Granville Township (part 2 of 2)

"In 1832 the question was agitated of building a new court house. The people of Granville became much excited on the subject, and made great efforts to get the county seat removed to this place, offering to build the county buildings without charge to the county, or contribute largely thereto. Newark, however, being in posssssion, and being on the mairi line of the canal, overcame the enterprise of the Granvillians, and the county seat remained at Newark, and the peopfe of Newark were not required to contribute anything to retain it.

"The Granville feeder extended from Licking summit to Raccoon creek at Paige's woollen factory, about a mile and a quarter southeast of town. In order to have navigation as near the town as possible, the canal commissioners agreed to make the feeder navigable for boats to Paige's factory, provided the people of Granville would make it navigable from thence to the bridge at the Lancaster road. This they agreed to do. It involved a considerable expense, as a dam, guard-lock, lift-lock, and about half a mile of canal had to be bnilt U> render it navigable.

"A warehouse was erected at the head of navigation, and a boat built there by the Troy and Ohio line, under the superintendence of a Mr. Wallace, and it is supposed that it was the first canal-boat built south of Cleveland. The feeder was navigated until the furnace was abandoned in 1838, since which it has become dilapidated and out of repair.

"During the construction of the canal, many of the citizens were engaged as contractors on the work, among whom were A Munson, L. D. Mower, P. W. Taylor, Sylvester Hayes,

Levi Rose, Alfred Avery, Elias Fassett, Joseph Fassett, Simeon Reed, Byron Hayes, William Wing, Justin Hillyer, jr., Curtis Howe, Ashley A. Bancroft, Hugh and Dennis Kelley. Several of the above had large contracts, and they generally enjoyed the confidence of the canal commissioners. I have no doubt that more of such work was done by these people than was done by the people of any other township or county in the State. So far as I know, it is believed their contracts were generally remunerative.

"A water-cure was established in 1852, by Dr. W. W. Bancroft. The establishment was well patronized from the first, and has been very successful in the treatment of chronic and other diseases.* *

"In the late war for the suppression of the Rebellion, it is understood that the people of Granville patriotically responded to the calls of the Government, in all cases filling their quotas, and contributing in every' possible way to aid and assist those and the families of those who were called to the front. Several of the Granville boys shed their blood and lost their lives in the service of the country, and in defence of free institutions.

"Revel Everett was a Granville man. I remember him as being constable of the township. Afterwards he removed to Hartford, and for a time was engaged in merchandising and where he has continued to reside ever since.

* ' David Messenger, of the committee, I recognize as an old familiar friend, one whom I have known about as long as any other in the State, he being a resident of Granville when I arrived. He w'as a shoemaker by trade. I think he did not take kindly to it, or the business did not suit him. Hfe acquired considerable reputation as a player on the violin, and at the first dancing party I attended, six days after my arrival, he wras one of the musicians who made music for the dance. The other player was Fish, of Johnstown, and their 'Money Musk,' 'Fisher's Hornpipe,' and other tunes for country dances were not often excelled. About 1821 he came to Utica and engaged in merchandising, and continued the business some years.

" I believe none of the first settlers of Granville township now survive. There are few townships in the county whose reputation is as good as that of Granville, or one that has done more for the advancement of good morals and public and private enterprises."

-'Oren and Ralph Granger, brothers, each kept a tavern in Granville, and kept good houses. Oren died in 1821 or 1822 ; Ralph continued in the same business at times until 1830, when he removed to his farm, and died about 1866. Willard Warner kept a tavern in Granville four or five years and removed thence to Newark, where he kept at the Houston stand sometime. He was a mail contractor and represented Licking county in the senate one term.

"Major J. R. Munson was by profession a lawyer, and was a man of good natural ability ; was a representative in the legislature when it met at Chillicothe, and was said to have been instrumental in obtaining the charter of the Granville Alexandrian society, which, it was supposed, conferred banking

"Elias Fassett, before mentioned as a business man ot Granville, removed to Cleveland and thence to New York, engaging first in the dry goods business, then in brokerage, dealing in bonds and stocks until 1856, when he returned to his farm near Granville ; was elected president of the Central Ohio railroad company, holding the position some two years, and retiring to his farm, where he died suddenly in 1863."

In the early {lays of the agitation of the slavery question - between 1825 and 1840 - when an abolitionist was something of a curiosity in this county, Granville had her share of them, and her share of trouble in consequence. Quite an anti-slavery society was organized in that place, and although they dare do or say nothing openly for some years, they grew bolder by degrees, and began to hold meetings and have public speaking upon that allimportant subject. The men of Granville generally had minds and thoughts of their own upon all subjects, and Puritan blood was generally largely impregnated with abolition blood. Something was done here on the under-ground railway, and there were a few zealous workers in the abolition cause at all times, and their numbers continually increased. A majority of the people were, however, pro-slavery, as they were everywhere in the North.

About April 1, 1835, a Mr. Weld, an abolitionist, undertook to deliver a lecture in Granville, and was stoned and egged by a mob. He had lectured a few days before at Circleville, where he had also received rough treatment; the mob throwing eggs and stones thiough the window.

