Ohio History Journal

OHIO UNIVERSITY-THE HISTORIC COLLEGE

OF THE OLD NORTHWEST.

CLEMENT L. MARTZOLFF.

Situated on the winding Hock-Hocking amid the pic-

turesque hills of Southern Ohio is the little city which, according

to Theodore Roosevelt, "with queer poverty of imagination and

fatuous absence of humor has been given the name of Athens."

Probably the strenuous ex-president would have considered it

more appropriate to have named it "Hog-Hollow" or "Buz-

zards' Glory" or some such euphonious title instead. In justi-

fication of its name it must be remembered that the settlers

sent out by the Ohio Company of Associates had a greater per

cent. of Harvard and Yale graduates than any similar body

of pioneers in America. So when these men christened Ma-

rietta, Athens, Campus Martius, Rome, Troy, and Carthage it

was not because of paucity of imagination but rather out of

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412      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

their abundance of knowledge. The humor of the situation

may never have struck them, for they were Englishmen. But

the desire to build well was theirs. So they laid the foundation

deep and broad. The settlement began under the "reign of

law" and with it was the establishment by law of the church,

the school, and the college. The fathers of Ohio may have

lacked imagination and they may not have been able to see a

joke but neither were they renegades, squatters, bush-whackers,

nor scalp hunters.  This alone ought to neutralize their

The Ohio University had its inception along with the

Ordinance of 1787. This makes it the oldest collegiate insti-

tution northwest of the Ohio river and as Dr. Manasseh Cutler

was the moving spirit in the settlement of this first west and

the establishment of organic law there, so too can we look to

him as the "Father of Ohio University". By his constructive

statesmanship and his consummate diplomacy, he succeeded in

getting a dying congress to do in two weeks what it had failed

to accomplish in three years-the establishment of a govern-

ment for the Northwest Territory. He was instrumental in

having placed in the famous ordinance the now oft-quoted

414       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

the college lands and even if they should be entitled to them

or not; whereupon the Company of Associates requested:

"The lands assigned for the establishment of an university

to be as nearly as possible in the center of the first million

and a half of acres we shall pay for; for to fix it in the center

of the proposed purchase might too long defer the establish-

ment."

This request was accepted for it was a feature in the con-

tract between the Ohio Company of Associates and the Board

of Treasury entered into October 27, 1787.

416        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

plan these schools and this University, and of sustaining them in such

a manner that the professors may be able to commence without delay the

different labors to which they may be called, they will, in the infancy of

the colony, have secured to themselves advantages which will be found

nowhere else."

That was a great day, December 3, 1787, when there

gathered in the streets of Ipswich, Mass., the colonists bound

for the Ohio. The leader of this band of pioneers was Rufus

Putnam, who is well-styled the "Father of Ohio." Four and

He visited the settlement in the summer of 1788. We find in his

diary of the date, September 3d, of that year, how he and Gen-

eral Putnam had crossed the Muskingum to Fort Harmar and in

company with Dr. Scott, they climbed "the high hill north-west

of the Fort and west of the city. Fine prospect. Some excellent

land; fine rock for building; and it is proposed that the univer-

sity should be on this hill."

There is now an interregnum of several years in which

no definite steps are being taken for the establishment of the

university. The Western country was in the midst of a des-

perate Indian war. The Indian edict had gone forth that "no

Ohio University.                417

white man shall plant corn in the Ohio country." A year after

the Marietta settlement, Governor St. Clair had invited the

Indians to a council at Fort Harmar. But the Miamis and

Shawanese stayed away and the Confederated tribes did not

sanction the treaty. Brant, the great chief of the Six Nations,

was laboring to unite the western tribes into a Confederacy and

escaped, from the terrible massacre at their very doors. The

colony was put into a state of defense and while no depreda-

tions again occurred within the Ohio Company's Purchase there

were constant signs of alarm. St. Clair had met a terrible defeat

and not until General Wayne had crushed the Indian power and

consummated it at the Greenville Treaty did the colonists

breathe easier.

