Miami University - Recensio Yearbook (Oxford, OH)

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History of Miami University. Miami University is the oldest and most historic institution of higher learning in the Middle West. By an act of congress passed May 5, 1792, the President of the United States was authorized and empowered to lease to John Cleves Symmes a certain tract of land, a portion of which should be forever reserved for the support of an institution of higher learning. By an act of congress March 3, 1803, the legislature of Ohio was authorized to enter one complete township, west of the Big Miami, in lieu of the original township Within the Symmes, purchase, and the trust was vested in the legislature of Ohio, to be held forever for the purpose of education as set forth in the several articles, and for no other purpose whatsoever. Six weeks later the State of Ohio; on April 15, 1803, in accepting the trust passed an article entitled, iiAn .Act to Provide for the Locating. of a College Township in the District of Cin- cinnati? Under this act the lands of Miami University were located. Feb- ruary 17, 1809, the legislature of Ohio passed an act entitled: iiAn Act to Establish Miami University.H Under this act the University was established, the president andtrustees were constituted a body politic and corporate, the trust was accepted and administered upon, and provision made to lease the land for the term of ninety-nine years, renewable forever, subject to revaluation every fifteen years. In 1810 the legislature passed an act repealing the clause Which provided for a revaluation. In 1812 another act was passed which pro- vided that the actual settlers should, from a given date and forever after, pay a yearly rent of six per cent upon the purchase money. Thus by positive legis- lation, added to the act which repealed the law providing for a revaluation, the . University was forever hindered from securing an increased revenue from the lands of Oxford township. Under this limitation, the University lived until recent years, when the State of Ohio began the custom of annual appropria- tions. In February, 1896, the legislature of Ohio provided for a fund to be known as the iiOhio and Miami University Fund,H by levying an annual tax upon the property of the state. An act making an additional levy was passed by the legislature in March, 1902, to enable the trustees to establish a Normal schooliin connection with Miami University. The University is thus afforded a permanent and regular income and the State of Ohio has express ed its purpose to administer with reasonable liberality, the trust vested by the Congress of the United States. The support of the University is now provided for by the levies mentioned above, together with the income from the lands of Oxford township and the interest of certain invested funds. i The institution is situated at Oxford, Butler county, Ohio, on the Cin- cinnati, Hamilton 85 Indianapolis division of the Cincinnati, Hamilton 86 Dayton railroad tthe iiGreat CentralH Routei, and is about thirty-nine miles distant from Cincinnati, fourteen miles from Hamilton, and eighty-five miles from Indianapolis. 29

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In beauty and healthfulness 0f surroundings, the location is exceptional. The ground is high and rolling, having an elevation of nearly 10008 feet above sea level. The campus on which the University buildings are located Pomprises more than sixty acres and 1S justly famed for its rare beauty. Oxford 1s an ideal college town of about 3000 inhabitants, without saloons or low resorts of any kind, where the inHuences are highly favorable to study. The excitements and many of the temptations to a waste of time peculiar to the large city are here avoided. . i . The hrst school was opened in 1816, and in 1824 the University proper began its history under the presidency of the Reverend Robert Hamilton Bishop, D. D., who served continuously and with signal success for seventeen years. The presidential succession is as follows: The Reici'regerGeorge Junkin, D. D., LL. D ............ I 1841 to 1844 The Reverend Erasmus D. McMaster, D. D., LL. D . , . 1845 to 1849 The Reverend William C. Anderson, A. M., D. D ........ 1849 to 1854 The Reverend John W. Ha11,D. D ..................... 1854 to 1866 The Reverend Robert Livingston Stantdn, D. D .......... 1866 to 1871 The Reverend Andrew Dousa Hepburn. D. D., LL. D .1871 to 1873 1873 e THE INTERREGNUM :- 1885 Honorable R0bert White McFarland LL. D ...... - ....... 1 885 to 1888 Honorable Ethelbert Dudley VVarfield, A. M., LL. D .. 1888 to 1891 The Reverend XVilliam Oxiey Thompson, D D., LL. D 1891 to 1899 Thee Reverend David Stanton Tappan, A. M.,T ... 3. D ...... 1899 to 1902 The Reverend Guy Potter Benton, A. M., D. D ......... 1902 to date. Founded soon after Ohio was admitted to the Union, and gathering stu- dents from the best families north and south, the men and the opportunity combined toigive unusual prominence to Miamiis place in the history of the second and; third Quarters 0f the nineteenth Century. During these years, the bfaculty Wasiipne of unusual excellence. The quality of the young men Who matriculated and the stirring history of the times gave to the university a public spirit that lingers with unabated force. Miami has large reason to rejoice in the scholarship, character and citizenship of her alumni. The first Class was graduated 1n 18261, and the institution since then has given to the country one, presidentvlofgt-hei United States, one cabinet oHicer, six governors, two lieutenant governoirs'y,s1x ambassadors and foreign ministers, seven United States senators, ,tWEnty9three congressmen, ninety-nine state senators and representatives, fiftii-eight judges of state and federal courts, and sixty officers above the rank of captain in the Civil War, in addition to more than three hundred ministers of thei'GOSpel and numerous men and women of pre-eminent success in ficomme'rce and profession. The present prosperity is unsurpassed. The institution enjoys a large income and has the greatest enrollment in all its history. New buildings of 31.