"One of the stones was so well aimed that it struck me on the head, and, for a moment, stunned me. I paused a few moments until the dizziness had ceased, and then went on, and finished my lecture. Meanwhile, some of the gentlemen had hung their cloaks up at the window, so that my head could not be so easily used as a target. "

"We, citizens of the town of Granville, in the county of Licking, and State of Ohio, having understood from common report, and from certain notices published in newspapers, that a State convention of delegates from the Abolition societies of Ohio is to be held in this place on the twenty-seventh day of April, ensuing ; and having had bitier experience, in times past, of the evil effects of abolition meetings, as tending to destroy the peace of society, and introduce discord and contention through all its constituent departments ; and learning that a great and increasing excitement already exists, not only in our own, but in the neighboring towns, in prospect of the contemplated meeting - we do, therefore, most earnestly remonstrate against any such meeting being held in our town on the twenty-seventh day of April, or any other day in the year. And we most earnestly call upon and request all officers and leaders of the abolition society, and all who are, or may be, appointed delegates to the said convention, if they have the least regard for our peace and welfare, or for the well-being of the religious, moral, and literary iustitutions established among us, to abstain from coming to said meeting. And we do hereby engage to use our best endeavors, by all lawful and proper means, to prevent any such public meeting from being held within the limits of our corporation.

This notice was signed by Elias Fassett, mayor: Samuel Bancroft, recorder; William S. Richards, Knowles Linnel, S. Spellman, S. Mower, Daniel Wildman, council, and by sixty-nine other citizens.

Notwithstanding this, the abolitionists held their meeting, though not, it seems, within the corporation. Mr. Briggs, in an editorial published in the Advocate , April 30, 1836, thus gives the result, heading his article "Bloody Wars in Canada:"

"The abolition convention adjourned on Thursday about noon. The day was distinguished by violence and bloodshed, though fortunately no lives were lost.

"On Wednesday evening, the abolitionists held a meeting in a school-house, about a mile south of Granville. During the evening a mob collected, and broke the windows with stones. They were driven off by the abolitionists. They dispatched expresses during the night to Martinsburgh, Utica, Mount Vernon and Newark, for re-inforcements, and accordingly a number of recruits were in the field on the next day, armed with clubs and ready for action.

"Twelve o'clock on Thursday was the time fixed upon for the commencement of hostilities. The convention adjourned about that time, and many of the members accompanied by ladies formed a procession about a mile from the village where the convention sat, and marched through the principal streets, where the mob was assembled. When they reached that point, the mob commenced hissing and yelling, and followed the procession to the ladies' academy, where the ladies left the proces- 1 sion; and then both parties resorted to clubs, dirks and bncibats, which they employed as knock-'em down arguments for and against the abolition scheme. The fighting continued at intervals for some time. One of the mob was dirked, and some of the abolitionists were knocked down with clubs, and one pelted with eggs most unmercifully. Three abolition horses" manes and tails were closely shaved. ** contributed by the abolitionists at Granville on Wednesday night, to support a press that is about to be established at Cincinnati, and to defray the expense of printing abolition tracts."

It will be seen from the above that both parties were very determined, and that the abolitionists were especially wide-awake, active, belligerent, in earnest, and ready with brain, muscle and money to further their cause. Thirty years from that time their cause emerged from the smoke, dust and blood of battle, triumphant.

"When Granville was first settled it was supposed that Worthington would be the capital of Ohio, between which and Zanesville this would make a great half-way town. At this time, snakes, wolves and Indians abounded in this region. On pleasant spring mornings, large numbers of snakes were found running on the flat stones. Upon prying up the stones, there was revealed a singular fact respecting the social nature of serpents. Dens were found containing very discordant materials, twenty or thirty rattle-snakes, black-snakes and copper-heads, all coiled up together. Their liberal terms of admission only seemed to require evidence of snakeship. Besides various turnouts to kill them, the inhabitants had one general hunt. Elias Gillman and Justin Hillyer were the captains, who chose sides, and the party beaten were to pay three gallons of whiskey. Tradition is divided as to the number killed that day; some say three hundred. They killed that year between seven and eight hundred rattle-snakes and copper-heads, keeping no account of the black and other harmless serpents. The young men would seize them by the neck and thrash them against the trees, before they had time to bite or coil around their arms. The copper-head, though smaller, was much more feared. The rattle-snake was larger, sooner seen and a true southerner, always living up to the laws of honor. He would not bite without provocation, and by his rattles gave the challenge in an honorable way. Instead of this well-bred warfare the copperhead is a wrathy little fellow, whose ire is always up, ai>d he will make at the hand or the foot in the leaves or grass, before he is seen, and his bite is as poisonous as that of his brother of the larger fang. The young men tested his temper and found that in his wrath he would bite a red hot coal. Very few were bitten by the rattle-snake, and all speak well of his good disposition and gentlemanly manners; but so many were bitten in consequence of the fractious temper of the copper-head, that he has left no one behind him to sound a note in his praise.