"The five years of bloodshed and military campaigns had

a decided tendency to check the growth and development of the

Vol. XIX. - 27.

Ohio University.                 419

return during the hunting season for many years thereafter.

Four years later the Territorial legislature appointed a com-

mittee with Rufus Putnam as its head to "lay off a town plat

with a square for the college." "The committee was accom-

panied by a surveyor, a number of assistants, and fifteen men

to guard against a possible Indian attack. This was certainly a

strange introduction of the classics into the Northwest. In a

fleet of canoes, propelled by

the power of the setting-

pole against the swift and

narrow   channel  of  the

Great Hock-Hocking, ac-

companied by armed guards

against the lurking savages

and  carrying  with  them

pork, beans, and hard tack

that made up their rough

fare, the committee of old

veterans of three wars pro-

ceeded to fix with compass

and chain the boundaries of

the university lands. There

was little of polish or cul-

ture in the undertaking, but

rifles, canoes, and salt pork

were never put to better

use. Such was the genesis

of the Ohio University."

In 1801, Judge Ephriam

Cutler stated that the University lands then contained about nine

hundred inhabitants. Still the countrywas a wilderness. The

campus was covered with poplar trees and flocks of wild turkeys

were frequent. Dr. Eliphaz Perkins, at whose home the Uni-

versity trustees held their first meeting, took bear meat for his

medical fees and he himself met bruin one day wandering over

the campus inspecting the site of the proposed institution of

higher learning. Although not on the ground, Dr. Cutler was

still the prime mover in the establishment of the University. The

420      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

correspondence between him and Rufus Putnam at this time

shows the deep interest he felt in having the college start off

right. In a letter dated February 3, 1799, General Putnam gives

some data as to the condition of affairs: that the University

townships (now Athens and Alexander in Athens county) con-

tain the best land in the whole of the Ohio Company's Purchase;

that settlers mostly of the New England stock are rapidly fill-

ing them up; that a militia has been organized; that none of the

settlers expect to occupy the land rent free for more than five

plan so "liberal and extensive as I think ought to be the foun-

dation of the Constitution of this University." The educational

institutions of this country, however, offered to him more, and

he finally modeled it after Harvard and Yale, more particularly

the latter, of which he was an alumnus. Upon receipt of this

letter General Putnam again wrote to his friend asking for some

definite plan. "We are totally destitute of any copy of an in-

corporating act, or charter of a college or even an academy. I

want you to make one out in detail, or procure it done for

422      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

the date for Monday, June 4, 1804, and notified the following

gentlemen of their appointment: Judge Elijah Backus, General

Rufus Putnam, Judge Dudley Woodbridge, Rev. Daniel Story,

Rev. James Kilbourne, and Samuel Carpenter.

In obedience to the call, they met at the home of Dr. Eliphaz

Perkins, who lived grandly in a double log house built of yellow

poplar trees, neatly squared. It was two stories high and large

Samuel Carpenter came from Lancaster, Rev. James Kil-

bourne from Worthington beyond Columbus, and Rufus

Putnam  from   Marietta. The roads were only trails and

there were but occasional pioneer huts to cheer the traveler.

In going across the cliffs and following along winding streams

the lone travelers passed the haunts of the bear, the wolf, and

the panther. It seems incongruous, "These men had traveled

fifty to one hundred miles, by blind paths or Indian trails through

dense forests inhabited by wild animals, to this embryo village,

424      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

At the meeting of 1806 it was decided that sufficient money

had been collected to construct a house. Before the close of

the year, plans were accepted, and contracts were let.  The

building was two stories high, twenty by thirty feet, built of

brick, and stood on the east side of the campus.

