOMAS T. BOSWELL, Va.
JAMES T. WRIGHT, Va.
WILLIAM F. BLACKWELL, Va.
JOHN W. SHELTON, N. C.
TURNER M. JONES, N. C.
A. M.
JOSEPH T. REESE, Ga.
GEORGE E. WYCHE, N. C.
THOMAS S. ARTHUR, S. C.
At the close of this year I. I. Crenshaw and H. N. McTyeire resigned
their places as Tutors. The former went to the Buckingham Female
Institute, and the latter took work as an itinerant on a circuit till
Conference.
[Illustration: O. H. P. CORPREW, A. M., LL. D., _Professor in
Randolph-Macon College and Central College, Mo._]
Williams T. Davis was elected Principal of the Preparatory School.
COLLEGE YEAR 1845-'46.
The drought referred to continued till late in the summer. Many farmers
had to buy corn at one dollar per bushel, and in some cases had to go as
far as thirty miles to get meal.
At the close of the year in June, at the meeting of the Board, great
financial embarrassment was reported. A bond to be secured by mortgage
on the real estate of the College for $5,000 was authorized to raise
funds to meet pressing indebtedness.
The following received degrees June, 1846:
A. B.
JOHN DAVIS, Va.
OLIVER H. P. CORPREW, Va.
FRANK X. FOSTER, S. C.
EDWARD T. HARDY, Va.
SAMUEL HARDY, Va.
WM. G. de GRAFFENREIDT, Va.
OLIN M. DANTZLER, S. C.
BENJAMIN F. LOCKETT, Va.
THOMAS J. LOCKETT, Va.
THOMAS P. JERMAN, S. C.
GEORGE HOWARD, Va.
A. M.
JAMES F. DOWDELL, Ga.
WILLIAM F. SAMFORD, Ala.
JOHN F. RIVES, Miss.
THOMAS H. CAMPBELL, Va.
WILLIAM G. CONNER, S. C.
JOHN C. WALKER, Va.
D. D.
Rev. W. M. WIGHTMAN, S. C.
EDMOND W. SEHON, Ky.
The session of the College, 1846-'47, opened very inauspiciously. In
addition to (and probably in large measure growing out of) the financial
troubles which had been thickening for years past, a want of harmony and
co-operation between the President and some of the members of the
Faculty began to be shown. This led to disorder and insubordination
among the students. To inquire into the matter at issue a meeting of the
Trustees was called in September, 1846, at which, after reciting a
history of the troubles, President Garland tendered his resignation, and
requested the immediate acceptance of the same. This was followed by the
resignation of their positions by Professors D. S. Doggett and David
Duncan, and Tutor Thomas H. Rogers.
The resignation of the President was not accepted for prudential
reasons. That of Professor Doggett, to take effect at the close of the
session, was accepted, as was that of Tutor Rogers. Professor Duncan was
induced to withdraw his.
The Board then adjourned to meet in the succeeding November, at the
session of the Virginia Conference, which was to meet at the College.
At the adjourned meeting held November 13, 1846, the Board accepted the
resignation of President Garland. Rev. Wm. A. Smith, D. D., of the
Virginia Conference, was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the
resignation of President Garland. The Faculty, as re-organized, was as
follows, viz:
REV. WM. A. SMITH (_President_), _Prof. Moral and Mental Philosophy_.
REV. CHARLES F. DEEMS, A. M., Prof. _Latin and Belles Lettres_.
EZEKIEL A. BLANCH, A. M., _Prof. Pure and Applied Mathematics_.
DAVID DUNCAN, A. M., _Prof. Greek Language and Literature_.
JAMES W. HARDY, _Prof. Experimental Science, Astronomy and Optics_.
The severance of President Garland from the College, after a service of
fourteen years in various capacities, was a source of great sorrow to
his old pupils and friends. However deficient he may have been in some
qualifications for the presidency, which from the first he not only did
not seek, but frequently declined, he preserved all along the
unqualified respect of all as an able professor and scholar. So devoted
was he to the prosecution of his favorite study, Astronomy, that he
generally broke himself down every year by attempting to perform the
arduous work of the president and also of full professor. Added to this
he was for years Treasurer. To a sensitive nature like his, the demands
of creditors made on him when he could not meet them was a burden of
itself heavy enough for any one to bear. If the College had had an
endowment fund large enough to pay the expenses as they were incurred,
and had allowed him to retain a professorship at a fair salary, with a
president taking on his shoulders the duties which in most colleges
devolved on the president, his valuable services could probably have
been retained--certainly if the dissension had not arisen in the
administration of the College. It is proper here to state that this
dissension was only with Professor Hardy, and was not participated in by
the other members of the Faculty, and did not lead to the resignation of
several of them.
