Geneva College - Genevan Yearbook (Beaver Falls, PA)

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Board became insolvent, the College was suspended, and . the doors of Geneva Hall were closed. In 1862, the sheriff of Logan County sold the College to the highest bidder. During the interim of about two years, the College was out of control of the Board and was operated from April 1862 until early in 1864+ by the Rev. David Strang, a Scotch minister of the United Presbyterian Church, as- sisted by his talented daughters, Martha, Agnes, and Mar- garet. It was in January 1864- that five staunch friends of the institution formed a stock company to defray the obliga- tion of S1500 lying on the property and restored it to the control of the Board. The names of these sponsors should be held in special veneration by all Genevans. Their names and subscriptions were as follows: Mary J. Jameson, S3005 William Pollock, 8300, William D. Dun- Wvsgxgy. lap, ssoo, Samuel P. Johnston, sltoo, and, Rev. J. L. i' ' McCartney, S200. On the frosty morning of January 10, 1865, the College bell pealed forth the joyful an- nouncement of the re- opening of the school under the original auspices and control. Largely in response to the demands of eastern membership of the church, the College was moved in 1880-81 to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, its present location. The migration was all but fatal. Geneva left North- wood with 170 students and arrived in Beaver Falls with 4-0, but this attendance was doubled before the end of the year. .:r5+'X.,.?,x if During the first year, the College was conduct- X ed in the brick church ' it 1 SX still standing at the corner of Seventh avenue and N Ninth street. The class of 1881 graduated on a wooden platform among the trees, in the shadow of the new stone building COld Mainj about where the Johnston Gymnasium now stands. During the eighties, the farmlands lying on the plateau north of Beaver Falls were cut into building lots and divided by unpaved streets that became nearly impassable in winter. Sidewalks of wood and ashes existed here and there. A dozen board- ing houses, known as forts by the students, accommo- dated roomers and eating clubs. Each bedroom study had a coal grate and an oil burning- lamp. Dr. H. H. 9

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College History In 1836, James Stewart Johnston, brother of the pastor of the Miami Covenanter Church at Northwood, Ohio, was conducting a general store at the neighboring village of A New Richland. Thither came the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians of that pioneer community to purchase coffee, tea, calico, gun- powder, and the miscellaneous goods and utensils which they could not produce on their own farms and to ex- change news and views upon an infinite variety of topics from seed corn to the Kingdom of Heaven. It was there that the idea of founding a Christian College of the liberal arts originated, and it is to store-keeper Johnston that the honor of suggesting the foundation is usually ascribed. There was an insistent demand for such an institu- tion among the people of the community, and, in the winter of 1837, the Rev. John Black Johnston, the North- wood parson, began to teach a class in Latin in his study. The class consisted of seven young men at the begin- ning, but girls were U soon admitted. As it grew in numbers, the class migrated to the Covenanter Church nearby and thence to the log school in the 1 ' village. In 1847, the project was laid before the Lakes Pres- bytery of the Covenanter ' Church and was favorably received. Parson Johnston was author- ized to go ahead and build a college, using such money and ma- terial as he might be able to gather to his assistance in the vicinity or elsewhere. 1 In five months, Rev. - 'J Johnston had built a live- . room, two-story, brick building on the edge of the village, and with the assistance of two young theo- ' logical students from Westmoreland County, Penn- sylvania, the Milligan Boys, he opened his College on April 20, 184-8, which thus became the birthday of Geneva College. It was originally called Geneva Hall and had forty students, male and female. In 1853, the build- ing was enlarged and raised to three stories. In 1873, it was further improved, and the name was changed to Geneva College. The darkest day in the history of Geneva College came with the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1861, the 8

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QE E ' George was President.. A dormitory was built in 1887 and assigned to women students a year or two later. A wooden gymnasium, started that year, was finished in 1889. There was a tradition of prowess in baseball dating back to Northwood days. Football was started at Geneva in 1890 by William Hugh Coverdale, who was captain of the first team and played halfback. In 1890, Dr. George resigned and was succeeded by Dr. William Pollock Johnston, a nephew of Parson Johns- ton, the founder. He had taught Latin and English since 1881 and now resigned the Latin chair to Professor Wil- liam McCracken Melroy. From the beginning, the College offered a six-year course: two preparatory years and four years college work. Later, Geneva offered a third prepara- tory year. Dr. W. P. Johnston was president during an untroubled period of development from 1890 to 1907. Attendance Varied during the eighties from 100 to 150 students, increased gradually there- after and had approximately doubled by 1915. A tornado tore off I I-I I the tin roof of Old Main in 1887 and again in 1915. The Rev. William Henry George, son of Dr. H. H. George, became president of the College in 1907 and during his ten-year term, the College expanded its physical plant with the addition of the Johnston Gymnasium in 1911. In 1912 the Science Hall was gutted by fire and rebuilt the following year. In 1916, the Rev. Renwick Harper Martin was elected to the presidency, serving in the office four years. Dr. Martin resigned in 1920 to become the lecturer for the National Reform Association. Prof. A. A. Johnston was elected the twelfth president in 1921. It was in that year that McKee Hall dormitory, the gift of Mrs. Mary Elizabeth McKee, Clarinda, Iowa, was dedicated. Prof. Johnston was the son of Dr. W. P. Johnston. Dr. McLeod Milligan Pearce, editor for the American Sun- day School Union, was named to the high administrative post in 1923, having continued in that capacity for the past quarter century. During Dr. Pearce's presidency, several additions and improvements were made including the acquisition of Reeves Field, the erection of McCartney Library in 1931, the fieldhouse in 194-7 and the addition to the Science Hall in 1948. During these years the College also purchased the McCartney residence and the Johnston home and made these two dwellings into Fern Cliff and Patterson Lodge respectively. The enrollment was increased during World War II when several hundred Air Force cadets trained on campus and following the war with the advent of the G. I. Bill. The enrollment in all de- partments now numbers 1800. This year was a memorable one in the annals of Geneva history. As a climax to the first century of edu- 10