History of Randolph-Macon College, Virginia Part 1

History of Randolph-Macon College, Virginia.

by Richard Irby.

PREFACE.

The following resolution, adopted at the last annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, will answer as a preface to what will be given as a history of the oldest incorporated Methodist college in America now in existence, and can be pleaded as an excuse, if any be needed, why one so inexperienced in authorship should make this effort to rescue from oblivion what is left of the records and information now obtainable in regard to this, comparatively speaking, venerable college.

"On motion of J. J. Lafferty and W. H. Christian,

"_Resolved_, That the thanks of the Board be tendered to Richard Irby, Esq., for his labors in the collection of material for a connected and authentic historical account of this college, and that he be requested to continue and perfect this work, and that all friends of the college be requested to give him their cordial aid and co-operation."

HISTORY OF RANDOLPH-MACON COLLEGE

EARLY EFFORTS OF METHODISTS TO FOUND SCHOOLS.

JOHN WESLEY, the founder of Methodism, was in every sense a highly educated man. His education began at the knee of one of the wisest and most accomplished women that ever lived to bless the world. It was continued at Oxford, but did not stop there; for he believed, and acted on his belief, that a man's education should continue as long as his intellectual energy survives.

The great business of Wesley was to spread scriptural holiness over the world, beginning at his own home. To accomplish this great end he sought and utilized every practicable agency. Early in the course of the great movement he put in motion, he established the Kingswood School, which he aimed to make as thorough, practically, as Oxford and Cambridge, and free from the surroundings which hindered evangelical believers in attendance on those schools, where he and his co-workers had encountered so much opposition and ridicule. At this school were to be allied in holy matrimony religion and learning, which G.o.dless hands had sought to put asunder; for he valued education and learning severed from, and unhallowed by, religion as worse than worthless.

Following the example of this great leader, Asbury, the "Pioneer Bishop of America," sought at an early day to carry out the same plans. But the difficulties he encountered were different from those Mr. Wesley met in many respects. At the close of the Revolutionary War, he found a continent over the broad area of which was spread a population of about three million of people. These people had just come out of a war of seven years, impoverished in every species of property except their broad acres of forest land, worthless until subdued by the st.u.r.dy husbandman. The currency of the country was well-nigh worthless and irredeemable in gold and silver. The great and controlling idea of the people was the restoration of wealth and material resources. This meant and required hard and constant work, which pushed aside schools and all other enterprises of the kind considered as of secondary importance. At that time only about eight colleges were found in the States, and these were slimly endowed, if endowed at all, and but poorly patronized.

But bold, and trusting in G.o.d, Asbury began the work of establishing schools, hardly waiting for the clearing away of the smoke of battle. At the time he was made General Superintendent, or Bishop, (1784), there were in the United States 14,988 members in the Methodist Episcopal Church. These were scattered broadcast over the States bordering on the Atlantic Ocean, from New York to Georgia. The bulk of the membership was found in the Southern States. The Minutes for that year give New York City sixty members and Brunswick Circuit (Virginia) four hundred and eighty-four, and other circuits in Virginia more.

In the year 1784 Dr. c.u.mmings (in _Early Schools of Methodism_, New York, 1886) thinks Bishop Asbury founded the first Methodist academy ever established in America. It is reasonable, however, to put the date a little later, say 1785, for his services as General Superintendent did not begin till later, inasmuch as Mr. Wesley's letter appointing him to the place bears date September 10, 1784. This school or academy was located in Brunswick county, Virginia, on the road leading from Petersburg to Boydton, at a point about midway between the two places.

He named it

[Ill.u.s.tration: EBENEZER ACADEMY]*

*The Ebenezer Academy building is still standing, but it has been changed somewhat since it ceased to be used for school purposes. The cut used here was made from a pencil sketch of it made by Mr. Short, who lives near, and sent by Rev. J. Carson Watson, in whose circuit it is located. The walls are of stone, one of which has become injured; otherwise, the old house would be good for another century.