"The limb bitten became immediately swollen, turned the color of the snake, and the patient was soon unable to walk. In some cases the poison broke out annually, and in others the limb for years was inclined to frequent swellings. After all that was suffered from poisonous reptiles, it was proved to a demonstration that no animal is so poisonous as man. Carrying more poison in his mouth than any other creature, he can poison a venomous serpent to death quicker than the serpent can him. Martin Root and two other young men, chopping together, saw a rattle-snake, set a fork over his neck, and put into his mouth a new quid from one of their mouths. They raised the fork, and the poor creature did not crawl more than his length before he convulsed, swelled up and died, poisoned to death by virus from the mouth of one of the lords of creation. Deacon Hayes and Worthy Pratt tried the same experiment upon copper-heads, with the same result. Many others killed venomous reptiles in the same way, and one man pretended that by moderate use he had taught a copper-head to take tobacco without injury."

Of the adult pioneers of the Granville colony who came here in 1805, all are dead; a few of their children, however, whom they brought here at that date are yet living. Among them are Franklin and Ezekiel Gavitt, who live in Delaware county; Timothy M. Rose, yet living in Granville; Hiram P. Rose, living in Indiana; Justin and Truman Hilliar; Justin in Kansas and Truman in Columbus, Ohio. Sylvanus and Gideon Cornel are probably living. Leverett and Charles Butler are yet living in this county.

The Center Star lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, spoken of in Mr. Wing's paper as being first in the county, was organized by Mr. Job Case, Timothy Spellman, Justin Hillier, David Butler, and Elias Gilman. These gentlemen having received the degrees of symbolic Masonry in New England, united with a few others and presented a petition to Lewis Cass, grand master of Masons in Ohio, early in 1810, praying for a dispensation to organize a lodge in Granville. Mr. Cass came to Granville in person and organized the lodge, in the upper room of the dwelling of Deacon Timothy Rose. The lodge was chartered in January, 1811, and numbered eleven persons. Its first officers were: Job Case, worthy master; Timothy Spellman, senior warden, and Noble Landon, junior warden. The first place of meeting was a room in the second story of the residence of Elias Gilman, finished off for that purpose. The first Masonic hall in the county was ten by fourteen and a half feet in size. It had a window on the east side, a fire-place on the west side, and was the first room finished off and plastered in Granville. About a year after the organization of the lodge, a larger and more convenient room was secured in the residence of Grove Case. The first candidate initiated in this lodge was Hiram Rose. The first return to the Grand lodge included 1810 and 18 n, and showed a membership of twenty Master Masons, and, at the end of 1812, the membership had increased to thirty-nine.

The Granville of the present day is a beautiful, pleasant, healthy village, the people being more devoted to religious and educational matters than, perhaps, any other town of its size in the State.

About 1850 water works were projected and put in successful operation. Dr. Sinnet and a few other leading citizens were influential in getting these established, and thus giving the town the advantage of the purest of spring water. The water was brought from a spring on the farm of Colonel Woods, two miles northwest of town, and conveyed in earthen pipes to a reservoir near the "Sugar Loaf," a conical hill in the western suburbs of the town. From here it is distributed over the town, wherever wanted, in pipes. Those who use the water pay a rental of five dollars a year for an ordinary family.

The company that carried these works forward to completion was known as the "Granville Hydraulic company." As an investment, in a financial view, it did not pay, and probably its projectors thought less of making money out of it than of furnishing the inhabitants with pure water. April 13, i860, the company sold out to Mr. Sanford for two hundred and thirty-four dollars; subsequently Mr. Sanford died and willed the works to the town, one of the conditions, being that the town should pay to the Episcopal church one hundred dollars per annum.

One of the woollen factories, mentioned by Mr. Wing, stood about one and one-fourth miles below Granville on Raccoon creek, and was destroyed by fire about 1840. Another building was erected and used as a woollen factory until 1856. Subse quently, about 1857, Noah Clouse established the present machine shop in this building. The firm is Noah Clouse & Son, and they have conducted this business successfully to the present time.

Granville, however, lays no claim to being an unusual manufacturing or business place. There are several manufacturing establishments within the limits of the place, among which are the marble works, the planing mills of Jones Brothers and of Pratt Brothers. Both these firms make and deal largely in furniture. There are three dry goods stores, kept by George Parsons, Henry Green, and Mr. Craig ; two grocery stores, kept by Carter & Carter and H. L. Reed; one drug store, kept by Charles Bryant; one hardware store, kept by Jones Brothers; two banks, one national and j one private; two newspapers, two hotels, and the usual number of smaller establishments. The trades and professions are also well represented It does not appear that it is money and business that these people are living for; the whole community is deeply religious, highly educated, and, as one prominent educator expressed it, they are " interested in what the human mind can accomplish."

Chapter Lii

CONSIDERING Granville as an educational center, the history of its first schools and school-houses becomes a matter of some importance. From the character of the first settlers, who came from the land of schools and churches, it is not surprising that these institutions soon took root in the new settlement, grew and flourished, and are to-day among the best in the State.

