Davidson College - Quips and Cranks Yearbook (Davidson, NC)

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erected. Later were added the Old Chapel, the Literary Society Halls, and a large building called Danville, where Dr. Harding ' s residence now stands. The College opened on March ist, 1837, with sixty-six student.s, and Dr. Mor- rison as the first President. On August 26th, 1835, it had been named Davidson College in honor of General William David.son, who fell in the battle of Cowan ' s Ford, a few miles west of the site selected by the committee. The original plan of the founders was to have the students pay for their board by labor on the College Farm, but the system soon proved a failure and was abandoned after four years of trial. The next financial scheme was far worse than a simple failure, and came near bankrupting the College. In 1852 the trustees offered to the public four hundred scholarships, each good for twenty years of tuition, at $100 apiece. The.se eight thousand years of tuition were sold at $5.00 per year in advance. All receipts for tuition were soon cut off and within a few years the College faced financial ruin. At this juncture, bj ' the will of Maxwell Chambers, Flsq., of Salisbury, the struggling institution fell heir to a quarter of a million dollars. A clause in its charter limiting its property to 5 200,000 reduced the amount received by the Col- lege to that figure. This was a fabulous sum in those days, and new buildings were erected, new professors elected, apparatus and cabinets purchased, and the College launched on its career of ever-widening activity and n.sefulness. Executive Committee. Board ot Trustees 0! Davidson College. W. J. McK.w Chairman J. Rumple Secretary O. D. D.wis Treasurer Geokc.k K. Wilson Attorney Alkx. R. B. nk.s a. H. White George W. W. tts R. A. Dunn P. M. Bkown