For a number of years this academy was controlled by trustees appointed by the Bishop or by the Annual Conference, and enjoyed such supervision as the Bishop was able to give, which, with such arduous labors as demanded his energies, was of necessity but slight and occasional. On this account, and other accounts incident to the times, the control of the academy was lost to the Methodists, and went into the hands of the county authorities, which control never was regained by the Church. But it was kept up as an academy for many years, and at it many of the most prominent men of the county and counties adjacent were educated wholly or partly. In this way it did a good work for the people of its day, and was the forerunner and prophecy of another school not far away, which, under better auspices, though not without difficulties, has lived to bless the Church and the world in this nineteenth century.

The first regularly incorporated Methodist college in the United States was c.o.kesbury College. It was located near Baltimore, Md. It was in operation only a few years. Augusta College, Kentucky, was the next.

That has long since ceased to exist. In the period preceding the division of the Methodist Episcopal Church, there were thirty-one literary inst.i.tutions controlled by this Church, of which three were exclusively for females and several, co-educational. Seventeen of these were located in the Southern States. Of the thirty-one, only seven colleges have survived, viz.: Randolph-Macon College, chartered February 3, 1830; Wesleyan University (Connecticut), chartered May, 1831; Emory College (Georgia), 1837; Emory and Henry (Virginia), 1838; Wesleyan Female College (Georgia), 1839. d.i.c.kinson College (Pennsylvania) chartered in 1783, but did not become a Methodist college till 1833, and was opened as a Methodist college September, 1834. Alleghany College (Pennsylvania) was chartered in 1818, and came under the control of the Methodist Church in 1833, and was opened as a Methodist college the same year.

It will thus be seen that all these male colleges which survived, were opened under Methodist patronage, nearly simultaneously, viz.: Wesleyan University, October, 1831; Randolph-Macon, January, 1832; Alleghany College, November, 1833; d.i.c.kinson College, September, 1834. This point of time thus became a marked starting-point in the history of Methodist colleges. Since this turning-point was pa.s.sed, the number of them has increased as rapidly as the membership of the church, and can now be counted by the hundreds, making the Methodist Church foremost in the great work of Christian education.

It may be noted here that all of the above-named colleges succeeded to buildings which had been used for school purposes, more or less complete, while those of Randolph-Macon were built wholly out of new material.

It is probable that the idea and purpose moving Bishop Asbury to found church schools, had never gone entirely out of the minds of the Methodists of Virginia, notwithstanding all the failures and disasters which had befallen the early enterprises. They found no school in the Conference territory of high grade where they felt safe in sending their sons. William and Mary College was under the control of the Episcopalians, and its location was noted for excess in worldliness and free-living, which did not invite Methodists, whose rules forbade such customs. The atmosphere of the college and town was unsuited to Methodists, and they were looked upon as unfit for the society of the so-called best people. Hampden-Sidney College, originally non-sectarian, had come under the control of the Presbyterians, with whom, in those days, Arminian Methodists did not think it safe to let their sons remain too long, lest they should become Calvinists. Washington College was then a feeble school, and remote from the eastern portion of the State, and outside the Virginia Conference. Under these circ.u.mstances, and for what were esteemed good reasons, the Methodists of the Virginia Conference, then composed of the eastern and middle portions of Virginia and North Carolina, moved in the matter of establishing a college of high grade.

A resolution, adopted by the General Conference of 1824, recommending "that each Annual Conference establish a Seminary of learning under its own regulations and patronage," had the effect to direct the attention of the church throughout the connection to the subject of education. So almost simultaneously the New York Conference, with the Virginia Conference, moved towards the establishment of a college, as recommended by the General Conference, the result of which was the founding of the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn., and of Randolph-Macon College at Boydton, Va., the two oldest Methodist colleges, originally incorporated as such, now existing in America.

The credit of first planning or founding Randolph-Macon College has been awarded to Rev. Hezekiah G. Leigh and Gabriel P. Disosway. The former was a prominent minister in the Virginia Conference, and was justly esteemed by his contemporaries as an orator second to but few, if any, of his time. Dr. Bennett, in _Memorials of Methodism in Virginia_, says: "Perhaps no man ever left a deeper impression on the hearts of the people among whom he labored. In every city where he was stationed, in every district, in every circuit, there are thrilling recollections of his preaching.... He was not simply an eloquent preacher, he was a wise, skillful, practical workman in the vineyard." Dr. W. A. Smith, third President of Randolph-Macon College, said of him: "Dr. Leigh had few equals in the pulpit. He filled a large s.p.a.ce in public attention, and wielded a wide and undisputed influence among his brethren in the ministry." He was a native of Perquimans county, N. C., born November 23, 1795, but for many years prior to his death resided on his farm near Boydton, Va.