March 2, 1808, the Rev. Jacob Lindley, Dr. Perkins, and

Rufus Putnam were appointed a committee to report a system

"for opening the. academy, providing a preceptor, and conduct-

ing that branch of the Ohio University." The course of study

seen the farmers bringing in the produce. As there were no scales

in the town a committee of citizens was appointed to adjust dif-

ferences between the lessee and the treasurer, should they not

agree about the weight of the merchandise." It might be in-

teresting to note who some of the trustees were in these early

days of the infant college. A glance suffices to show many

names of able men, noted for their ability and wise counsel.

Among these might be mentioned Judge Silvanus Ames; Dr.

Leonard Jewett, a graduate of the Boston Medical College;

426      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

with much gratification the proficiency made by the before-named

students. * * * *

"That the said Thomas Ewing and John Hunter merit the

approbation of the board of trustees, and that they are each

entitled to a degree of bachelor of arts and sciences."

Then followed the first Commencement exercises in the

Northwest Territory, at which Hunter gave the salutatory and

Ewing the valedictory. Hunter died the next year; fifteen years

later Ewing was in the United States Senate.

assistant had been employed. Six years later, Joseph Dana, a

Dartmouth graduate, began the teaching of languages. Three

years more Rev. James Irvine, a graduate of Union College, took

the chair of mathematics. A principal was selected for the

academy and a librarian employed. Later Professor Irvine was

elected the President of the University but ill health prevented

him from entering upon his duties and Rev. Dr. Robert G. Wil-

son, a Presbyterian clergyman, of Chillicothe, Ohio, was the

wise choice of the trustees. Dr. Wilson was a South Carolinian

Ohio University.                427

by birth. As a boy he had known John C. Calhoun, had re-

ceived his academic education in the same academy in which

Andrew Jackson had been educated, and had graduated with

James Buchanan at Dickinson College. Princeton University

had conferred upon him the doctorate. He was inaugurated to

the presidency of the University August 11, 1824. The cere-

mony occurred beneath a bower of green leaves erected upon

the college green. In one end of the bower was a high seat; to

this place of honor he was escorted by Governor Jeremiah

fidence.  That the merciful God, who has hitherto been

pleased to smile on the efforts to disseminate light and know-

ledge, may aid and support in the arduous duties this day as-

signed you will be the fervent prayer of the trustees."

The beginning of Dr. Wilson's incumbency of the Presi-

dency marks the beginning of a new era of the University.

From this period may be dated its complete working system and

large usefulness. Literary societies were in full blast; the nuclei

of three libraries had been formed and a museum begun. The

428      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

pecuniary embarrassments of the institution had been overcome,

without resorting to the lottery, that had been contem-

plated and for which the state legislature had given its sanction

in 1817. A new building, the finest of its kind, a new president,

and a strong faculty, with a rapidly growing new country, all

conspired to make the town of Athens an educational mecca

for this western country. The Ohio University for twenty years

took precedence over many other colleges.  From  the time

Thomas Ewing went forth as one of the two first graduates,

the college maintained a standard of excellence second to none

in the country. At the trustees' meeting held April 17, 1823,

sented in the student body. The Reed boys came from a farm

near Urbana, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles. There

were in the family seven boys and the father desiring to give

them the best educational advantages within reach, selected the

Ohio University. But their help was needed in both the spring

and the fall on the farm, so they had to journey back and forth

at these seasons. The journey was made in a two-horse carriage

and it took three days to make the trip each way. The father

took his boys back and forth one-hundred and twenty times. In

all he traveled eighteen thousand miles or a distance equal to

three-fourths around the globe. Of course it paid. Daniel, the

eldest, who graduated in 1824, was for years a member of the

Ohio University.                 429

faculty of his Alma Mater. Then he became a college president.

Three became successful lawyers and one of these a Judge of the

Supreme Court of Ohio. Two became physicians and the seventh

was shot while commanding a vessel in running the blockade in

the Mississippi during the Civil War.

