The History of Dartmouth College Part 4

This interesting doc.u.ment bears the same date with Mr. Wheelock's Doctorate in Divinity, from the University of Edinburgh.

Dr. Wheelock, appreciating the importance of a better knowledge of the comparative advantages of the various proposed locations, finally determined to commission trustworthy agents, to make thorough explorations. We give his language, in substance:

"Lebanon, Connecticut, July 20, 1768.

"Whereas the number in my Indian Charity School is now, by the blessing of G.o.d, become so large as that it is necessary the place where to fix it should be speedily determined, and so many and generous have been the offers made for that purpose by gentlemen of character and distinction in several neighboring governments, I do, therefore, hereby authorize and appoint the Rev. Mr. Ebenezer Cleaveland, of Gloucester, in the province of the Ma.s.sachusetts Bay, and my son, Ralph Wheelock (while the Rev. Dr. Whitaker is performing the like part in Pennsylvania) in my name and stead, to wait upon his Excellency John Wentworth, Esq., Governor of New Hampshire, and his a.s.sociates in office, to know what countenance and encouragement they will give to accommodate and endow said school, in case it should be fixed in the western part of that province."

Deep interest in Dr. Wheelock's work being manifested by Rev. Thomas Allen and others, at Pittsfield; Timothy Woodbridge and others, at Stockbridge;[18] and Abraham J. Lansing, the founder of Lansingburg,[19] and many others in that Province, they were also instructed to extend their explorations to Western Ma.s.sachusetts and to New York.

[18] See Appendix.

[19] See Appendix.

The following is the material portion of Mr. Cleaveland's report:

"I waited upon his Excellency John Wentworth, Esq., Governor of New Hampshire. He appeared very friendly to the design--promised to grant a township, six miles square, to the use of the school, provided it should be fixed in that Province, and that he would use his influence that his Majesty should give the quit-rents to the school, to be free from charge of fees except for surveying. Esquire Whiting, the Deputy Surveyor, being present, offered his a.s.sistance to look out the township and survey it, and give the service to the school. His Excellency the Governor recommended him to me for that purpose (since which, we found Landaff, a good township, to have forfeited the charter, of which we advised the Governor, and were informed [that] he promised to reserve it for the school). After spending a few days on our way with gentlemen of the lower towns, who appeared universally desirous that the school should come into that Province, and were generous in their offers to encourage the same, but proposed their donations, generally, where their interests in land lay we proceeded to Plymouth, Romney, and Compton, where Mr. Whiting left me. Five thousand acres of land were proposed to be given, on condition the school be fixed in either of these towns. Seventy-five pounds sterling and twenty thousand feet of boards (besides land) are offered on condition it should be fixed in Compton. The arguments used for fixing the school here are--'t is the centre of that province; good and easy portage by land and water to Portsmouth and Newbury; but twenty-seven miles further than Connecticut river from the Indians.

"From thence I travelled to Cohos, on Connecticut river; the inhabitants of that new country were universally much engaged to have the school fixed there, both from a respect to Dr. Wheelock's person and a regard to the general design; it would be too lengthy to mention the particular offers that were generously made. Besides what has been already mentioned, upwards of sixteen thousand acres are already subscribed, chiefly by gentlemen of the most noted and public characters in the Province of New Hampshire; and more is subscribing to have it fixed in the country of Cohos. Besides which, large subscriptions have been made and are still making which centre in particular towns, the princ.i.p.al of which and those where I was advised, and thought proper to take the most particular view, were Haverhill and Orford. These places are about equally distant from Portsmouth, ninety-two miles, thirty of which is good water carriage, the rest may be made a good wagon road. In this new country there are more than two hundred towns chartered, settled, and about to settle, and generally of a religious people, which do, and soon will, want ministers; and they have no college or public seminary of learning for that purpose in that Province, which want they apprehend may be supplied by this school without any disadvantage to, or interfering in the least, with the general design of it. These places are situate about forty miles nearer to the Six Nations than the place where the school now is; they are about one hundred miles from Mount Royal and about sixty from Crown Point; and, perhaps, about sixty from the Indians at St. Francis, to whom there is water portage by Connecticut and St. Francis Rivers, except a mile or two; there is also water carriage from hence by the Lakes and St. Lawrence River, etc., by the Six Nations and the tribes many hundred miles west, except very small land carriages. Population in this new country is very rapid, and will doubtless be much more so if the Doctor should remove there with his school, and their lands will soon bear a great price. From hence I went with Mr. John Wright (whom the Doctor sent to accompany me in my further inquiry) to Hatfield, in the Province of the Ma.s.sachusetts; and found gentlemen there universally desirous to have the school fixed in Berkshire County in the western part of that Province."

