History of Randolph-Macon College, Virginia Part 13

It was a fortunate circ.u.mstance that this re-organization took place at the session of the Virginia Conference, which was held at the College, and presided over by Bishop Capers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: REV. WM. B. ROWZIE.]

Rev. W. B. Rowzie, who for many years had been Agent, resigned the position. A better friend the College never had.

At the request of the Board, Rev. B. R. Duval and Rev. Nathaniel Thomas were appointed Agents for the College. They were men of extraordinary energy and zeal, and they at once entered on a thorough canva.s.s of the Conference in raising funds for the College. President Smith entered on his duties with characteristic zeal. He was fortunately possessed of an unconquerable will and a buoyancy of disposition, without which he would have quailed under the discouragements under which he labored.

"Wm. A. Smith was born in Fredericksburg, Va., November 29, 1802. His mother was a consistent member of the Methodist Church, and in death prayed that her son might live to preach the glorious gospel. His father was a man of honorable character and position. Both died when he was of a tender age. For a time the orphan boy had rough usage; but he was afterwards adopted and raised by Mr. Russell Hill, a friend of his father, and a worthy merchant of Petersburg. When seventeen years old, he was converted, and joined the M. E. Church. He had received a good English education, and had commenced the study of the cla.s.sics; but feeling that he was called of G.o.d to the ministry, and not being able to attend college as he desired, he studied privately one year at the home of his uncle, Mr. Porter, in Orange county, and taught school two or three years in Madison. In 1824 he travelled the Gloucester circuit under the Presiding Elder; in February, 1825, he was admitted on trial into the Virginia Conference. In 1833, while Agent for Randolph-Macon College, then in its infancy, he met with a fearful accident: the carriage which he was driving upset and fell on him, breaking his right thigh and dislocating his left hip, and badly laming him for life. He was a delegate to the General Conference of the M. E. Church every session from 1832 to 1844, and occupied a high position in that great council as an adviser and debater. In the memorable appeal case of Harding, and in the yet more important extrajudicial trial of Bishop Andrew, which led to the division of the church, he won a reputation wide as the United States, and inferior to that of no minister of any denomination, for the highest deliberative and forensic eloquence. He was a member of the Louisville Convention which organized the M. E.

Church, South, and of all the General Conferences of this church to the date of his death. He commanded universal respect and confidence among his brethren by the sincerity of his zeal, the wisdom of his counsels, and the power of his reasoning. His impress will long remain on the legislation and inst.i.tutions of Southern Methodism. In 1846 he was called from the regular pastorate, by the urgency of the Trustees of Randolph-Macon College, sanctioned by the Virginia Conference, to the Presidency of this inst.i.tution. He was selected for that place because his courage, energy and strength of intellect seemed indispensable not only to the prosperity, but even to the saving of this n.o.ble inst.i.tution. Twenty years of his life was consecrated to this cause--years of self-sacrifice, of unremitting toil, of courageous battling with difficulties and victory over them; of hope where others desponded, of faith where others doubted, of resolution where others wavered. He was diligent in his study, diligent in his lecture-room, diligent in his travel through Virginia and North Carolina to collect money and to arouse interest in behalf of the College. The number of students steadily increased, the standard of scholars.h.i.+p was elevated, and through the joint efforts of Dr. Smith and the agents of the College an endowment fund of $100,000 was raised. Then came the terrible war, which emptied those cla.s.sic halls and swept away the funds which had been gathered with so much toil. Yet not in vain had he labored. Scores of ministers, hundreds of pious young men, educated under his care, moulded by his influence, are this day in their several spheres carrying on the same grand work to which he was devoted, and have learned, from his teachings and example, never to surrender, never to despair of Randolph-Macon.

"We have not spoken of Dr. Smith as a preacher and pastor. He soon rose to eminence in the ministry, and stood with the foremost in the pulpit and pastorate for faithfulness, ability and success. He had a deep, distinct, happy, constant experience of the saving grace of G.o.d in Christ Jesus. His zeal for the cause of religion was pure, steady, consuming. He was fully consecrated to the work of the ministry. The doctrines and polity of our church had no stronger, n.o.bler expounder and champion than he. His sermons were "logic on fire"--grand and solid discussions of the leading truths of the gospel, animated with deep emotion. Thousands were converted under his ministry; many of them became preachers of the word in our own and other denominations; the churches he served were ever edified and trained, not less by his pastoral fidelity than by his luminous discourses.

"As a man, he was of marked character. Who that ever saw him could forget that bold, frank, n.o.ble face and forehead, which revealed at a glance the lofty attributes of his intellect, the loftier attributes of his heart! Cunning and deceit he knew not; to fear he was a stranger; his convictions he was ever ready to avow and maintain. Yet, with all his courage and indomitable energy of will, he had a tender, sympathetic heart, and much of a child-like spirit, simple, unselfish, trustful, easy to be entreated." *

* Copied from Memoir in Virginia Conference Minutes.