President Garland accepted the Chair of Mathematics in the University of
Alabama, at Tuscaloosa. He never returned to his native State except on
visits. The whole of a long life was spent, first, at the University to
which he went, then at the University of Mississippi, from which he was
called to take the Chancellorship of the Vanderbilt University, at
Nashville, Tenn., which he accepted and filled for many years. Here in
connection with his old pupil, Bishop McTyeire, he did valuable work,
till age and feebleness forbade active work. Then he was made
_Chancellor emeritus_. He died suddenly, but not unprepared, at the
Vanderbilt University.
The closing years of President Garland's administration were the darkest
in, the history of the College. Many of its friends were hopeless of its
ever rallying again. Others gathered new hope, and their faith
"staggered not" in this dark hour. All the older Methodist colleges had
gone down, or were tottering to their fall. So much the greater faith
was needed at Randolph-Macon.
It was a fortunate circumstance that this re-organization took place at
the session of the Virginia Conference, which was held at the College,
and presided over by Bishop Capers.
[Illustration: REV. WM. B. ROWZIE.]
Rev. W. B. Rowzie, who for many years had been Agent, resigned the
position. A better friend the College never had.
At the request of the Board, Rev. B. R. Duval and Rev. Nathaniel Thomas
were appointed Agents for the College. They were men of extraordinary
energy and zeal, and they at once entered on a thorough canvass of the
Conference in raising funds for the College. President Smith entered on
his duties with characteristic zeal. He was fortunately possessed of an
unconquerable will and a buoyancy of disposition, without which he would
have quailed under the discouragements under which he labored.
"Wm. A. Smith was born in Fredericksburg, Va., November 29, 1802. His
mother was a consistent member of the Methodist Church, and in death
prayed that her son might live to preach the glorious gospel. His father
was a man of honorable character and position. Both died when he was of
a tender age. For a time the orphan boy had rough usage; but he was
afterwards adopted and raised by Mr. Russell Hill, a friend of his
father, and a worthy merchant of Petersburg. When seventeen years old,
he was converted, and joined the M. E. Church. He had received a good
English education, and had commenced the study of the classics; but
feeling that he was called of God to the ministry, and not being able to
attend college as he desired, he studied privately one year at the home
of his uncle, Mr. Porter, in Orange county, and taught school two or
three years in Madison. In 1824 he travelled the Gloucester circuit
under the Presiding Elder; in February, 1825, he was admitted on trial
into the Virginia Conference. In 1833, while Agent for Randolph-Macon
College, then in its infancy, he met with a fearful accident: the
carriage which he was driving upset and fell on him, breaking his right
thigh and dislocating his left hip, and badly laming him for life. He
was a delegate to the General Conference of the M. E. Church every
session from 1832 to 1844, and occupied a high position in that great
council as an adviser and debater. In the memorable appeal case of
Harding, and in the yet more important extrajudicial trial of Bishop
Andrew, which led to the division of the church, he won a reputation
wide as the United States, and inferior to that of no minister of any
denomination, for the highest deliberative and forensic eloquence. He
was a member of the Louisville Convention which organized the M. E.
Church, South, and of all the General Conferences of this church to the
date of his death. He commanded universal respect and confidence among
his brethren by the sincerity of his zeal, the wisdom of his counsels,
and the power of his reasoning. His impress will long remain on the
legislation and institutions of Southern Methodism. In 1846 he was
called from the regular pastorate, by the urgency of the Trustees of
Randolph-Macon College, sanctioned by the Virginia Conference, to the
Presidency of this institution. He was selected for that place because
his courage, energy and strength of intellect seemed indispensable not
only to the prosperity, but even to the saving of this noble
institution. Twenty years of his life was consecrated to this
cause--years of self-sacrifice, of unremitting toil, of courageous
battling with difficulties and victory over them; of hope where others
desponded, of faith where others doubted, of resolution where others
wavered. He was diligent in his study, diligent in his lecture-room,
diligent in his travel through Virginia and North Carolina to collect
money and to arouse interest in behalf of the College. The number of
students steadily increased, the standard of scholarship was elevated,
and through the joint efforts of Dr. Smith and the agents of the College
an endowment fund of $100,000 was raised. Then came the terrible war,
which emptied those classic halls and swept away the funds which had
been gathered with so much toil. Yet not in vain had he labored. Scores
of ministers, hundreds of pious young men, educated under his care,
moulded by his influence, are this day in their several spheres carrying
on the same grand work to which he was devoted, and have learned, from
his teachings and example, never to surrender, never to despair of
Randolph-Macon.