This region was visited by them, as well as New York. During the autumn of 1768, by commission of Dr. Wheelock, Mr. Cleaveland, in company with Mr. Allen Mather, also attended a large "Congress" of several Indian tribes, at Fort Stanwix. In his report, after referring to friendly conference with other chiefs, he says: "I also saw one from Caghnawaga near Montreal, who desired to know if he could get his son into Dr. Wheelock's school, and manifested a great desire to send him. I told him there was talk of the school's going to Cohos. He said if it should be fixed there, he believed that many of that tribe would send their children to it."[20] This Canadian chief's statement was considered, most carefully, by Dr. Wheelock. The proper doc.u.ments were forwarded with the least practicable delay to the English Trustees, and elicited the following response:

[20] See Appendix.

"London, 3d April, 1769.

"Reverend Sir:--Last week we received your letters of the 22d and 23d December, 1768, and 10th of January, 1769; and being convinced how necessary it is for the prosperity of your pious inst.i.tution, as well as for the peace of your own mind, that a place should be fixed upon for the future establishment of your school as soon as possible, we have attentively considered the report of Mr. Ebenezer Cleaveland, whom you employed to take a view of the several spots proposed for that purpose, together with the other papers which have now and heretofore been transmitted to us relative to that matter; and, upon weighing the several generous offers and proposals that have been made to you by gentlemen of different governments for the benevolent purpose of promoting the important design of your inst.i.tution, and the reasons that have been offered or have occurred to us in support of each, we are unanimously of opinion that the most advantageous situation for carrying on the great purposes of your school, will be in one of the townships belonging to the District of Cowas, in the Government of New Hampshire, agreeable to the proposal of Governor Wentworth and the gentlemen who have generously expressed their intention of contributing to that design; but whether Haverhill or Orford may be the most eligible for this purpose, we must leave to your judgment to determine. According to the best information we can procure of the state of those towns, we think you may possibly give the preference to the former, especially if the farm which you mention as very convenient for an immediate supply of provisions, can be procured upon reasonable terms.

"We found our opinion, princ.i.p.ally, upon this reason, that it appears to us that Cowas is the most central of the situations that have been proposed between the Indians of the Six Nations, on the one hand, and those of St. Francis and of the other tribes to the eastward, on the other; and that it is not inferior to any of the rest in other respects. For this reason, we cannot but recommend to you to accept the offers of Governor Wentworth and the Gentlemen in New Hampshire.

And we heartily pray that the same good Providence which has so remarkably blessed your undertaking hitherto, may continue to protect and prosper it in its farther progress, and may prolong your life, that you may have the satisfaction to see it fixed upon such a plan as may afford a reasonable hope of answering all the good purposes you have in view.

"We are, Reverend Sir,

"Your most obedient servants,

Dartmouth, S. S. Smythe, Samuel Roffey, John Thornton, Daniel West, Charles Hardy, Samuel Savage, Jos. Robarts, Robert Keen."

"Received August 10, 1769."

CHAPTER VI.

A COLLEGE CHARTER.

The long-protracted efforts of Mr. Wheelock,[21] to provide legal safeguards for donations in aid of his great work, now demand careful attention.

[21] It will be observed that the appropriate t.i.tle, at the period under consideration, is given to the founder of the college here as elsewhere in this work.