The first school-house erected in Granville was in January, 1806, about two months after the arrival of the first detachment of the Granville colony. It was a rude log building, stood on the site of the Presbyterian church, and was used for church and school purposes. The colony was not much divided in church matters; nearly all belonged to the Congregational church they had organized in Granville, Massachusetts, and Those who were not regular communicants attended the church and assisted in its support This log building was used four or five years, when the church wanted a better building for its use and the old log must be taken away. This necessitated the erection of a new school-house. This second building was of brick, and was an imposing structure for those times. It stood at the foot of the hill, on Market street, facing Main ; was two stories and a basement in height ; it was solid and commodious, and did honor to the people. It was probably the first brick house in the village. For many of the first years of its existence, there were not children enough in Granville to fill it, and therefore part of it was rented for other purposes. The basement was used as a market-house, the upper room, a large hall, was used by the Masonic fraternity, and the second floor only was occupied as a school-room. This building was also used some time by the Episcopalians for holding services, before their church was erected. It served all the purposes of a school-house until 1854, when the present union school building was erected. This latter building is situated in the northeastern part of town, is a commodious brick, and probably accommodates two hundred scholars. Five teachers are employed. This is a district school, and the only school in town beside the three colleges.

Of these colleges, the first one was established in 1827, by the Congregational church, 01 in other words, by the Granville colony. Prominent members of the colony were instrumental in establishing this college, which fi rst went by the name of Granville academy. The building in which this college was established is yet standing. It is a small frame, and when first occupied by the school it stood on the lot now occupied by the residence of Dr. SinneL When this institution was first established, it was open for both male and female students. The female department was conducted on the domestic labor plan, the same plan upon which Denison university started out. That class of institutions was popular in those days, the idea being that a young person of either sex should be taught the various branches of labor necessary for them to understand in the battle of life, and those unable to pay their full tuition were thus enabled to earn part of it, and thereby were placed on an equal footing, in educational advantages, with their wealthier classmates. The female department of this school was under charge of Miss Marianne Howe in 1827; in 1828, under Miss Emma Little, and from 1830 to 1834, under the charge respectively of Miss Boardman, Miss Eels, and Miss Eliza Foster. In 1834, Miss Nancy Bridges and Miss Elizabeth Grant were teachers.

During the first eight or nine years of the early history of this school its managers were compelled to rent school rooms and buildings for their purpose wherever they could get them; and thus it was that the school was kept in various parts of town. It was not until 1836 that they were enabled to purchase six lots where the building now stands, of Grove Case, and in 1837 the main building (frame) now known as the Granville female college was erected. March 14, 1836, the school was incorporated by the legislature, section first reading as follows:

"Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Ohio: That there shall be, and hereby is established, in the town of Granville, in the county of Licking, an institution for the education of youth in the various branches of useful knowledge, by the name of 'Granville Academy,' and that Rev. Jacob Little, Samuel Bancroft, Spencer Wright, Knowles Linnel, Leonard Bushnell, William Smedley, Timothy M. Rose, Henry G. Bancoft, Ebenezer Crawford, Edwin C. Wright and William W. Bancroft, and their successors, be, and they are hereby appointed, trustees of said institution, and made a body corporate and politic, with perpetual succession, to be known by the name and style of 'Trustees of Granville Academy.'"

Other sections followed, but space cannot be allowed for them. These trustees 'held their first meeting May 26, 1836, and organized by electing Rev. Jacob Little, president, W. W. Bancroft, secretary, and Samuel Bancroft, treasurer.

Board, in those days, could be had for eightyseven and a half cents per week, and the tuition was four dollars and twenty-five cents per quarter.

Upon the expiration of Miss Bridges' term as principal in 1841, Mr. H. R. Gilmore was elected and served one year. August 4, 1842, Miss Hannah O. Bailey was elected principal, assisted by Miss Hamlin.

The domestic labor system for students did not work according to the expectations of its friends, and in this institution if was accordingly abandoned February 9, 1844.

February 11, 1845, William D. Moore rented the academy buildings for three and a half years, at the end of which time he re-rented and continued principal of the school until 1854. May 9th of this year a contract was made with William P. Kerr, the present principal of the college, and from that time to the present, with the exception of five years, between 1872, and 1877, when it was conducted by others, he has had charge of the college as principal and manager.

Very early in its history this school was merged into a female academy, the male department being abandoned. Its projectors determined it should become a first class college for the higher education of women. One of its by-laws required that every teacher should be a consistent Christian, the great purpose of its founders being to advance morality and religion. It was established on the Mt. Holyoke plan, and so continued until 1845, when, under Mr. Moore, it was conducted on the boarding-house plan, and has so continued to the present