Gabriel P. Disosway was a native of the city of New York, of Huguenot ancestry, born December 6, 1799. He took his A.B. degree at Columbia College, New York, in 1821. In early life he became a citizen of Petersburg, Va., and married a Virginia lady. He was a pious and devoted Methodist, and by his superior education and literary abilities exerted a wide and salutary influence on the church circles of his town and day.

Having been a college-bred man, he may have suggested to Dr. Leigh the founding of a college, or the latter may have sought the advice and co-operation of Mr. Disosway, and thenceforth the two worked together as co-laborers in this good cause. Dr. W. A. Smith inclined to the latter view of the matter, for he says (_Funeral Discourse on Rev. H. G.

Leigh_), "Regarding all the circ.u.mstances, the prominent position held by Dr. Leigh in originating all the preliminary measures, and his personal activity in advancing them, we have always considered him in a good sense the founder of Randolph-Macon College." Mr. Disosway returned to New York in 1828, and thus the college ceased to have his active co-operation with Dr. Leigh, which might, and doubtless would, have been very acceptable and beneficial. He lived to an honorable old age, giving much of his valuable time to the great interests of the Church of his choice, and also to the great religious inst.i.tutions of his State and the country, with a number of which he was closely identified as manager or director. He also wrote frequently for the press, and was the author of several books, one of which particularly was highly esteemed, viz. _The Old Churches of New York_."

The college, many years ago, recognized the claims of these co-founders to the grat.i.tude and remembrance of succeeding generations by placing on the walls of the chapel marble tablets, suitably inscribed and dedicated to their memory.

The enterprise of establishing a college in the Virginia Conference took definite direction, and resulted in practical action at the session of the Virginia Conference held at Oxford, N. C., March 2, 1825. In the minutes is this entry: "After some discussion on the recommendation of the General Conference (of 1824), 'That each Annual Conference establish a Seminary of Learning, under its own regulations and patronage,' the whole question was referred to a committee of twelve--six ministers and six laymen--to consider and report the best method of establishing such a Seminary with suitable const.i.tutional principles." The following const.i.tuted the committee ordered: John Early, Hezekiah G. Leigh, Caleb Leach, Charles A. Cooley, William Compton and George M. Anderson, of the Conference; and Gabriel P. Disosway, Joseph B. Littlejohn, John Nutall, Lewis Taylor, Joseph Taylor and Jesse H. Cobb, of the laity.... "The College bill, which was laid on the table, was taken up, and, after some amendment, was adopted." It would appear from the const.i.tution of the committee, that John Early made the motion to appoint the committee, and this was probably the case, because he was then, and for many years afterwards, a leader in the business of the Conference, and, therefore, the prime mover in the enterprise, had enlisted his active interest in the matter. We shall see that this prominent position was held by him for many years afterwards.

This was all that was done at this Conference. At the next Conference, held in Portsmouth, Va., February, 1826, the committee was increased by adding George W. Charlton and James Smith, ministers, and Robert A.

Armistead, Arthur Cooper, Jesse Nicholson, local preachers, and J. C.

Pegram, Cary Jennings, laymen. On the 20th the committee made a report, and the report Was laid on the table. On the 22nd the College bill, which was laid on the table, was taken up, and after some amendments it was adopted. On the 23rd the "Select Committee," recommended in the bill adopted on the days previous, was appointed, viz.: Hezekiah G. Leigh, George W. Charlton, James Smith, John Early, Thomas Crowder, Ethelbert Drake, ministers, and Gabriel P. Disosway, Robert A. Armistead, William Clarke, John C. Pegram, laymen. This committee reported at the succeeding Conference (1827) a "Const.i.tution" for the College, which, after some amendments, was adopted; and it was further "_Resolved_, that every member take a subscription paper and use his influence and best exertions to obtain subscriptions for the benefit of the College contemplated to be founded within the bounds of this Conference."

