Clemson University - Taps Yearbook (Clemson, SC)

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ViOW s ffi L II 1 n 0RPRR.0FB00K5 I. ADMINISTRATION I. CLASHES H. MILITARY IVATHLE TICS V. ORATORY VI.PVBLICATI0N5 VH. 5 AT IKE, VHI. ORGANIZATIONS IX.CLVB5 X. ADV KTOE, MENT.S

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The Hatch Act, passed In 1887, gave additional Funds picultural research The agitation for a sep- arate Agricultural College made the Unlversitj Trus- tees hasten In their efforts to develop the agricultural work. In May, 1888, i ' 1 acres of land were pun near the present fair grounds Experiment stations were established in Darlington and Spartanburg. ii was in April ol that same year, 1888, that Mr. Clemson died. CHAPTER III. The agitation t divorce the Agricultural and Me- chanical College from the University, in whose classi- cal atmosphere it was claimed to be languishing, was begun by Captain mow Senator) B. It. Tillman at the Bennettsvllle meeting t the South Carolina Agricul- tural Society in August, 1885. Tin- following year, 1886, the farmers met in con- vention at the call of Capt. Tillman, and demanded that the Legislature establish tor them a separate Agricultural College. In the tall of that same year, Mr. clemson. hearing ol Capt Tillman ' s activities, in- vited him to visit him. During the conference, whic ' i v. is also attended by Col. II. W. Simpson and Col. D. K. Norris. Col Simpson pointed out a legal flaw in Mr. Clemson ' s will, whereupon Mr. Clemson called upon him to re-write it. This he did. making of it and instrument that withstood every legal assault. winning its final triumph in the Supreme Court of the United States. The conference was to send ( apt Tillman hack into the State with renewed hope and added zeal. For he saw in the Clemson bequest a turning point in the struggle which the Farmers I rention had initiated. Krom one end of the State to the other, his cr. was for a separate college for the farmers. With his writings and his eloquence he made converts to the cause, and with his harsh in- vective, drove opposition to cover. To Tillman as to no other man. Clemson College is due. Hut for his leadership and power, Mr. Clem- son ' s vision ot an Agricultural College -it the home of his great father-in-law would never have been ful- filled, and Col Simpson ' s work in drawing the will would have gone tor naught. In 1889 the Legislature accepted Mr. Clemson ' s be- quest, the presiding officer. Lieut. Gov. V. L. Mauldin, casting the deciding vote in the Senate. Alter con- siderable delay. Gov. Richardson signed the Act. and the Clemson Agricultural College ot South Carolina at Port Hill became an established tact. In the fight for acceptance in the House. Judge W. C Benet was the leading figure. In the act ot acceptance, the Legislature used tin- following signticant words : The State ot South Carolina herchv expressly de- clares that it accepts the devise and bequest ot Thomas (. Clemson subject to the terms and conditions set forth in his last will and testament. Chief of these terms and conditions were the fol- lowing : ill That the State of South Carolina would erect and support at the homestead of John C. Calhoun an Agricultural and Mechanical College to he known as The Clemson Agricultural College ll 8 I IJi That the Governing Hoard should consist of 13 members, ot whom Beven should he life and self-per- Ing members, the other six to he selected hy the State in such manner as tin- Legislature should : Ibe. Ill accepting the last condition, the Legislature di- rected that nine votes would he neo.-ss.ii v to transact all fiscal affairs, thus giving veto power to tic Trustees in all matters of expenditure ot funds The land script and Hatch funds that had come to the t ' liivcrsitv were now diverted to Clemson College, as was practically ail the property ot the 1 ilina College of Agriculture and Mechanic in December, 1890, ( ' apt Tillman became Governor ot South Carolina, and under his guidance the lature laid the foundations of Clemson ' s growth and present greatness bj giving to the College for its erection and maintenance the fertilizer tax over and above the cost of inspection and anal CHAPTER IV. The first meeting ot the Hoard of Trustees was in the siiring ot 1891. Mr. Clemson had named in his will as Life Trustees. It. V. Simpson and If. K, Norris. ot Pendleton; B. It. Tillman, ot Trenton; M. L. Don- aldson, ot Greenville; K. E. Bowen, ot Pickens; .1 E Bradley, ot Abbeville, and .1. E. Wannamaker Matthews. The Legislature elected .1. L. Orr, of Greenville; .1. E. Tindal, of Pinewood; E. T. stack- house, ot Little Koch : Alan Johnstone, of Newberrv ■ H Hardin, ol Chester, and D. T. Bedfearr, of Mt. Croghan. Col. K W Simpson was elected President of the Hoard and served in that position for seventeen years No man in South Carolina ever loved ( leu better, or served it more faithfully than did tl Soman, whom .Mr. Clemson spoke of in his writings as my trusted friend. The cornerstone of the College was laid with Masonic rites .lu 1. and the doors opened to students in July, 1893. Enrollment the first - was 146. Trot. H. A. Strode ot Virginia was the tils ' President. CHAPTER V. From small beginnings, Clemson College has grown to he a veritable young giant among Colleges. Its attendance has doubled since the first year, its area has increased from Ml to 1554 acres, its property from about $250,000 to more than one and a third million. Its graduates number 1,459. The number of individ- uals who have attended reaches over 5,600, and the number of matriculations 15,9 Clemson College is not a college merely — it is a great public service Corporation whose worth must be measured by the total of the service it renders Through its extension work and other public activities, the College campus has been extended to include the entire State. The institution has indeed become the fireside university of our agricultural people. This is an historical sketch, not an argument. Whether it were wise to create a separate Agricultural and Mechanical College, located in one corner ot the State, apart from the State University, is now an academic question. To speculate upon the chances that agricultural and mechanical education would have to develop in the classical atmosphere of the Southern State University ot thirty years ago is like- rutlle. In the face ot an accomplished fact, logic and lamentation are alike impotent. South Carolinians want to know, not what might have been done, but what has actually been accom- plished. In Clemson College itself is the answer ! w ii an President. Clemson Agricultural College I 9 I

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V U 1 . V U« For four long years mid joy and tears, W e ' ve worked in class and play. W eve loved and fought, done much or naught, But all have worn the GRA . So ere we part to make our start In the great, grim world ahead; Let ' s take a cup, and. standing up. Drink to a past that ' s fled. To a school that ' s the best; which will stand each test That in years to come shall be: So with glass held high, in a last good-bye, I give you — C. A. C. J. N. Tenhet, Jr., 18.