John T. Brazee arrived in Athens July 5, 1819, after walking

sixty miles from Chillicothe. Graduating in the class of 1824,

he became a member of the Lancaster bar, which at that time

boasted of such legal lights as Ewing, Stanbery, and Hocking

H. Hunter, and where he took first rank among his colleagues.

Here, too, came Samuel Bigger, who became Governor of In-

Canadian rebellion of 1838.

Among the noted divines who passed out of the University

in these days, Bishop Ames and Lorenzo Dow McCabe of the

Methodist Church are worthy of mention. These, too, are the

days of "rough" John Brough of Marietta who "stuck" type for

a living, kicked the foot-ball over Center Building for recreation.

fell in love with his wife as an avocation, and at the same time

succeeded in laying the educational foundation for his subsequent

political career that finally made him one of the "War Gov-

ernors" of Ohio.

This period of development continued without abatement

reaching its high water mark in the days of the great William

430      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

H. McGuffey, who succeeded President Wilson in 1839. The

future of the college never seemed so bright.. Two additional

buildings known as the "East Wing" and the "West Wing" were

completed in 1837 and 1839 respectively. The name of McGuffey

was a household word in the western country and he drew

students to him in great numbers. It was during his term that

the magnificent row of elms facing the campus was planted,

which are still known as the "McGuffey Elms". The time for

the re-appraisal of the college lands was drawing near, which

less credit of the state legislature that it should have been in col-

lusion to defraud the University of its patrimony.

These days ushered in the "Dark Ages" of the University.

It is not a pleasant chapter to write and no friend of the Ohio

University can read it without a feeling that Governor Tiffin

acted unwisely in opening a loop-hole through which the holders

of the lands might get the ear of the legislature, that, in the

language of James A. Garfield, acted with "an unfortunate exer-

cise of power without right." This adverse legislation was

enacted March 1O, 1843. In 1861 the trustees of the University

Ohio University.                  431

petitioned the legislature for relief and a Senate Committee, of

which Mr. Garfield was Chairman, made a finding in favor of

the memorialists and in so doing reviewed fully but briefly

the entire series of litigation and legislation. To make it clear

there is no better method than to quote in part from this report.

"From the earliest legislation on this subject, it seems to

have been the well settled opinion of the representatives of the

Territorial and State Legislatures, and of all other parties in

interest, that these two townships should, according to the intent

of the grantor, be perpetually held by the state, as

thirty-five, sixty, and ninety years, and with the like rent of six

per cent. upon such new valuations to be paid by the lease-hold-

ers. And in the nature of an immunity to the lease-holders, in

reference to the first and all subsequent appraisements, and with

a view to increased rents to inure to the University by rendering

the lands more valuable and desirable to the occupants, it was

provided that the lands with the buildings which may be erected

thereon shall forever be exempted from all state taxes."

"This act, in its main and essential features, has remained

in force until the act of March 10, 1843, (which) provides in

432      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

substance that all the lands aforesaid should be forever exempt

from any and all appraisement. The language of it is peculiar."

"Previous to this adverse legislation the lessees brought a

suit in chancery in the Supreme Court of this state enjoining the

Ohio University from re-appraising said lands. The Court unan-

imously decided in favor of the defendants."

"Upon investigation of the subject, your committee have

become well satisfied that the memorialists have presented a fair

case, entitling them to redress at the hands of the legislature

ulty resigned, students began to leave, and President McGuffey,

sick at heart, resigned. For two years longer the struggle

continued under the direction of a faculty committee and then,

in 1845, this old college closed its doors, until such time, three

years it was estimated, the accumulation of the small revenue

might liquidate the debts. This was unfortunate in more ways

than one. It lost the Ohio University some distinguished Alumni,

from among the strong men who had been attracted thither by

President McGuffey, and who now were compelled to go else-

where. Among these might be mentioned the famous "Sun-

Ohio University.                 433

set" Cox who had come over from Zanesville. His room was

in the Northwest corner of the second floor of the "West

Wing". Here until a few years ago when in repairing the

building it was necessary to remove it, could be seen on the

south wall his celebrated painting of the Laocoon Group which

for nearly sixty years was the silent reminder that "Sun-

set" Cox could paint with the brush as well as with words.

