University of Mississippi - Ole Miss Yearbook (Oxford, MS)

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HISTQIQICIKL SKETCH OI: THE UNI- VEIQSITY OI: MISSISSIPPI. HE UNIVERSITY QF MISSISSIPPI owes its origin to that wise provision contained in the celebrated ordinance of 1787 for the government of the Northwest Territory, which declared that religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good govern- ment and the happiness of mankind. schools and the means of educa- tion shall forever be encouraged. Every State in the Union formed out of the public domain has received by act of Congress. as an endow- ment for a State university. the grant of two or more townships of pub- lic land. Mississippi received its first township soon after its admis- sion into the Union, and has recently come into the possession of the second township granted by Congress. In 1833, the first University lands were sold by order of the Legislature, and the money placed in the State treasury. In 1840, it was declared by the Legislature that a State university should be established. and the proceeds of the lands previously granted by Congress were set apart for the use and benefit of the State university. In 1841, the present location was fixed by the Legislature. Qn the twenty-third of February, 1844, the University of Mississippi was duly chartered by act of Legislature, and its first board of trustees named. During the four following years the first buildings were planned and their erection begun. In July. 1848. the first faculty was elected. Dr. George Frederick Holmes, who afterwards served the University of Virginia for many years until the time of his death in 1898, was elected president of the University of Mississippi. John 7 v

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political arena, and ere long was the acknowledged equal of Prentiss, Quitman, McClung and Foote. In the State Senate and later in the Nation's Congress, the pons asinorum of many an aspirant for political favor, he represented his constituents with zeal and ability. Later he was sent to represent his State in the National Senate. In that august body whose halls had but lately echoed with the voice of Clay, of WVebster, of Calhoun, he took a commanding position, and was esteemed by North and South alike, the leader of the States Rights party. Wfhen his State seceded he left his seat in the Senate to place his talents at her command, prepared to march to the front or to serve in any capacity that she might demand of him. But the eye of the whole South turned toward him, and in 1861 he was called to the presidency of the Confederate States, and in 1862 was re-elected for six years. For four years he served this cause with unflagging devotion and fiery zeal, and even in the last hours of the Confederacy would not believe that a cause so sacred could suffer defeat. Divom inclementia divom Has evertit opes sternitque a culmine Troiam. He bore with dignity and courage the pains of defeat and impris- onment, and when the malice of his enemies had spent itself, beating in vain against his lofty nature, he returned to the dignified seclusion of private life, consecrating the days that remained to his wife, children and beloved books. His patience and resignation in the midst of adversity added daily to the number of his friends, and when in 1889 he passed quietly away, all those who had worn the gray, irrespective of former political creed, mourned the death of a beloved chieftain. A. L. B. 6

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Millington. M. D.. was elected professor of natural philosophy and chemistry: Albert Taylor Bledsoe, LL. D., was elected professor of mathematics and astronomy 1 john Newton lYaddel, D. D., was elected professor of languages. This original faculty was small in num- bers, but the eminent positions afterward occupied in educational work by each of the gentlemen named indicate the wisdom of the trustees in their election. ' The First session opened November 6th, 1848, with about eighty students in attendance.all of whom were classed as Freshmen or Sopho- mores. The records of that period show the difficulties under which the University began its work in what was then a pioneer settlement remotely situated. Probably one month was lost, as far as scholastic work was concerned. in classifying students and in securing text-books. This time appears to have been diligently improved by that large pro- portion of the student body who looked upon college life as an oppor- tunity for fun and frolic. Disorders of various kinds characterized most of the session. The president seems to have found the management of the institution too serious a matter, and returned to the more congenial atmosphere of Virginia. The remaining three members of the faculty, with Dr. Bledsoe, acting as president, continued the work of the ses- sion. The First commencement exercises, held in 1849, consisted of declamation and composition by the students, an address by Hon..-X. M. Clayton. of the board of trustees, and an address by Acting- President Bledsoe, in which, after congratulating the community upon the fact that comparative good order had prevailed for two months, he proceeded to discuss the doctrine of total depravity from an educa- tional standpoint. ' The second session of the University opened most auspiciously under the presidency of Dr. A. B. Longstreet, the celebrated Judge Longstreet, of Georgia, and with several additions to the faculty. Vliithin two years, the enrollment of students had largely increased, and there was a corresponding increase in the corps of instructors. The University immediately took high rank among the institutions of the country, both on account of the ability of the men connected with it, and the character of the work accomplished. This rank has been fully maintained in all its history. Its trustees have been selected from the most distinguished and intelligent citizens of the Stateg the faculty 8