The contributors to the erection of the main building in 1837 were citizens of Granville and largely by those who made their money by hard work. This building is quite large, four stories in height and a basement. An addition of brick was made about 1864-5, and the institution will easily accommodate one hundred students, as regular boarders and lodgers, and fifty or seventyfive additional, without lodging. Recently a steam heating apparatus has been placed in the basement, which works to a charm, and the atmosphere of the great building, including all its private and public rooms and labyrinth of halls, is continually kept a pleasant summer temperature, making it a most comfortable and desirable home for the young ladies from all parts of the country who attend the college. The first floor of the main building is occupied by the dining room, the parlors, reception rooms and dwelling rooms of the principal and his family; the second and third floors are principally occupied by the students, their rooms being generally fifteen or twenty feet square, all nicely furnished and finished, and occupied generally by two students each. A few rooms on the second floor of this building are also used as school rooms, the primary school room having its location here. The brick addition is mainly occupied by the gymnasium, in charge of an efficient teacher, a chapel and recitation room. Every provision seems to have been made for the health, comfort and thorough training of the inmates in all that goes to make up the sum of human happiness. It is probably one of the most complete and thoroughly equipped institutions in the country for the purposes for which it was designed. The principal, W. P. Kerr, has been untiring in his devotion to the interests of this institution, and it is mainly due to his persevering efforts that the institution has been brought to its present proud position among the educational institutions of the State. His attainments in scholarship are of a high order; he is genial, and social, and a pure minded Christian gentleman, to whom parents may safely trust the education of their daughters.

Primary Department. - Reading and pronunciation, written arithmetic, familiar science, spelling and defining, geography, grammar, mental arithmetic, map drawing, penmanship.

Preparatory Department. - Written arithmetic, physical geography, Latin reader, English grammar, United States history, Bible - Genesis, analysis, Latin grammar, composition, penmanship, algebra.

During the course, exercises in reading, spelling and penmanship, reviews of common English branches, and weekly exercises in composition and the Bible are required of all.

college is the musical, at present in charge of Professor G. H. H. C. Lowery, M. A., a graduate of the London, Heidelberg and Paris conservatories - a gentleman who has made music a lifetime study, who has perfected himself under the best masters in Europe.

Granville Female Institute. - This institution was established aboutt 1832, by the Baptist society, the preliminary steps being taken by Mr. Charles Sawyer, then a resident of Granville. He was foremost in contributing of his own means, and obtaining means from others for the erection of the seminary tfuilding and boarding-house - two large frame buildings, occupying beautiful grounds on Main street, in the western part of the town. The following advertisement regarding this college appears in the Newark Advocate of March 2,

"Granville Female Seminary. - In establishing this seminary, it is the object of the trustees to build up a first rate school, suited to the wants of the west. They are happy in now being able to inform the public that they have appointed Mr. James W. Poland, of Massachusetts, who, aided by competent female teachers, is expected to take its superintendence about April 1st. Until the arrival of Mr. Poland, the school, now in successful operation, will continue under the care of Mrs. Gear. Next quarter will commence Monday, March 4th."

The above is signed by William S. Richards, chairman of trustees, and James Berry, recording secretary. It is also endorsed by John Pratt, principal of the Granville institution, and Paschal Carter, professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, in the same institution.

The teachers under Mr. Poland were Miss Ingraham and Miss Isabella R. Clarke, of Massachusetts; the latter becoming superintendent in 1835. Miss Maynard and Miss Trimble were employed the next year, and Messrs. Moore and Converse were also principals one year. Dr. Burton had control of this school one or two years, and Mansfield French was principal, following Mr. Burton.

About 1840 Rev. Alva Sanford obtained possession of the property, and changed the name and influence of the school, he being an Episcopalian. He called it the Episcopal Female seminary, and pontinued to conduct the school with a considerable degree of success for fifteen years. At the end of this period Solomon Sanford assumed control of the institution, continuing its priucipal, however, only about a year. Under control of the Sanfords the school flourished, and was a great help to the Episcopal church. In 1856 Rev. C. S. Doolittle and Joseph Lindley became proprietors, and conducted the school about three years, when they concluded to move it to Mansfield, Ohio. This seemed to be at the time an unfortunate move for the school, and especially for the Episcopal church. The buildings were closed for a time. In i860 Rev. N. S. Buxton and wife opened a ladies' female institute in the basement of the Baptist church, with the thought, probably, of reviving the Baptist seminary which had been replaced by the Episcopal. This school continued about two years, when Rev. M. Stone purchased the seminary buildings, and opened a school, when both schools were consolidated under Mr. Stone, and came again under control of the Baptist denomination, where it has ever since remained. The name was again changed to the Baptist Female seminary.

Mr. Stone gave good satisfaction as an instructor, but circumstances rendered it necessary for him to dispose of the property, which he did to its present proprietor, Rev. D. Shepardson, D.D., who became principal in 1867. Dr. Shepardson changed the name of the college to the Granville Female seminar}'.

Denison University. - This institution was organized at Granville, Ohio, December 13, 1831, as the Granville Literary and Theological institute, and incorporated February 3, 1832. Its first professor and president was the now venerable and highly esteemed John Pratt, D. D., who continued to occupy a position in its faculty until 1859, and now lives on a farm near the former site of the college, honored by all who know him.

The school was at first organized on the manual-labor idea, and was located on a farm of some one hundred and thirty-five acres, about one mile southwest of the village - the farm, valued at three thousand three hundred dollars, having been given by the Baptist church and citizens of Granville as an inducement to locate the school there. In 1837 Rtv. Jonathan Going, D. D., then secretary of the American Baptist Home Mission society, was called to the presidency, and moved to Granville, administering the affairs of the school to the great satisfaction of its friends until 1844, when he died. In 1845 the name was changed to Granville college, and in 1846 Rev. Silas Bailey, D. D., LL. D., was called to the presidency.