Rev. C. F. Deems did not accept the chair of Latin, and O. H. P. Corprew was elected professor _pro tempore_, and filled the place.

At a meeting of the Board held March 31, 1847, an effort was made to establish a medical department of the College, but it never resulted in any permanent success.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BENNETT PURYEAR, A. M., LL. D., _Professor Chemistry Randolph-Macon College; Chairman Faculty and Professor Chemistry, Richmond College._]

At the meeting of the Board held June, 1847, President Smith reported that the session had been pleasant and the prospects of the College improving. The success of the Agents in their work gave promise of better financial conditions. A committee was appointed to reorganize the Preparatory School system, and it was proposed to establish one or more at salient points.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WM. A. SMITH, D. D., _President of Randolph-Macon College, 1846-1866. President Central College, Missouri._]

Professor J.W. Hardy tendered his resignation, which was accepted. He had been elected President of La Grange College, Alabama, where he died after a short service.

The following received degrees:

A. B.

BENNETT PURYEAR, Va.

JOHN MOODY, Va.

R. H. BEALE, Tenn.

A. M.

W. C. DOUB, N. C.

JOHN LYON, Va.

T. C. JOHNSON, Mo.

ARCHIBALD CLARK, Va.

THOMAS H. ROGERS, Va.

JOHN HOWARD, Va.

D. D.

REV. D. S. DOGGETT, Va.

REV. EDWARD WADSWORTH, Ala.

At a meeting of the Board held at Charlottesville November 17, during the session of the Virginia Conference, a further issue of life-scholars.h.i.+ps was authorized.

The committee on Preparatory Schools reported in favor of retaining the old school at the College under certain rules, and the establishment of one at Ridgway, N. C., under a contract with the Trustees of the Ridgway Academy, with William C. Doub, A. M., as Princ.i.p.al; also of one at Garysburg, N. C., with C. B. Stuart, A. M., as Princ.i.p.al.

At the close of the year, June, 1848, the President in the annual report reported increased patronage, and a session marked by studiousness and good order among the students. The number in the College and the Preparatory School was about one hundred and forty.

The graduates receiving degrees June, 1848, were--

A. B.

JOHN C. GRANBERY, Va.

JOHN H. CLAIBORNE, Va.

JAMES R. BRANCH, Va.

JOHN S. MOORE, Va.

DALLAS SMITH, Ala.

TAZEWELL HARGROVE, N. C.

RICHARD G. MORRIS, Va.

GEORGE W. FRIEND, Va.

CHARLES E. WILLIAMS, Va.

JAMES D. BLACKWELL, Va.

A. M.

CHARLES B. STUART, Va.

TURNER M. JONES, N. C.

WILLIE M. PERSON, N. C.

J. W. SHELTON, N. C.

THOMAS B. RUSSELL, Ga.

JOHN G. BOYD, Va.

WILLIAMS T. DAVIS (Hon'y), Va.

BENJAMIN JENKINS (Honorary), Missionary M. E. Church, South, in China.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JAMES R. BRANCH, A. M., _Colonel Artillery, C. S. A._]

D'Arcy Paul, Investing Agent and Chairman of the Finance Committee, reported the probable income for coming year at about $3,500, $2,000 of which amount to come from fees and the balance endowment dividends.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JOHN C. GRANBERY, A. M., D. D.]

We pause again in this narrative to give a reminiscence of College life as written in 1882 by a distinguished member of the cla.s.s last named, John C. Granbery, who delivered the valedictory as first-honor man. The distinction then achieved was but a presage of his rank in the several positions he has been called to fill--Pastor, Chaplain to the University of Virginia, Chaplain in the Confederate army (in which service he was severely wounded and taken prisoner), Professor in the Vanderbilt University, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (elected 1882), and author of several works. At this writing he lives at Ashland, and is the President of the Board of Trustees.

"As the earliest of the American Methodist Colleges now extant, Randolph-Macon may be called venerable, if not ancient. But I use the prefix _old_ in order to distinguish the College as it was at Boydton from the College as it is at Ashland. The features of contrast are many and important. In the old days slavery was, as we thought, a fixed and lasting inst.i.tution; civil strife had not swept away lives and fortunes, and the South was proud, independent, fiery and enthusiastic, chivalrous withal, generous, genial; now we are just beginning to adjust ourselves to the new social and political conditions which have been imposed by a disastrous war. Then there was a single degree, Bachelor of Arts, for which the students strove, and the course of four years was prescribed, with its regular gradations of Freshmen, Soph.o.m.ores, Juniors, and Seniors; now the studies are eclectic, and the matriculates may select any one of several degrees, or study without reference to graduation.

Then the lumbering stage brought up the tri-weekly, or perhaps daily, mail and pa.s.sengers, and the word of the driver rang forth cheerily, but no shrill whistle of steam-engine or thunder of lightning trains disturbed the silence of the cla.s.sic groves, and the attractions and distractions of the crowded, hurrying, clamorous city were out of reach and out of thought; now the steam-car and the steam-press are familiar objects, the capital is less than an hour's distance, and the stage-coach is a tradition.

