Bethany College - Bethanian Yearbook (Bethany, WV)

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Ibistor of Bethany Colleoe. THE RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT that has for its object the restoration, in their pristine purity, of the simple faith and practices of the early followers of Christ, has been the most important of this century, and one of the grand- est of all time. Those who accept as their only creed the Bible and its teachings and acknowledge as their only name the one first given at Antioch, now number more than a million souls, scattered over the civilized world. The head and front of this movement was Alexander Campbell, and the most potent factor in it has been Bethany College, a crea- tion of his imperial intellect. A detailed history of Bethany would be, in a large measure, a history of the men who have contributed most to the success of this epoch-making reformation. But our space permits only a meagre outline. Alexander Campbell considered an immoral person uneducated, and, in the College that he proposed to establish, especial attention was to be given to the Bible and the moral and religious culture to be derived therefrom, as the essential element in a liberal education. A generous provision was also to be made for other studies, and more than usual promi- nence was to be given to the physical sciences. v-.f.: With these ideas of its founder in view, the charter of the institution was obtained from tlie Legislature of Virginia in 1840, by John C. Campbell, of Wheeling. Phillip B. Pendleton, of Virginia, gave a donation of $1,000, the first money received for the College. The first meeting of the Board of Trustees took place May nth, 1840. On Septem- ber 18th of that year, Mr. Campbell was elected President of the College and was rec|uested tO ' prepare a course of studies. He presented to the board a tract of land and immediately proceeded ' to erect thereon a large brick structure for the accommodation of students. The first Professors were elected by the Board on May loth, 1841, and the first session opened on November ist of the same year, closing on the 4th of the following July. Each of the six members of the first Faculty, except the President, was under thirty years of age. Only one-third of the 102 students were members of the Church. As the College building was not yet completed, the recitations were conducted in the Steward ' s Inn, located on the present site of Phillip ' s Hall. At this inn both the professors and students boarded. It is no wonder that the argtis- eyed members of the Faculty soon discovered irregularities in the conduct of some of the students, and that cases of discipline occurred at the outset. The chapel exercises and the President ' s daily lecture on the Bible, at which all the students were required to be present, took place at half-past six o ' clock in the morning. To have to rise before this early hour would be thought a great hardship now-a-days, but it was esteemed a wholesome discipline by our sterner ancestors. Each student stood his term examination in the presence of the entire Faculty. The first class graduated in 1844, and since that time Bethany has not failed to furnish her annual quota of graduates. Tlie character and attainments of these graduates were soon discovered, and the College had been established on a

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BETHANY COLLEGE.

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secure basis b} ' the liberality of its founder and friends, when on December loth, 1857, the Faculty, students and vil- lagers had to look on witli vain regret while the entire College building, with its precious contents, was being consumed by the flames. President Campbell and Professor Pendleton immediately began to solicit funds with which to rebuild, and their labors were approaching a happy consummation, when they were suddenly interrupted by the rude shock of Civil War. In 1866 the College lost its great founder and President, Alexander Campbell, and Professor W. K. Pendleton, an accomplished scholar and polished gentleman of the old school, who had been a Professor in the College from its foundation, was chosen President. In 1871, the present spacious and imposing building was completed, but, in 1879, that portion of it containing the chapel and society halls was burned to the ground. In 1887, after nearly a half a century of faithful and efficient service. Dr. Pendleton retired from the active duties of the Presidency, and VV. H. Woolery, a man of marked ability, was elected to succeed him. On July 30th, i88g. President Woolery met an untimely death from typhoid fever. A. McLean was the next President. During his term, by the generosity of Hon. Thomas W. Phillips, Phillips ' Hall, an admirable structure for its purpose, was erected as a dormitory for the students. President McLean resigned in 1892 and President McDiarmid served the College until l8g6, when he also resigned. B. C. Hagerman was elected President in June, 1897. Bethany has furnished at least one President for each of the following institutions, Hiram. Butler, Drake Adrian, Kentucky University and the LTniversity of Texas. Her graduates now fill with eminent ability the Bible Chairs of Hiram, Butler, Kentucky University, the University of Chicago and the LTniversity of Missouri. Her ministerial stu- dents, by their eloquence and piety, have carried her fame to all parts of the civilized world. Others of her alumni have sat in the halls of Congress and represented their coun ' ry in European capitals. Like the Roman matron, when called upon to display ' her jewels, she proudly points to her sons. Hundreds of these sons, in business, at the bar, in the forum, on the field of battle, have exemplified the value of her training and lent enduring lustre to her name. She challenges the sympathy, the prayers and the pecuniary assistance of a grateful people. In vie w of what the Disciples of Christ owe to old Bethany, and to her illustrious founder, and in view of the apparent incHfiference of some of us to her needs, we may be reminded of Kipling ' s prayer: Lord God of Plosts! be with us yet, Lest we forget — lest we forget!