College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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SEAL OF THE COLLEGE- The College of William and Mary. 11 IS pleasing and protitable to trace minutely the evolution of institu- tions and of men. but to describe the stages of progress which the Col- lege of William and iFar)- has passed since its establishment in 1693, would be a seemingly endless task. Consequently, the writer has contented himself with mentioning a few of the most important and interesting facts connected with its origin, foundatinn. .-md sid)sei|uent career. William and Mary, the oldest college in America with the single exceptinn of Har -ard, altlicnigh not formally established until 1693, has antecedents which date as far back as 1(117. liefore the little colon ' had hardly gained a firm footing at Jamestown, before the onerous task of clear- ing the forest had liardl}- begun, and while the hostile Indians were still hovering aromul the almost defenceless settlements, these earlv ' irginians conceived the idea of higher education. The j rimarx- object in founding a college was t!ie education and Cdnwrsion of the Indians, whose condition seemed to weigh heavily u])on the consciences of the ]}COi)le of that time. So, in t6i(), .Sir lulwin Sandys, together with some good people of England, raised a considerable sum fur the csiablishmtMit of an Indian college and the foimdation (jf a seminary of learning for the English. Mr. George Thorpe, a gentleman of Tlis Majesty ' s I ' rivy Chamber, was sent over to superintend the Mi-called university. Uut this first be,ginning of philan- thro])hy to the Indian was ni])ped in the bud by the Great Massacre of 1622, when Thorpe and three hundred and forty other settlers perislied. 17

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Board of isitors, 1898=99. DR, JOHN W, LAWSON, President .----... Smithfield, Isle of Wight Co. HON. J, N STUBBS, Vice-President -.----.. Woods X Roads, Gloucester Co. COLONEL WILLIAM LAMB - - - - Norfolk. HON. D GARDINER TYLER . . Sturgeon Point, Charles City Co. HON B B. MUNFORD -----.----.. Richmond. HON WALTER A EDWARDS --------.. Norfolk. HON. THOMAS H. BARNES ----------- Elwood, Nansemond Co. E. C. GLASS. Esq. ----- Lynchburg. E. G. BOOTH M, D, -------..--- - Grove, James City Co. ROBERT M HUGHES. Esq. - - - - Norfolk. HON. JAMES C. LAMB - . . - Richmond. REV. BEVERLEY D, TUCKER ----....-- Norfolk. HON. JOSEPH W. SOUTHALL ( Supt. Public Instruction) - Amelia. HON. R. WALTON MOORE - - . Fairfax, HON ARMISTEAD C GORDON Staunton. HON. WILLIAM M. ELLIS - - Shawsvllle, Montgomery Co. HON. JAMES F CROCKER, Esq --------- Portsmouth, Va. SAMUEL D. DAVIES -.-..-. Richmond, Va, HENRY C, STUART ------....--- Elk Garden, Russell Co. HENRY B. SMITH. Secretary. Williamsburg

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I ' ;i siii,i; liver tliL- next forty years, ilurins; wliieli the seed snwii in 1617 was still in embryo, we find that in 1660 the X ' irginia Asscndjjy Mteil thai for the advance of learnins;-. education of ycjiith, sup])ly of the ministry, and promotion of ])iely. there be land taken n|)on pnrchase for a col- ledjje and free sclioole. ' Subscriptions were also taken iij), to which His .Majcstie ' s ( lovcrnor, Council of State, and liurj esses of the present ( irand Assenibl ha e severally subscribed considerable sunies of money and i|uan- lityes of tobacco. Some ha e gone so far as to say that the college was really established in 1661, InU for this there is no proof. The ])eoi)le sulj- scril)cd liberally towards the college, but the odds were against it, both in the economic and political conditions of the coluUry. GEORGE WASHINGTON. President of the United States. Surveyor appoinie ' i hit IJte Cotlcf e Fucutiii 1 4 ' ; Chancellor nf I he CuUege 17Xt -ir9U. Ideas assumed a more definite shape in lOyi, when Rev. James lUair was sent to luigland to secure a charter for said college. He laid the plans of the colony before Oueen Alary, who heartily favored the idea. William concurred, and gave out of the (|uit-rents two thousand ] ouuds sterling. Air. lUair was then sent to Seymour, the . ttorney-General. but with him he found more difficulty. The nation was expensively engaged in war. and could ill afford the necessary fimds for planting a college in America. Mr. lllair urged that the institution was to prepare men to become ministers of the Gospel and that Virginians had souls to save as well as Englishmen. The argument was no doubt forcible, but it only evoked from Seymour that 18