At a meeting of the trustees in August, 1833, the institution was organized into four departments, viz.: Preparatory, English, collegiate and

The "manual labor system" adopted by this college was persevered in for some years. The students were required to be daily occupied with some kind of work, either on the farm or in some mechanical pursuit; the trustees early "resolved, as soon as practicable, to furnish them with work and the instruments for performing it, and to pay them the value of their labor."

In addition to Rev. John Pratt, who was then professor of moral philosophy, the first faculty consisted of Pascal Carter, A. M., professor of mathematics and natural philosophy; Asa Drury, A. M., professor of languages, and A. H. Frink, A. M., principal of the preparatory department.

In the spring of 1832, the buildings of the institution were destroyed by fire, which caused some embarrassment, but new and more commodious buildings were promptly erected during the ensuing summer.

In the Baptist Weekly Journal of November 29, 1831, published in New York city, Dr. Jonathan Going writes as follows regarding this institution:

" With such a corps of teachers as President Pratt, professors Carter, Drury and Frink (I speak from personal acquaintance with these gentlemen, except the last named), with a hundred pupils, including already a dozen regular college students; in a location so delightful and healthy, in the heart of the great and growing State of Ohio, where expenses are so small, and with arrangements for manual labor in agriculture and various branches of mechanic arts, which will at once diminish these, and promote health of body and mental vigor, it requires no spirit of prophecy to predict the future prosperity of the institution. I am persuaded, indeed, that it presents even now facilities for acquiring a thorough education inferior to none in the western valley, while it promises in future to hold respectable rank among similar institutions, which happily are rising into importance at different points."

During its early history the college was greatly straitened in its finances, and for years passed through the trials and vicissitudes incident to young institutions in those times. In 1852 Dr.

In 1855, the location of the college was changed to the present elevated and beautiful site just north of the village, and its friends rallied and erected a new building which is four stories high, one hundred and thirty-three feet by eighty-three feet deep in the middle, with wings forty-five feet deep. It contains, besides recitation rooms and society halls, thirty-three suites of rooms (sitting room, bedroom,

In the following year (1856-7) a frame building, three stories in height, was erected. The present grounds contain twenty-four acres, nearly half of it being a grove of old forest trees.

From this time the school entered upon a new career of prosperity. The Baptists of Ohio began to rally around it, students came to it, and it was enabled to take an important place among the edu catio'nal institutions of the State. In 1853 the entire assets of the college, including all endowments, amounted to only thirteen thousand seven hundred and seventy-two dollars and sixty-five cents; but in 1856 William S. Denison, of Adamsville, gave ten thousand dollars toward the endowment, and in his honor the name was changed to Denison university.

In 1863 Dr. Hall resigned, and Rev. Samson Talbot, D. D., was elected to the presidency, and continued to discharge the duties of the office, to the great satisfaction of the trustees and patrons, until his sudden and lamented death in 1873. In 1869-70, the second building (that on the right hand in the cut) was erected, still larger in dimensions than the former. It contains a chapel, natural history room, and accommodations for seventytwo students. In 1863 the Baptist convention of Ohio undertook to raise an endowment of one hundred thousand dollars, which was completed in 1867, and the full amount has thus far been preserved intact, an income of six per cent, on the amount being available, annually, for the payment of salaries of professors. In 1872-3 another fund of seventy-five thousand dollars was raised and is held in like manner. These funds are largely due to the intelligent munificence of E. E. Barney, E. Thresher, and W. P. Huffman, of Dayton, J. M. Hoyt, of Cleveland, and other noble brethren scattered throughout the State.

In 1875 Rev- & Benjamin Andrews, A. M., was elected president, and continued in the office until 1879, when he resigned, and Rev. Alfred Owen, D. D., was elected to succeed him.

In 1877 W. H. Doane, musical doctor, of Cincinnati, donated to the college the sum of ten thousand dollars, for the purpose of erecting a building for the library and cabinet. This building was dedicated at the commencement in 1878. It is substantial and beautiful ; and is believed to be as well adapted to its purpose as any such building in the country. It is called "Doane Hall."

There is*on the premises (unrepresented on the cut, hidden by' Doane Hall), a wooden building originally erected on the farm above referred to, but removed to the present site and now appropriated to a gymnasium and armory for the use of the students. The present value of the buildings and grounds is about seventy-five thousand dollars, and the endowment at the present time, with no debt, about one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, making the total value of the property two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, besides the library and apparatus.

The university library contains ten thousand volumes, and with the two society libraries makes the whole number of volumes available to the students at least founteen thousand.

The university library, in Doane hall, is open in term time, daily, except Sundays, for the use of the members of the college classes. The college reading room, open every forenoon and evening, is supplied with the choicest daily and weekly papers, and with the best English and American magazines and reviews.