"We have not spoken of Dr. Smith as a preacher and pastor. He soon rose
to eminence in the ministry, and stood with the foremost in the pulpit
and pastorate for faithfulness, ability and success. He had a deep,
distinct, happy, constant experience of the saving grace of God in
Christ Jesus. His zeal for the cause of religion was pure, steady,
consuming. He was fully consecrated to the work of the ministry. The
doctrines and polity of our church had no stronger, nobler expounder and
champion than he. His sermons were "logic on fire"--grand and solid
discussions of the leading truths of the gospel, animated with deep
emotion. Thousands were converted under his ministry; many of them
became preachers of the word in our own and other denominations; the
churches he served were ever edified and trained, not less by his
pastoral fidelity than by his luminous discourses.
"As a man, he was of marked character. Who that ever saw him could
forget that bold, frank, noble face and forehead, which revealed at a
glance the lofty attributes of his intellect, the loftier attributes of
his heart! Cunning and deceit he knew not; to fear he was a stranger;
his convictions he was ever ready to avow and maintain. Yet, with all
his courage and indomitable energy of will, he had a tender, sympathetic
heart, and much of a child-like spirit, simple, unselfish, trustful,
easy to be entreated." *
* Copied from Memoir in Virginia Conference Minutes.
Rev. C. F. Deems did not accept the chair of Latin, and O. H. P. Corprew
was elected professor _pro tempore_, and filled the place.
At a meeting of the Board held March 31, 1847, an effort was made to
establish a medical department of the College, but it never resulted in
any permanent success.
[Illustration: BENNETT PURYEAR, A. M., LL. D., _Professor Chemistry
Randolph-Macon College; Chairman Faculty and Professor Chemistry,
Richmond College._]
At the meeting of the Board held June, 1847, President Smith reported
that the session had been pleasant and the prospects of the College
improving. The success of the Agents in their work gave promise of
better financial conditions. A committee was appointed to reorganize the
Preparatory School system, and it was proposed to establish one or more
at salient points.
[Illustration: WM. A. SMITH, D. D., _President of Randolph-Macon
College, 1846-1866. President Central College, Missouri._]
Professor J.W. Hardy tendered his resignation, which was accepted. He
had been elected President of La Grange College, Alabama, where he died
after a short service.
The following received degrees:
A. B.
BENNETT PURYEAR, Va.
JOHN MOODY, Va.
R. H. BEALE, Tenn.
A. M.
W. C. DOUB, N. C.
JOHN LYON, Va.
T. C. JOHNSON, Mo.
ARCHIBALD CLARK, Va.
THOMAS H. ROGERS, Va.
JOHN HOWARD, Va.
D. D.
REV. D. S. DOGGETT, Va.
REV. EDWARD WADSWORTH, Ala.
At a meeting of the Board held at Charlottesville November 17, during
the session of the Virginia Conference, a further issue of
life-scholarships was authorized.
The committee on Preparatory Schools reported in favor of retaining the
old school at the College under certain rules, and the establishment of
one at Ridgway, N. C., under a contract with the Trustees of the Ridgway
Academy, with William C. Doub, A. M., as Principal; also of one at
Garysburg, N. C., with C. B. Stuart, A. M., as Principal.
At the close of the year, June, 1848, the President in the annual report
reported increased patronage, and a session marked by studiousness and
good order among the students. The number in the College and the
Preparatory School was about one hundred and forty.
The graduates receiving degrees June, 1848, were--
A. B.
JOHN C. GRANBERY, Va.
JOHN H. CLAIBORNE, Va.
JAMES R. BRANCH, Va.
JOHN S. MOORE, Va.
DALLAS SMITH, Ala.
TAZEWELL HARGROVE, N. C.
RICHARD G. MORRIS, Va.
GEORGE W. FRIEND, Va.
CHARLES E. WILLIAMS, Va.
JAMES D. BLACKWELL, Va.
