Western Maryland College - Aloha Yearbook (Westminster, MD)

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boarders. the pulpit of St Johns Independent Church, Baltimore. In December, 1877, Mr, Lewis married President 'NVard's daughter, Mary, who was, also, a graduate of the college, and is, at this writing, the father of five children, three girls and two boys. In 1882 he organized and became, as stated above, the Hrst president of the West- minster Theological Seminary-the position now held by Dr. W'ard, andhin 1885 received the honorary degree of D. D., from Adrian College, Michigan. Cn his accession to the presidency of the college in July, 1886, he directed his first efforts to the payment of debts which had long been a source of embarrasment and by skillful management was enabled to wipe these out, to the last cent, before the close of the year 1889. The energies of the executive were exercised, also, in building. In 1886 'Ward Hall was enlarged to double its former size and the rooms occupied by the female students were completely refurnished. In I887,N to quote from the Bureau of I:Education's Sketch, a wing IO4 feet long was added to the main building, providing a new dining-hall, a large auditorium and new rooms for female This wing was named Smith Hall in honor of the President of the Board of Trustees. Steam heating apparatus was first introduced into the college buildings this year and 'the deadly stove' was banished. The improvements this year cost over SI2,000. In 1888 the main front was greatly improved by a portico running the entire length. 'Various changes were made within and new furniture and apparatus added. In 1889 XVard Hall was completely remodeled in the interior to the great im- provement of the plan of the rooms. Four acres of ground were added to the premi- ses to furnish a field for sports, and a steam laundry was put in. . The same year was signalized by two very timely and generous gifts. The firm of Bal-:er Brothers, of Buckeystown, Md., erected on the campus a President's House, and Miss Anna R. Yingling, A. M., of Westminster, Md., a member of the first clasS graduated from the college, presented to her Alma Mater a handsome and well- equipped Gymnasium. On the 23d of April, 1890, the Masonic Lodge which, twenty-three years before, had officiated at the laying of the first corner-stone on College Hill, again appeared, at the presidentls invitation, and applied square, level and plumb to the corner-stone of a final addition to the main building, the wing called, in honor of Dr. J. W. Hering, Treasurer of the Board of Trustees, Hering Hall. This annex contains, on the first floor, a spacious chemical and physical laboratory and two large rooms for the use of the preparatory department, on the second floor, iive recitation rooms and the president's oliiceg on the third Hoor, a few sleeping rooms and a handsome library, eighty-one feet long. . The completion of this wing. together with alterations made, at the same time, in the original building, gives the college a beautiful and stately structure, uniform in style and with a frontage of 273 feet. ' While the energies of the executive were thus employed in providing accommo- dations ample enough to meet the increase in the number of preparatory and collegiate students, a new department of work had assumed such proportions as to require a separate building. This was the primary school, Which, at the urgent request of the Citizens of Westminster, the president had consented to open in connection with the college. The emergency was met by Dr. Charles Billingslea and his wife, the former 29