The college was again opened for the reception of students

September 14, 1848, but few appeared. Things had to start

all over again. There was no graduating class until two years

later and for several years thereafter the classes were small.

The Rev. Alfred Ryors, a graduate of Jefferson College, became

the President. He served but four years when he resigned, to

be succeeded by Rev. Solomon Howard, a graduate of Augusta

College, Kentucky.

The following extract from a letter written several years

ago to General Charles H. Grosvenor further illustrates the

Vol. XIX. - 28.

434      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

position of Ohio University at this time. It was written by

Theodore W. Tallmadge of Washington City, since deceased.

Mr. Tallmadge was a Freshman at the University during the col-

lege year, 1842-43. It was the last year of William H. McGuffey

as President. On account of the action of the Ohio Legislature,

in denying the re-appraisement of college lands, it was supposed

that the college would suspend immediately, so the students

went elsewhere. Mr. Tallmadge went to Princeton, "Sunset"

held by the community. The public literary entertainments, gen-

erally had in the Presbyterian Church, were of a high order.

** * * We generally had exercises by the Literary

Societies of the College at the termination of the winter

session, just before the spring vacation. In addition were the

Commencement exercises at the end of the scholastic year; often

the students would celebrate the Fourth-of-July by proper exer-

cises; several of them delivering orations and the Declaration of

Independence being read. Many of these students that were my

Ohio University.                 435

companions at that time have become very conspicuous and

influential citizens, not only in the State of Ohio, but in other

states. Among them I might mention John B. Hoge of Rich-

mond, Virginia; Converse Goddard of Zanesville, Ohio; R. Pat-

terson Effinger of Lancaster, Ohio; Lorenzo D. McCabe and Dr.

Silva of Chillicothe. About twenty per cent. of the students

were from other states and at that time the Ohio University

was patronized very generally by Virginians, as there was no

competing university in that state.

"You would probably not be interested in any description

of college scrapes during my experience at the University. I

will mention some however. At one time some of us of Whig

proclivities, who were at a meeting in one of the nearby villages

at which the anticipated orator did not make his appearance,

pointed out Samuel Sullivan Cox of Zanesville, one of my class-

mates, as a good speaker that would interest the audience and he

made a very acceptable speech."

Dr. Howard remained at the head of the University for

436      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

twenty years and during his administration the school regained

much of its former prestige and continued to send out some

splendid men. While it was handicapped ever for money yet

it did its work in a modest, effective way, proving that there

are some things besides buildings and endowments in the mak-

ing of a college.

JUDGE OLIVER PERRY SHIRAS.   Joseph C. Corbin, the Afro-

American who became State

Superintendent of Education in Arkansas, Judge Hindman of

West Virginia, Hugh Boyd, the teacher, Charles S. Smart, later

Ohio School Commissioner, Prof. Glenn Adney, Bishops David

H. Moore and Earl Cranson of the Methodist Church, William

H. Scott, afterward President of his alma mater and also of the

Ohio State University, John W. Dowd, William S. Eversole, and

William D. Lash, prominent Ohio School Superintendents, Judge

John L. McMaster, of Indiana, Prof. Russell S. Devol, of Ken-

yon, Thomas C. Iliff, the distinguished missionary to the Mor-

Ohio University.                 437

M. Davis of Rio Grande college, and scores of others. The

years immediately succeeding the Civil War were especially noted

for a large student body. Many of the students had laid aside

their books to go to the front and others who had seen service

in the army now felt the need of college training and took advan-

tage of the free tuition offered to ex-soldiers at Ohio University.