The deed of Mr. Joshua More, conveying two acres of land with buildings attached, was dated July 17, 1755, a short time previous to his death. Mr. Wheelock now placed himself in confidential relations with two eminent lawyers in New York, William Smith, and his son William Smith, Jr., the latter of whom, perhaps, may be said to have left his impress upon the Const.i.tution of the United States, through his distinguished pupil, Gouverneur Morris. The correspondence, at first, seems to have been chiefly with Mr. Smith, Senior. August 6, 1755, he writes to Mr. Wheelock: "The means for the accomplishment of so charitable a design seem at present very imperfect." He suggests, that there is "no incorporation" of Mr. Wheelock and the other gentlemen to whom Mr. More conveyed the property; that the deed contains "no consideration;" and that the estate is at most only "for life." He advises Mr. Wheelock, at least, to procure a better deed, which was afterwards executed by Mrs. More. The death of Mr.

Wheelock's most influential and valuable a.s.sociate trustee, ex-President Williams, only a few days after the conveyance by Mr.

More, was a severe loss, and a temporary embarra.s.sment to his a.s.sociates. But Mr. Wheelock determined to proceed in his efforts for an incorporation, relying mainly upon the dictates of his own judgment for direction. After the lapse of some five years, in February, 1760, he gives the results to Mr. Smith, in language of which the following is the substance: "We sent home some years ago for the royal favor of a Charter. Lord Halifax approved the design, but [to save expense]

advised, instead of a Charter, the establishment of the school by a law of Connecticut Colony, and promised that when sent there it should be ratified in Council, which he supposed would be as sufficient as any act there. Hereupon I attended our a.s.sembly, in May, 1758, with a memorial, the prayer of which was granted by the House of Representatives; the Governor and Council negatived it, upon the ground that their action would not be valid, if ratified in England, beyond this Colony, and that a corporation within a corporation might be troublesome, as Yale College had sometimes been. I am since informed that the Earl of Dartmouth has promised, if the matter shall be put into a proper channel, to undertake and go through with it at his own expense."

Thus it appears that Lord Dartmouth was desirous of aiding Mr.

Wheelock by his influence, and otherwise, long before being asked by him for pecuniary aid. In explanation of the governor's objections, it should be stated, that Mr. Wheelock desired such an incorporation as would enable him to locate his school in any of the American Colonies, and that there was just at that period an earnest contest between the corporation of Yale College, led by President Clap, and the Colonial government, in regard to the control of that inst.i.tution.

Nothing having been accomplished in the meantime, Mr. Wheelock writes in July, 1763, to his friend, Dr. Erskine, as follows: "Governor Fitch privately proposes my removing my prayer for an incorporation from this government [Connecticut]. It is likely we shall delay, it till we see the success of our suit for the Royal favor." In September following, he writes to his friend, Mr. De Berdt, in London, that he has sent to him "materials, by General Lyman[22] and Colonel Dyer,"[23] to enable him to "make application for an incorporation."

Unsuccessful as before in England, for reasons which will become more apparent hereafter, in May, 1764, we find Mr. Wheelock pet.i.tioning the Connecticut a.s.sembly "to incorporate" six gentlemen of the Colony, including George Wyllis, of Hartford, and himself, as legal guardians of his school. But he did not procure the long-desired incorporation.

[22] The distinguished Gen. Phineas Lyman.

[23] Hon. Eliphalet Dyer, of Windham.

In 1765, being about to send solicitors of charity on a larger scale to England, Mr. Wheelock decided to make yet one more effort there for an act of incorporation. A letter from Mr. Smith, written evidently about this time, no date being attached, contains advice to Mr.

Wheelock in which we trace one of the most prominent features of the Charter. He proposes, in substance: "an application to the King for a short Charter incorporating. First, A sett of gentlemen in the Colonies near Mr. Wheelock, who shall have all the power of a corporation, as to managing estates, supplying vacancies, etc. Second, Another sett in England and elsewhere in Europe, who, shall be correspondents of the first sett, and only have the general power of securing donations to be transferred to them."

Lord Dartmouth and the other gentlemen in England who were const.i.tuted, by Mr. Wheelock, a Board of Trust for the moneys collected in that country, by Messrs. Occom and Whitaker, seem to have thought this private incorporation amply sufficient for the security of these funds. In writing to Mr. Keen, in November, 1767, Mr. (now Dr.) Wheelock alludes to the fact that this gentleman had expressed an opinion that his successor should be "in all respects accountable to the present Trust." Although dissenting from this opinion, Dr.

Wheelock seems to have been prudent and conciliatory in his intercourse with his worthy benefactors, wisely deeming it an object of primary importance to raise the requisite funds for his operations.