The cabinet contains a choice selection of shells, and a full series of specimens for illustrations in geology, mineralogy, Zoology, and archaeology. During term time it is open daily, except Sundays, to students and visitors. Students have the use of the university library, as well as the cabinet, free of charge. Both library and cabinet are receiving constant accessions.

There are two college literary societies - the Calliopean, founded in 1834, and the Franklin, founded in 1843. They publish a bi-monthly paper, the Denison Collegian , devoted to literary themes and college and town news. There is a literary society connected with the preparatory department - the Ciceronian. The society of Alumni was organized in 1859, and the Reading Room and Lecture association in 1873.

The aim of instruction has been, from the first, to secure the greatest accuracy and thoroughness. The graduates of the university have taken rank with any others in the professional schools where their studies have been continued, and in society.

The charter, amended in 1867, vests the management of the university in a board of thirty-six trustees, to be chosen exclusively from members in good standing and full fellowship in regular Baptist churches of Ohio, who shall hold their office only so long as they retain such membership and continue to reside in the State - five, at least, to be resident freeholders of Licking county. These are divided into classes of twelve each, the term of office being three years. The following is the present board of trustees - term expires June, 1 88 1 : Honorable J. M. Hoyt, LL. D., Cleveland;

These men are generally faithful to their trust, and give their best thought and most earnest attention to the affairs of the college. Twenty-one of them were present at the last meeting, and their deliberations were marked by great unanimity of thought and purpose.

The faculty is composed of men most of them long tried and found to be thoroughly prepared for and interested in their work. Dr. Owen, the president, has won the high regard of his colleagues and the entire confidence of the board, as well as the respect and esteem of students and citizens. There is to be no change in the corps of instructors for the coming year. The faculty consists of the following able men :

Rev. Alfred Owen, D. D., president; Maria Theresa Barney, professor of intellectual and moral philosophy; Almon U. Thresher, A. M., professor of rhetoric and English literature ; Lewis

John L. Gilpatrick, A. M., Benjamin Barney, professor of mathematics and physics; Charles Chandler, A. M., professor of the Latin language and literature; Rev. Richard S. Colwell, A. M., professor of the Greek language and literature; John W. Moncrief, A. M., instructor in Latin, Greek and history (English and Greek,) and principal of preparatory department ; Bunyan Spencer,

A. B., instructor in English grammar, elementary physics and mathematics; Professor Charles Chandler, librarian; Professor A. U. Thresher, curator of buildings and grounds.

The next anniversary closes fifty years of educational work at Granville - a fact of no mean importance. Few institutions in the land can point to a fairer record. It is doubtful if more has been done, with equal resources, anywhere on the continent. The college has had, from the first, a wellearned reputation for careful training and thorough scholarship, which it hopes to maintain in all time to come.

This semi-centennial will be appropriately observed. A committee of the trustees is appointed, and the co-operation of alumni and students is specially invited, that the end of fifty years may result in such awakened enthusiasm and hope as will bear the work forward both in attempting and accomplishing greater things in the future.

The following extract from the report of the committee appointed in 1878, to examine the financial condition of the college, will be found inter- j esting in this connection:

"The committee appointed to prepare a statement as to the history and condition of the funds of the university, present the following. In submitting their report, the committee offer as prefatory, and as being necessary to its completeness, the substance of a paper prepared by Dr. Talbot in 1863, which presents an exhaustive and complete exhibition of the finances of the college from its origin to the date of that paper. This exhibit divides those thirty-two years into two periods; The first extending from the origin of the college in 1831 to 1853; the second from 1853 to 1863.

"It was ascertained that the entire assets of the college in 1853, including all endowments, were only thirteen thousand seven hundred and seventy-two dollars and sixty-five cents. At the end of the second period in 1863 the entire endowments of the college were estimated at fifty thousand dollars. Dr. Talbot was appointed president of the college at the June meeting of the trustees in that year. The college was at that time in a very precarious condition. The country being in the midst of our late civil war, was depressed in all its interests almost to despair. The faculty were without any visible means of support, except the tuition fees of the scanty number of students, and that number was constantly decreasing by enlistment in the volunteer armies of the Government. In this state of affairs the trustees resolved to petition the Baptist convention of the State of Ohio, to recommend to the friends of the college to raise some endowment for the support of its faculty. This petition was presented to the convention at its annual meeting in October, 1863, and the convention resolved to recommend the raising of a special endowment of one hundred thousand dollars. This undertaking was assumed by a few individuals in manner as set forth in the following plan:

' "The undersigned residents in the State of Ohio propose to raise the full sum of one hundred thousand dollars, to be held as a permanent fund, the annual income of which only may be expended in sustaining the faculty of instruction in Denison university, at Granville, Ohio.

* "To secure this object, we, the undersigned, 'agree to pay the several sums set opposite our respective names to William P. Huffman, of Dayton, Hubbard Colby, of Mansfield, and George F. Davis, of Cincinnati, or either of them, to be held by them in trust, and invested in such form as they may deem best, until with the accrued interest, the entire sum of one hundred thousand dollars shall have been secured, when they shall call a meeting of the contributors at Granville, Ohio, by sending a written notice to each, and publishing it at least two weeks in the yournal and Messenger, or the denominational paper, to determine whether the money shall be paid over to the trustees of Denison university, or to a separate board of trustees of endowment fund, to be then incorporated under the act passed March 12, 1853. At this meeting a majority of the persons present, representing in person or by proxy the sums contributed, shall be a quorum to transact business, each one hundred dollars contributed entitling the person representing it to one \ ote, and a majority of the votes determining to which body the funds shall be entrusted. In no event, however, shall any part of the principal be used, but the annual income only shall be appropriated as aforesaid.'