These men were of a more mature mind than the ordinary under-

graduates and while they were "back" in many of their scholastic

place if it were not for the "co-eds." The circumstances are as

follows:

Mr. Hugh Boyd, of Athens, was desirous that his sister,

Margaret, should have a college education, but the "ladies'

seminaries" of that time being below what he considered their

standard should be, he and Professor Adney discussed the mat-

ter, and the latter decided to take his friend's sister as a pupil.

It was known, however, that there existed a strong feeling

against women attending the same college as men, a prejudice

not confined to the towns-people, but the faculty as well, and it

438      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

was thought that if formal application were made, it would

almost certainly be refused. Miss Boyd accordingly took a part

of a term privately for preparation, then entered the Senior grade

Preparatory as a "private pupil." In the catalogue of that year,

1868, her name is entered simply as "M. Boyd." But the next

year the catalogue stated "Miss Boyd." The second woman stu-

dent was Miss Boyd's niece, Miss Ella Boyd. Such was the be-

ginning of co-education at Ohio University.

Dr. Howard was succeeded in the Presidency of the Uni-

of office was spent in litigation and appealing to the legislature

for redress, that resulted in reclaiming a part of the institution's

lawful income. Great credit is due this loyal son of the Ohio

University for his fearlessness and firmness in championing her

interests. He left it finally in what, it is affirmed, he thought

to be a moribund condition. But he builded better than he knew.

He planted the seeds of a new life. His administration marks

the Renaissance of the Ohio University. It was the beginning

of a policy that opened the way for a newer day to the pioneer

Ohio University.                 439

college and which to a great extent fulfills the ambition of its

founder.

Closely associated with President Scott in this contest was

George Washington Boyce, of Cincinnati, who had graduated at

the Ohio University in 1867. We will allow Dr. Scott to de-

scribe what took place.

"In 1873 Mr. Boyce was elected a member of the House of

Representatives of Ohio. He appreciated the honor which the

office conferred and sought to perform all its obligations efficient-

clear: The lands belonged to the University by an act of Congress

passed before the state had an existence, and the state that was

to be was made the trustee for the organization of the University

and the administration of its affairs. In the act establishing the

University the state had empowered it to collect a certain rent and

an additional rent equal to the state taxes, and she had herself re-

frained from collecting any tax from the lands as long as they

remained under lease. She thus acknowledged her relations to

be that of a trustee, a relation which forbids the holder to

440      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

derive any profit from the trust which he administers. There-

fore, in collecting taxes on such of the lands of the University

as had been changed from a lease hold title to a title in fee

simple, the state had violated her obligation as a trustee. The

force of this reasoning was recognized by the General Assembly,

and the bill passed March 25, 1875.

"But the argument was double-edged. We were met with

the question, 'Why does not the University collect the equal

amount to which it is entitled on those of its lands which still

remain under lease?' To this no answer could be given, except

that it never had been collected and that the trustees of the

Meetings were held, petitions were circulated, and delegations

were sent to Columbus to work for its defeat. Mr. Boyce was

besieged by argument and appeal and occasional threat.  He

received it all with hearty good nature, but stood like a rock.

Indeed, the opposition only roused him to greater zeal. Fully

convinced of the justice of the measure, and fully determined

that the University in its need should receive what was so

clearly its due, he fairly glowed with enthusiasm. His popu-

larity with his fellow-members, his unremitting labor, and his

intense earnestness were the chief factors in the result. The

Ohio University.                 441

bill became a law March 30, 1875, and was known thereafter as

the 'Boyce Law.'

"These two measures added about $3000.00 to the annual

revenues of the University.  In the existing condition of the

institution this sum was of itself no mean consideration; but it

was worth far more as a legislative fact, for it opened the way

for other and far greater sums.

"Encouraged by these successes, some of the friends of the

University obtained from the board of trustees a reluctant con-

sent to ask for a direct appropriation from the state; and in

1880 a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000.00 for the re-

eagerness and abandon as Mr. Boyce. He was ready at every

call. He gave his time without stint. He took advantage of

his privileges as a former member of the House, and of his

acquaintance with former members and with the members from

Cincinnati to press the interests of the University. He ex-

tended his acquaintance among the members in order to win

more votes. He headed off opposition. His vigilance, his ardor,

his courage, his unflagging perseverance made his single presence

a host.

