Miami University - Recensio Yearbook (Oxford, OH)

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22-min 2 gymnmajf, . 2-. 2.2,. 2mg. .2 ; mv .a nwwg-r W14, , mmgya wu.2n.wlmrw- -22: 2, mr.-2F.,nr . . A little rippling echo of the years . The campus sends abroad on certain nights, 2 2 When Winds are hushed, and moon mist drifting lies 2:2 2 Der grass and trees, and every sleeping thing 22 With all the tender magic of the night Faint and afar, and seeming westernward - Of serenades and moonlight wanderings When I made one among the strolling band ... And now the time of parting was at hand. 2 2 Next spring would bring another such a night Of breathless beauty .2 Winds on tip-tiptoe, The plashing fountain singing to itself, And making little love songs to the moon It held imprisoned floating in its depths, Whose twin was floating upward through the sky. And somewhere in the night would sound the call That called me forth this night a the silent call '2 2 . . t . 2 2 2 Q t t gngwxmgzaww-smaw. 2.2 2h.m.2:......-21.2 2.2-.2 , 22222.2. . . 2 y . 2333'? 2.222.222.2222: 'I2!I'2H2i' 23.222.57.122 22.2: -2 :22 , 3 2 . t i 1 1 ' 1 I 2 :2 , r , 2 2 2 2 2 2. I 2 3 I 1 1 z : 2 2 ' 2 22 . 2 2 2 2 2 2 ' 3 . t . 2 ' 2 t 2 t 2 2 2 2 - 1 LmEL' LumrusgmmX-axkyz m. .2222 A em: , Steals softly to the hearts of them that watch, Bringing a sudden flood of wistful love For everything they see : a longing love That leaves a little ache within the heart, A little aehin g throb akin to pain. 3 And When Within the circle of the halls The serenaders gather, and the moon Looks down and smiles as she has smiled for years On other serenades on other nights, I wonder if she211 see that one is gone - 2 One more has slipped into the years that were. 2 19

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Moon Mist tBY GORDON CRECRAFT, ,18l A milky moon - a lazy lying Cloud, And on the sleeping campus not a breath Astir; the liquid light lay over all, A mellow radiance lingering over all, And kissing it into a deeper slumber. I stood Within the circle of the halls Sleeping myself as did the sleeping earth In all the beauty of the pale spring night, Breathing a Closer kinship With the things That I had known some years and grown to love; Breathing a certain sadness, too, that now The time of parting drew so very near. The tall twin towers lneath the melting moon, Viewed through the medium of the palpitant air, Wavering rose, and seemed to flow into Their tenuous bath of mellow, melting light; While in the floating shadows of the halls The very darkness purpled into light, Throbbed and grew purple With a mist of light. The night was very quiet; yet there were A thousand subtle murmurings 0n the air - Small stealthy stirrings as of hidden things, Of hidden life at work, all unperceived Nor even dreamed of save on such a night. I heard the tinkle of a mandolin 18

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w w awn: puma. x-wwnwuqu-r 5g;,.;fjm'f:w5hvrjar g?nyfjm, M .9 am mum, l m. , alkali.w-gsAg-gf.:Hssanammgzmmmhe i11:4.;;.i..;,..m:-.re;;:w ;:'1wr my ad, um;- I 1 Vi ' 7 k-f ' r l 1 l e 78381:; L 1 i . 1. 1.11 ' l 7.11:; LL; U .1 i l..h.;.;$ - ' l: '8 r r ,3, k nshuwa... - .4 w. 0 1d M . . HE T reaty of Paris in 1783 brought peace and independence to the thirteen colonies, but as a result of the war the whole country was in the throes of a severe economic depression. In these darkened hours, the eyes of the sturdy young colonists were turned toward the great territories across the Alle- ghenies, and, following the beckoning call of opportunity, they came in constant streams to settle in the fertile lands of the west. The Ohio valley was settled hrst, and the tide of immigration was then turned into the rich valleys of the tributary streams. Marietta, at the mouth of the Muskingum, was the first settlement, and at this Village, General St. Claire, the first governor of the N orthwest T erritory, 8 established his frontier capital. Cincinnati was settled soon after, and from this post on the Ohio, llMad Anthony Wayne pushed northward into the country of the Miamis and established Ft. Hamilton on the Great M iami River. From Ft. Hamilton, an ancient trail led westward to the wooded hills, but the present Vicinity of Oxford was Virgin forest. By the dawn of the new century, the population had so increased that the territorial government established in 1787 had become inad- equate, and the State of Ohio was formally constituted and admitted to the Union in 1803. Life was indeed strenuous in the new state. The Indians were savage and hostile; the country was wild, and clearings had to be made before the land could be cultivated. Against the rigors of climate, the hardships of frontier life, and the stealthy inroads of malaria, did the early settlers have to fight-for the necessities of existence. But in spite of their environment the hardy pioneers of Ohio were not completely engrossed in the competition for bare necessities, for even in the most strenuous struggles of frontier life they realized that education was destined 7 to play a great part in the commonwealth they were building, a factor without which progress would be impossible. Accordingly, in 1809 the Legislature of the new state, acting under the Federal Land. Grant of 1787, formally founded and named Miami University, an institution of higher learning to be located in the center of the township set apart for educational purposes in a Village to be called Oxford. One year after the founding of Oxford a schoolhouse of rough-hewn logs was erected on what is now the Miami campus. The site is marked by the granite boulder which rests near the northeast corner of Brice Hall. James Dorsey, the master, moved into one side of the small building. Because of the draw-backs of pioneer conditions, however, few students attended, and the Select School, as it was called, did not flourish. The Indians had by this time mainly vacated this district, but until after Perry,s Victory in 1814, there was a constant menace of uprisings all along the frontier. A second school house, built of bricks, planks, and clapboards, was erected in 1817, and the Reverend James Hughes, a missionary to the Wyandotte Indians, was appointed master. In 1820 the construction of the central portion of the present main building was begun. -By this time Oxford was a flourishing Village, and boasted two taverns, a post ofice, three stores, besides furnishing employment for a llnumber of useful mechanics. Because of the lack of funds, actual collegiate instruction was delayed for several years, but on N ovember 1, 1824, the University threw open its doors to a small but nevertheless enthusiastic group of students. Student life in the early days was indeed rugged. The advertisement announc- ing the opening of the college estimated the total cost of a years study here at ninety- three dollars; this included not only tuition, room, board, and books, but also live dollars for lire-wood and candles and an equal amount for llincidentals and 20 , a ' 19.;qu mhbmmvmum MW A bow ' 'mmainG-mr , rgsmf fiian-I'.W :inwrkkxmkj mm-ya-rwh 1: ! t M, mhm e r ,, w . 2., 7., ' 4; y; , 'ftlFPV-wwwgyhaq wy-wu w ;me,i--iv-;:;,:z: winch -,.; wagrur414mmwm-HELVQ4MUW'W31-55051-fo WQ'F'H W WW5: i i - ii; '7