"This endowment was consummated in 1867. At a meeting of the subscribers to this fund held in Granville, June 27, 1867, it was ascertained that the full amount of reliable subscription somewhat exceeded one hundred thousand dollars, and it was resolved to pay over to the trustees of Denison university the full amount of this subscription in trust, for the object for which the funds were given with the specifications and restrictions attached thereto. This trust was accepted by the college at a meeting of its trustees, held in Granville on the same day, as above specified, and is known on our records as the hundred thousand dollars fund.

' ' Thus it will be seen that|the university holds in trust a special fund of one hundred thousand dollars, limited in its application to the support of the faculty, the annual income of which only can be expended. In 1872 and 1873, seventy-five thousand dollars were raised, known as the twenty-five thousand dollar subscription and the fifty thousand dollar subscription. These distinctions were caused by a proposition, in 1872, by Mr. K. E. Barney, a trustee, to give ten thousand dollars upon condition that the full sum of twenty-five thousand dollars could be raised, and by a proposal of the same, in 1873, to give twenty-five thousand dollars, provided the full sum of fifty usand dollars could be raised. These conditions were fulfilled, and the sum of seventy-five thousand dollars was raised. These funds were given to meet the current wants of the university, without limitation, except that no part of the principal should ever be used, nor any more than six per cent, of the income in any one year. The fifty thousand dollar subscription was accepted by the trustees under very heavy penalties of forfeiture, provided any part of the principal or any more than six per cent, of the income should ever be used, or any part of the principal or more than six per cent, of the income of any other funds belonging to the university, then known to the subscribers.

The centennial endowment fund, consisting of one thousand dollars, given by Mr. J. B. Trevor, of New York, and sundry small sums, called "the dollar roll," collected in 1876 by Rev. T. J. Sheppard, amounting

And two thousand dollars presented by Mr. J. D. Rockefeller, a trustee, one thousand dollars at the annual meeting of trustees in June, 1878, and one thousand dollars at a special meeting held October 24th, of the same year 2,000

"The committee recommend that the above small sums, amounting to sixteen thousand seven hundred and seventy-five dollars, all of which are now applicable, in their annual income, to the current expenses of the university, be added, for the sake of convenience in keeping accounts, to the seventy-five thousand dollar fund; and that this sum, when both funds are united, be known as the consolidated endowment fund, amounting to ninety-one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five dollars; and that the expenditure of interest from this fund and the one hundred thousand dollar fund, agreeably to sundry obligations assumed by the trustees, as before stated, be restricted to a sum not exceeding six per cent, annually.

"In addition to the above, there have been added to the endowment of the university, since 1863, the new brick edifice, estimated at a cost of thirty-five thousand dollars, in which is a commodious chapel, completed in the fall of 1871; the library building, estimated at a cost of ten thousand dollars, presented to the university by Mr. W. H. Doane, a trustee; and sundry additions made to the library, philosophical apparatus, etc., estimated at a cost of ten thousand dollars.

Talbot, widow of the late president, Samson Talbot, the annual income of which is to be paid to her quarterly for fifteen years from the date of the first payment to Mrs. Talbot, or, in the event of her marriage or death, for the benefit of her children, until the youngest is eighteen years of age, when said fund becomes the property of the university, and its annual income becomes applicable to its ordinary annual expenditures. Also the Mary Arnold Stevens fund of five hundred dollars, given by Professor William A. Stevens, to perpetuate the memory of his honored mother, the annual income of which is to be appropriated, under the advice of the faculty, to deserving students."

"The whole life and administration of the college without being sectarian, is pronounced and positive in favor of the Christian religion. The exercises of each day begin with prayers in the college chapel. This service the students are required to attend. They are also required to attend church twice each Sunday. A regular weekly prayer meeting is sustained in the college. Students are made welcome in the various Sundayschools of the village. In the Baptist Sunday-school, several classes, taught by college instructors, are intended expressly for students.

a 1 It is the desire of the trustees and faculty, to conserve, and as far as possible, advance, the honorable reputation already accorded to this college, for thoroughness, and other excellencies of mental discipline. The aim is to build, fashion, and develop young men, in the most earnest and successful manner possible, intellectually and morally, for the higher vocations and duties of life. Every possible resource and effort is, and will be, employed in furtherance of this end.

"Many considerations particularly recommend Denison university as a place for acquiring liberal learning. Its courses ot study are thorough and comprehensive; students in it are peculiarly free from incentives to dissipation ; they are constantly subject to a strong Christian influence; the location of the university is beautiful and salubrious; means of living are obtainable at a low price, and the intellectual life of the college community is quickened by the presence of other schools."