"This bill passed the House in the Spring of 1880; but de-

fbre it came to a vote in the Senate, the General Assembly ad-

442      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

journed. During the adjourned session, however, March 21,

1881, it was passed by the Senate in the face of determined op-

position and by a bare majority. When the long contest was

over and we were at last assured of success, Mr. Boyce was

jubilant. I think I never saw a happier man."

President Scott was succeeded by Dr. Charles W. Super, a

graduate of Dickinson College. The administration of Presi-

dent Super may well be considered as marking the "newer"

Ohio University. Dr. Super saw a future for the institution.

The entering wedge toward legislative help began to yield re-

sults. The Alumni roll also grew apace. The legislature to

make amends for half a century of neglect began to make direct

appropriations for its support. It has already been noted that

in 1881 the sum of $20,000 had been appropriated for the repair

of buildings. Two years later another sum of $10,000 was voted

for the same purpose. The following year $5,000 for general

support was set aside. The year 1886 indicates still another

were voted for the erection of Ewing Hall, now the administra-

tion building. This same year President Super was succeeded by

Dr. Isaac Crook, who managed the affairs of the institution until

1898. Dr. Super again took charge of the institution and in 1901

Ohio University.                 443

gave way to Dr. Alston Ellis, who retains the position at this time.

The administration of President Ellis has marked a new and

distinct era in the life of the Ohio University. It ushered in

the Greater Ohio University.  President Ellis with his long

experience as a public school and college man has made a dis-

tinct impression on the policy of the institution, in the way of

new and better things. This decade has witnessed the expendi

ture of more money by the State of Ohio on this pioneer col-

lege than in the whole century of its history. In 1900 there

were five buildings on the campus.  Now there are twelve.

Then there was a faculty of twenty-two, now there are sixty-

seven. Then there was a yearly enrollment of four hundred

students, now there is one of fifteen hundred. The whole

amount expended by the state in the way of permanent im-

ordinate than there is to say that a law school or agricultural

college can not be connected within the same university.

The Normal College of Ohio University was established by

444       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

statute March 12, 1902. The state levies by taxation one and

one-half one hundredths of one mill upon every dollar of taxable

property of the state for its support. This yields about thirty-

three thousand dollars annually. The law that has meant more

to the Ohio University is the one passed April 1906, in which

the State of Ohio, outlined its policy regarding the institution.

It placed it among the wards of the state and thus retrieved it-

self for the years of neglect. No friend of the old college has

any reason to complain of the recent action of the state. The

state as trustee is doing well by its ward and the college is doing

well by the people of the state. Today its work is more nearly

akin to what its founders wished it to be than ever before. Its

field of usefulness is found in its College of Liberal Arts, the

State Normal College, the College of Music, the School of

Commerce, the Electrical and Civil Engineering Departments,

and the State Preparatory School.

college is the big thing. Social life centers about the campus.

The citizens of the town are interested in their historical old

school, and as a result the students are invited into the best

Ohio University.                 445

homes. There are no saloons and the college authorities, the

faculty, students, and their friends helped to bring this about.

This, in brief, is the story of the pioneer college of the

central west. We have seen its origin, a gift from the national

government, its growth, and its period of the "dark ages." But it

has had its renaissance. So that in 1904, when its centennial was

celebrated, its sons and daughters from the East and the West,

the North and South, and even from beyond the seas gath-

ered beneath the "old beech" that was standing when the bell

first rang for classes at the opening of the last century. Here,

too, they gazed at the row of seventeen elms planted by the

hands of the great McGuffey, and wandered through the cor-

ridors of the old buildings that had sheltered them, and thou-

sads of others through the lapse of the century, and all stood

beneath the trees and sang the praises of "Old O. U."