A. M.
CHARLES B. STUART, Va.
TURNER M. JONES, N. C.
WILLIE M. PERSON, N. C.
J. W. SHELTON, N. C.
THOMAS B. RUSSELL, Ga.
JOHN G. BOYD, Va.
WILLIAMS T. DAVIS (Hon'y), Va.
BENJAMIN JENKINS (Honorary), Missionary M. E. Church, South, in China.
[Illustration: JAMES R. BRANCH, A. M., _Colonel Artillery, C. S. A._]
D'Arcy Paul, Investing Agent and Chairman of the Finance Committee,
reported the probable income for coming year at about $3,500, $2,000 of
which amount to come from fees and the balance endowment dividends.
[Illustration: JOHN C. GRANBERY, A. M., D. D.]
We pause again in this narrative to give a reminiscence of College life
as written in 1882 by a distinguished member of the class last named,
John C. Granbery, who delivered the valedictory as first-honor man. The
distinction then achieved was but a presage of his rank in the several
positions he has been called to fill--Pastor, Chaplain to the University
of Virginia, Chaplain in the Confederate army (in which service he was
severely wounded and taken prisoner), Professor in the Vanderbilt
University, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (elected
1882), and author of several works. At this writing he lives at Ashland,
and is the President of the Board of Trustees.
"As the earliest of the American Methodist Colleges now extant,
Randolph-Macon may be called venerable, if not ancient. But I use the
prefix _old_ in order to distinguish the College as it was at Boydton
from the College as it is at Ashland. The features of contrast are many
and important. In the old days slavery was, as we thought, a fixed and
lasting institution; civil strife had not swept away lives and fortunes,
and the South was proud, independent, fiery and enthusiastic, chivalrous
withal, generous, genial; now we are just beginning to adjust ourselves
to the new social and political conditions which have been imposed by a
disastrous war. Then there was a single degree, Bachelor of Arts, for
which the students strove, and the course of four years was prescribed,
with its regular gradations of Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, and
Seniors; now the studies are eclectic, and the matriculates may select
any one of several degrees, or study without reference to graduation.
Then the lumbering stage brought up the tri-weekly, or perhaps daily,
mail and passengers, and the word of the driver rang forth cheerily, but
no shrill whistle of steam-engine or thunder of lightning trains
disturbed the silence of the classic groves, and the attractions and
distractions of the crowded, hurrying, clamorous city were out of
reach and out of thought; now the steam-car and the steam-press are
familiar objects, the capital is less than an hour's distance, and the
stage-coach is a tradition.
"A change has taken place in the manner and measure of collegiate
discipline. This is due not to the change of locality, but to the spirit
of the age. It has come to be a maxim that the best government is that
which governs least. We seek the minimum of restriction on liberty that
is compatible with the ends of government, viz., order, morality and
diligence. Formerly the dormitory system prevailed; students were
required to be in their rooms during certain hours of the day and night;
professors and tutors visited the buildings, seeking to surprise the
inmates, in order to ascertain whether the rule was observed; there were
many minute regulations which have since been abandoned. This continued
exercise of authority and plan of watching provoked insubordination and
evasion; the wits of the boys were set to work in order to deceive the
teachers, and to break the rules without detection, or, at least, with
impunity. The risk gave to mischief and lawlessness a relish they would
not otherwise have possessed. Unwholesome suppers were stealthily
brought to the rooms by negroes at late hours of the night; calathumps
aroused the neighborhood with most hideous music; blackboards were
greased; the bell-rope was cut, and old John had to blow his horn at
daybreak in every row of the buildings, as a call to prayers and
recitations. This provoked him greatly, and he used to say, 'If you
won't be rung up as gentlemen, I must blow you up as hogs.' How heartily
I have heard Dr. Smith laugh as he repeated the old negro's complaint at
such times, 'We have the worstest young men, and the mostest on 'em, I
ever seed!' Practical jokes, sometimes of a very disagreeable sort, were
played on professors in their nocturnal rounds of inspecting the
premises. Calves were hauled up into lecture-rooms, and other silly
tricks were perpetrated. I am glad that these follies have passed away,
that faculty and students treat each other as gentlemen and friends, and
that the public sentiment of the College would not tolerate any
rudeness, though disguised under the name of fun. It is well to appeal
to the conscience, gentlemanly propriety and honor, and generous and
kindly sentiments of young men, rather than resort to espionage and
multiplied restraints.