"A change has taken place in the manner and measure of collegiate discipline. This is due not to the change of locality, but to the spirit of the age. It has come to be a maxim that the best government is that which governs least. We seek the minimum of restriction on liberty that is compatible with the ends of government, viz., order, morality and diligence. Formerly the dormitory system prevailed; students were required to be in their rooms during certain hours of the day and night; professors and tutors visited the buildings, seeking to surprise the inmates, in order to ascertain whether the rule was observed; there were many minute regulations which have since been abandoned. This continued exercise of authority and plan of watching provoked insubordination and evasion; the wits of the boys were set to work in order to deceive the teachers, and to break the rules without detection, or, at least, with impunity. The risk gave to mischief and lawlessness a relish they would not otherwise have possessed. Unwholesome suppers were stealthily brought to the rooms by negroes at late hours of the night; calathumps aroused the neighborhood with most hideous music; blackboards were greased; the bell-rope was cut, and old John had to blow his horn at daybreak in every row of the buildings, as a call to prayers and recitations. This provoked him greatly, and he used to say, 'If you won't be rung up as gentlemen, I must blow you up as hogs.' How heartily I have heard Dr. Smith laugh as he repeated the old negro's complaint at such times, 'We have the worstest young men, and the mostest on 'em, I ever seed!' Practical jokes, sometimes of a very disagreeable sort, were played on professors in their nocturnal rounds of inspecting the premises. Calves were hauled up into lecture-rooms, and other silly tricks were perpetrated. I am glad that these follies have pa.s.sed away, that faculty and students treat each other as gentlemen and friends, and that the public sentiment of the College would not tolerate any rudeness, though disguised under the name of fun. It is well to appeal to the conscience, gentlemanly propriety and honor, and generous and kindly sentiments of young men, rather than resort to espionage and multiplied restraints.

"I appreciate the arguments in favor of locating inst.i.tutions of learning on the great lines of travel, and in or near large towns. It should be easy to get to them, and get away from them. The frequent mail and the time-destroying telegraph are now indispensable where students are a small minority of the population, and where there is a vigilant and effective police many disorders are prevented, and faculties and boards of trust are saved much trouble. Low vice is cheap, and will go to the most secluded spot in search of victims; but the city presents many refined pleasures which may serve to draw off ingenuous youth from haunts of sin and projects of mischief. But there are advantages on the side of the more quiet and retired situation. It favors concentration of interest on books, lectures, and light collegiate exercises. The whole life at the country college becomes student life. There is no division of mind and heart. There is nothing to tempt the earnest youth from his proper work. The _esprit du corps_ of old Randolph-Macon was very strong. There were hospitable and cultivated homes in the neighborhood, and most charming maidens; those who visited them found entangling alliances for life, if the fair s.e.x consented. But the number of young ladies sufficiently near to be easily visited was small, and many of the students were not, if I must use the modern slang which was unknown in my day, calicoists. The two literary societies were centres of enthusiasm. A new Randolph-Macon student can hardly understand the intensity of devotion "Washs" and "Franks" had for their societies in those times. All students were members of the one or of the other, and were ready to brag for it, quarrel for it, and, if need be, fight for it. They did not all attend regularly the meetings, or take part in discussion and other literary exercises; their lack of presence or performance was amply atoned for by the payment of their fines, for we were always eager to replenish the treasury. But a number studied carefully the questions of debate, reading largely, and thus, forming a fondness for books and habit of reflection; they prepared their speeches, and often waxed very warm. Indeed, bitterness and strife would sometimes arise, but they soon pa.s.sed away. A frequent and effective debater of rather waspish and contemptuous temper alluded one day to the arguments of his opponents as flimsy cobwebs, as he quoted one after another, and answered it, 'I brush that cobweb away,' said he. A modest, merry-hearted man on the other side--he is now one of Lee's one-armed heroes--responded: 'The gentleman called my arguments cobwebs, and it may be that they are; but to-day is not the first time that I have seen a fly caught in a spider's web, and vainly struggling to get loose.'

Colonel R., an intelligent gentleman of the community, said to me more than once, when he had been listening to a spirited debate, 'It is not inferior to the best debates I have heard in the Legislature of Virginia.' Some of the most skilled debaters in church and state would give a large share of the credit for their power in deliberative a.s.semblies to the inspiration and training of those old Randolph-Macon halls. Many foolish things were spoken there, I must admit. 'I don't know I did the thing with which I am charged,' said an excited Frank; 'but if I did, I oughtn't to be fined, for I did it with malice aforethought.' 'With malice aforethought!' responded the censor, who was our honored and beloved Duncan; 'who ever heard before of that being an excuse?' 'I said it, and I repeat it, that I did it with malice aforethought; and if the gentleman doesn't understand, I will explain that it is a law phrase, and means I didn't go to do it!'