At the Conference of 1828 a new committee of seven was appointed "to see that all the preachers pay a due and diligent attention to every regulation and matter appertaining to the establishment of the College contemplated, and to employ an efficient agent to make collections and obtain subscriptions for the same, and to maturely consider the advantages of every place proposed for its site, and to report thereon to the next Conference upon which the location of the College shall be fixed."

LOCATION AND NAMING OF THE COLLEGE.

At the Conference of 1829 the committee appointed the year previous made a report. The Committee had met at Zion Church, in Mecklenburg county.

The citizens of Brunswick offered $20,000 in subscriptions on condition that the College be located at Physic Springs, about four miles from Lawrenceville, the county seat, and not very far from the old Ebenezer Academy. The citizens of Mecklenburg offered a parcel of land near Boydton, the county seat, at a very low price, and $10,000 in subscriptions, with some possible advantages from the Boydton Academy.

The location was fixed at or near Boydton, probably, mainly through the influence of Rev. Hezekiah G. Leigh, the prime mover in the College enterprise, and Howell Taylor, a very influential Methodist of the county, together with Hon. William O. Goode and Col. William Townes, men of great popularity. The site selected was also very near the line dividing the States of Virginia and North Carolina, and probably more accessible to the people of the two States at that time than any other eligible location, and was considered healthful, as well as the centre of a refined community. The county of Mecklenburg was one of the largest and wealthiest in the State, and its people and the people of the adjoining counties of North Carolina were friendly and h.o.m.ogeneous.

The report of the Committee was confirmed by the Conference, and the Committee was authorized to apply to the General a.s.sembly of Virginia for a charter. This the Committee proceeded to do, and Mr. Goode, of Mecklenburg, presented a bill to incorporate the "Trustees of Henry and Macon College" Friday, January 15, 1830. After going through the several readings required, and having several amendments made, on motion of Mr. Alexander, of Mecklenburg, the t.i.tle was changed, making it to read, "An act to incorporate the 'Trustees of Randolph-Macon College.'"

The bill so amended was pa.s.sed by both houses, and became a law February 3, 1830. The Act in part is as follows:

"1. _Be it enacted by the General a.s.sembly_, That there be, and is hereby erected and established, at or near Boydton, in the county of Mecklenburg, in this Commonwealth, a seminary of learning for the instruction of youth in the various branches of science and literature, the useful arts, agriculture, and the learned and foreign languages.

"2. _And be it further enacted_, That the said seminary shall be known and called by the name of Randolph-Macon College.

"3. _And be it further enacted_, That Hezekiah Leigh, John Early, Edward Cannon, W. A. Smith, William I. Waller, Thomas Crowder, Moses Brock, James Boyd, William Hammett, Caleb Leach, Matthew M. Dance, Lewis Skidmore, Augustine Claiborne, Ethelbert Drake, Henry Fitts, John Nutall, James Wyche, John P. Harrison, Grenville Penn, Walker Timberlake, John G. Claiborne, Howell Taylor, James Smith, Joel Blackwell, John Y. Mason, James Garland, Richard G. Morris, John W.

Lewis, William O. Goode, and Nathaniel Alexander be, and are hereby, const.i.tuted and appointed trustees of said college, who and their successors shall be a body politic and corporate by the name of the 'Trustees of Randolph-Macon College,' who shall have a perpetual succession and a common seal, and by the name aforesaid they and their successors shall be capable in law to possess, purchase, receive and retain to them and their successors forever, any lands, tenements, rents, goods, chattels or interests of any kind whatsoever, which may have been already given, or by them purchased for the use of said College; to dispose of the same in any way whatsoever they shall adjudge most useful to the interests and legal purposes of the inst.i.tution; and by the same name to sue and implead, be sued and impleaded, answer and be answered, in all courts of law and equity; and under their common seal to make and establish, from time to time, such by-laws, rules and ordinances, not contrary to the laws and const.i.tution of this Commonwealth, as shall by them be thought essential to the good order and government of the professors, masters and students of said College."