Messrs. Occom and Whitaker having fulfilled their mission abroad, and generous promises of aid having been made by Governor Wentworth, we find Dr. Wheelock, in October, 1768, writing to him as follows: "As soon as the place to fix the school shall have been determined to be in your Province, I will appoint your Excellency, or the Governor for the time being, to be a Trustee on this side the water till a legal incorporation may be obtained." This shows that Dr. Wheelock was not averse to a judicious admixture of the clerical and lay elements in the Board of Trust, although the Trustees named in his will, the germ of the charter, were clergymen.

The suggestion seems to have been most kindly received by Governor Wentworth. Dr. Wheelock now determined to avail himself of the aid of his firm and valuable friend, Rev. Dr. Langdon, of Portsmouth. A letter from him to this gentleman is as follows:

"Lebanon, April 7, 1769.

"Reverend and dear Sir,--Yours by Captain Cushman is safe arrived, and I have considered the contents. And for several reasons I am of opinion that it will be best that the Trustees be the same for the present, as I have already appointed in my will, which I have made at the desire of the Trust in England, whose names were, with the will, some time ago transmitted to them. The affair is very delicate, and as such must be conducted, or it will disgust those worthy gentlemen, and overset all. Their sentiments of an incorporation have been differing from mine. They have insisted that I should conduct the whole affair without one, and that my successor should be nominated and appointed by my will. Experience, they think, has fully taught them that, by means of an incorporation, such designs become jobs, and are soon ruined thereby. They choose to hold the moneys collected there in their own hands for this purpose, and accordingly have publicly declared their Trust of the same under their hands and seals, and have disposed of it, as their wisdom directed, for the benefit of the school. I have, therefore, after much study and consultation in the affair, appointed two setts of Trustees, namely, those in England who have voluntarily condescended to make themselves so, to take care of whatever concerns the object in view on that side the water; and a sett in this vicinity, to take care of and perform whatever shall concern it on this side. I have appointed a successor, to take care of the school, etc., only till he shall be approved and confirmed by the concurrence of both setts of Trustees, or till they all agree in another, nominated by either and approved by both, each sett to have power to supply vacancies in their Trust, made by death or resignation, by the major vote of the survivors; something like this I conceive will be most agreeable to the Right Honorable, Honorable, and generous benefactors who have accepted the Trust in England, and I apprehend it will make the design popular and respectable.

"The Trustees here will hold and have the disposal of lands given in America for this use; and I apprehend it will be proper for his Majesty's Governor of the Province for the time being to be a Trustee, but at present I have not light enough to determine a propriety in making his Majesty himself one on this side the water.

"I have several reasons, which appear to me weighty, for having the body of the Trustees first incorporated in this vicinity.

"1. They will be at hand to conduct the affairs of the school, missionaries, schoolmasters, etc., till I can get settled in the wilderness, which will be impracticable, if they are at the distance of Portsmouth.

"2. Several of the Trustees talk of removing with me to settle in that vicinity; and if so, they may for a time act as a committee, till a sufficient number suitable for that Trust shall be settled (as you will observe will be expedient) near to the school.

"3. Till this be done, my connections will likely be such as will oblige me to make frequent visits to these parts, where we may have a full meeting of the Board without any expense.

"4. Gentlemen here have been so much concerned in Indian affairs, that I suppose it not to be immodest to say _ceteris paribus_, they are at present better qualified to act therein than those who will have to encounter a thousand dangers and difficulties before unthought of.

"5. By having the body corporate here, I can claim a valuable subscription of 400 or 500 for the use and support of the school, payable as soon as it becomes a body corporate, besides a tenement in this place, given for the same purpose.

"If the school should once be settled in those parts, it is likely population will proceed with much greater rapidity than ever, and the whole will be soon effected.

"I design to consult some gentlemen of the law relative to an incorporation, and get a rough draught made, with a view to save time if the School should be fixed in your Province. Please to discourse his Excellency of thoughts I have here suggested, and transmit such remarks as he shall please to make thereon. Please to commend my respects suitably to him, and accept the same yourself from, reverend and dear sir,

Your Friend and Brother, etc., "Eleazar Wheelock."