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both sexes have been admitted' and have received the same degree at graduation. For both the course of study is nearly tl1e same, the principal difference being that the ladies take French. instead of Greek. The plan of separate recitations, of sepa- rate residence, of monthly receptions to the male students, or parlor nights, in the presence of teachers, in short all the regulations which provide for and safeguard the presence of both sexes in the school come down from the early days of Dr. Ward's control. The arrangement has been amply vindicated by its success. In the twenty- six years during which young men and young women have been educated at Western Maryland College, with a town at hand 11ot free from the usual propensity to gossip, no whisper of scandal has been heard. Silence, surely, was never more eloquent. From the beginning, too, hazing was firmly discouraged and rowdyism of all kinds sternly discountenanced, so that now it has become traditional in the school to meet tl1e new .students with courteous welcome instead of the jocose brutality so often practiced elsewhere. Difficulties between town and gown, so common where n1ost colleges exist, have never occurred here, and no case has ever been known in which complaint was lodged against a 'Western Maryland student for disorderly conduct within the corporate limits of NVestminster. Under the fostering care of the faculty, early in the history of the college, the four literary societies now existing were organized, two, the Irving and the VVebster for the young men, and two, the Browning and the Philomathean for the young women, and have always been regarded as valuable adjuncts to the regular academic course. The Irving was formed on the opening of the college, in September, 1867, the Browning followed, in 18683 in 1871 the Webster Callle into existence, while the Philos date their anniversary from 1882. 'Ihe presidency of Dr. XVard lasted from the organization of the college until June, 1856, when, at his own request, he was relieved of the duties he had so long, so faithfully and so ably perforn1ed, and transferred to the important, but less burden- some charge of the Westminster Theological Seminary. ' Few men living are so widely known and so well beloved as the first president of Western Maryland College. Born ill Georgetown, D. C., August zrst, 1820, of sterling English and Scotch stock, carefully educated, and always studious, he devoted him- self to the preaching of the Gospel, and from 1841 to 1866, he led the life of a busy and useful pastor, at Philadelphia, Washington and other important points. Admon- ished by failing health to abandon the arduous work of the itinerancy, Dr. Ward, in 1866, sought retirement and rest in a beautiful home which he had purchased in the western suburbs of Westminster, and thus, providentially, he was on the spot, the right man. in the right place, when the college was first projected, became its first president, carried it safely through the times of early trial and handed it over to his successor an institution of learning solidly founded, widely and favorably known. The successor to Dr. Ward chosen by the trustees was Thomas Hamilton Lewis, who, as the organizer and first president of the Westminster Theological Seminary, had already exhibited executive talents of a rare order. I-Ie was born near Dover, Delaware, December 11th, 1852, graduated, with the highest honors, from Western Maryland College in 1875, entered the ministry of the M. P. Church, was stationed at Cumberland, Md., for two years, and for the five years fron1 1877 to 1882, filled 28

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a trustee and the latter a graduate of the college, who furnished the means for the erection of a building for the primarians. The work was begun in the spring of 1891, and at the beginning of the academic year in September Levine Hall, a memorial of the donors' little son, was opened and placed in charge of Miss Lottie A. Owings, an efficient and experienced teacher, who had for years been preceptress in the college. The ive years of ceaseless activity and wearing responsibility which had now elapsed since his inauguration had begun to impair the strength of President Lewis and to threaten his future usefulness. Under the circumstances, a long rest and an entire change seemed advisable, and these could best be secured by travel. Accordingly leave of absence was granted by the trustees, and on the 26th of September, 1891, he started on a tour around the world, followed by the prayers and kind wishes of faculty and students. His return in February of the next year was signalized by illuminations, banquets and other demonstrations of affection and esteem, and it was, above all, an occasion of rejoicing to his personal friends and to all friends of the college to notice the recuperative effects of his voyage. By appointment of the executive committee of the Board of trustees, Professor Reese was acting president of the college during Dr Lewis, absence-from the 25th of September, 1891, to the I2lvll of February, 1892-and was greatly strengthened in the performance of his duties by the cordial support of the faculty and the hearty loyalty of the students. One of the most pleasant of the duties which fell to the lot of the acting president was the dedication, on the zoth of November, 1891, of the modest obser- vatory erected for the reception of a telescope, the gift of Trustees E. O. Grimes and W. H. Starr. This instrument, made by Sxgmuller, of WVashington, D. C., is a five-inch reflector, equatorially mounted and supplied with a driving clock, and is worthy of the beautiful ceremony by which it was consecrated to the study of the heavens. . The return of President Lewis was followed by further improvements. Ample bathing facilities were provided in the hitherto unoccupied basement of the Yingling Gymnasium, and ground was broken for another building. This was completed early in 1893, and serves the double purpose of a boiler-housefthus removing all smoke and dust from the other buildings and furnishing space for the electric plant which is sure to come-and of commodious quarters for the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion of the college. The dedication of the latter, with appropriate ceremony and an encouraging address, took place on the evening of Sunday, the 12th of March, 1893. Meanwhile the fund for Alumni Hall is slowly but steadily increasing, and to the eye of faith the handsome edifice which the graduates are to erect is already visible. To some of our readers it may seem that too much of this sketch has been devoted to brick and mortar. Wlren, however, the astonishing fact is once grasped that all the money spent in building-a part of VVard Hall excepted-has come from the current receipts of the school, it will be seen that in no way could the internal development of the .college be so well represented as by the successive architectural enlargements which it rendered necessary. Then, too, the inner life and daily routine of a college, however absorbing to the undergraduate mind, have very little in them- 30