It will appear above that thirty were const.i.tuted trustees. Of the thirty, twelve were travelling preachers of the Virginia Annual Conference, and eighteen were local preachers and laymen. The name of Rev. Hezekiah G. Leigh heads the list, as, by courtesy, was proper. All were members of the Methodist Church, except the following: Judge John Y. Mason, John W. Lewis, William O. Goode, and Nathaniel Alexander, the three latter prominent citizens of Mecklenburg county. Of these a number lived to take an active part in the affairs of the college for many years. The last to pa.s.s away was Judge Garland, of Lynchburg, who died a few years since at a very advanced age.

It is well known for whom Randolph-Macon College was named--John Randolph, of Roanoke, and Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina. How it came about that a Christian and Methodist college should have been named for men who were not professed Christians, and who had never, so far as is known, shown any preference or kindly interest for the Methodist Church, has been a question of interest and speculation. The most probable solution of the question is that the name was determined very much by precedent. The oldest college in the State, William and Mary, founded primarily and specially for educating "the savages" in Christianity, was named for the King and Queen then on the throne.

Washington College was named for Washington, the hero of the day (1782); Hampden-Sidney for the champions of liberty and human rights (1783), all of them Christian colleges, but named for public men, representatives of the sentiments of the periods uppermost when they were founded.

Following the precedents set by these colleges, the names then most prominent in Virginia and North Carolina were selected, John Randolph, of Roanoke, and Nathaniel Macon, one living on the south side of the Roanoke River and the other on the north side. Neither of these men was in any way connected with the College, nor did either, so far as is recorded, ever manifest any interest in it by making a contribution to it or otherwise, but both were very popular in their native State, in whose service they literally spent their lives. John Randolph has been called an infidel by some Northern writers, but those who knew him best represent him as far from having been such, though he lived at a time when infidelity was far from being uncommon among public men. At one time, at least, he was a professed believer in Christ, and never gave up his belief, however inconsistent in his life, at times, he may have been.

Hon. J. K. Paulding, a distinguished author and public man, in a letter accepting membership in one of the literary societies of the College soon after it was built, wrote of these men:

"Randolph-Macon combines the names of two very distinguished men, with whom I was acquainted; with the former, long and intimately. Mr. Macon was one of the wisest, most virtuous men I ever knew. His integrity as a private man was only equalled by his devotion to his country and to the great principles of liberty, of which he was a most faithful and devoted advocate. Indeed, I may say, with perfect truth, that in the simplicity of his habits and character, as well as in the purity of his principles, he realized more than any man I ever knew the example of a steadfast, stern, inflexible republican.

"With Mr. John Randolph I was on terms of intimacy for more than twenty years. He was a very extraordinary man, whose life and character should be delineated by one who could a.n.a.lyze them thoroughly and explain their strange apparent inconsistency. To me it always appeared that but for the weakness of his physical const.i.tution and the almost perpetual sufferings it entailed upon him, he would have been one of the highest models of a high-minded gentleman, as well as one of the wisest, most consistent statesmen of the age. But his physical infirmities and sufferings impaired the vigor and consistency of his mind, while they often soured his temper, and caused those sudden caprices, which lost him many friends, and made his greatest admirers almost afraid to indulge in the society of one the charm of whose conversation was otherwise irresistible. This, however, I will say of him, that whatever may have been the infirmities of his temper, his principles were of the most high, and, indeed, lofty character. His integrity was exemplary, and his devotion to the great principles of liberty consistent and profound.

"The life and character of Mr. Macon young men may safely make the objects of their imitation throughout, while Mr. Randolph is rather a subject of admiration and wonder. Virginia should be proud of him as an orator without an equal among his contemporaries and as a man who, with all his faults, was possessed of many virtues of the very highest order."

Looking at the matter from our present standpoint, it seems strange that a more suitable name was not selected more in accordance with the special character of the object of the inst.i.tution, the blending of the highest culture of the mind with the elevation of Christian character.

[Ill.u.s.tration: REV. JOHN EARLY. _First President (1832-1868) of the Board of Trustees of Randolph-Macon College, and Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South._]