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

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While in Concord he received overtures from several other fields of labor, and was honored l v being elected the first pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. In i 883 he was called to the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, S. C, but refused to accept the call. Later in the same year, however, the Church in Columbia prosecuted the call before Presbytery, and after hearing the representatives of both Columbia and Concord, the Presbytery placed the call in his hands and it was accepted. He was pastor of the church in Columbia for two years, during which time, under his able preaching and active services as pastor, its congregations were large and the interests of the church advanced along various important lines. It was during his pastorate here that a lot was purchased and the present handsome and commodious house was erected. Also, by his untiring zeal, a suitable site was purchased about the same time in the western part of the city, upon which a building was placed and Sunday School and Sunday afternoon services were held. This grew to be the Second Presbyterian Church. Dr. McKinnon continued to grow so much in the popular esteem that he had not been long at Columbia before he was elected, in the summer of 1885, to the Presidency of David- son College, being the first alumnus of the College and the second North Carolinian ever elected to the position. His friends and old associates in the Board of Trustees strongly urged him to accept, and a committee was sent by the Board of Trustees to lay the matter before his congregation and request them to consent to his removal, loved and revered though he was. They finally consented to let him go, though with much regret. Upon accepting the Presidency of the College he immediately set himself to the task of rallying the old friends of the College to its support, and though only a few weeks remained before the opening of the next term, the attendance on the first day showed a considerable increase over the enrollment of the previous year and the number of students steadily increased until his enforced retirement at the close of the second year. He endeavored to bind the old friends of the College closer together and to win for it new ones; and to so key up its internal machinery as to give it the greatest capacity for usefulness with the least possible friction. Being fully impressed with the great possibilities of usefulness within the reach of such a center of Christian influence his aim was in labors more abundant to pay the price necessary to realize as far as possible the high ideal set before the College. For three months, as he once said himself, God had never so signally blessed his labors. Hut at the close of this short period of action he was physically disabled by severe disease, which for more than twenty years has rendered him almost helpless. After the first attack, though in weakness and suffering, with the aid of his colleagues and the special assistance of the Vice-President, the late Col. W. J. Martin, he struggled on under the burden of care and labor lor the College till the end of the second year. On tendering his resignation, the Hoard of Trustees declined to accept it and gave him a leave of absence for one year. He was convinced, however, before the close of the year that there was no improvement in his condition and urged the acceptance of his resignation. Though unable by reason ot his pro- tracted invalidism to render the College much service, no one perhaps rejoices more in the great prosperity that has come to it under the able administration of his successors. In t he summer of 1886 the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by the University of North Carolina and also by the Southwe stern Presbyterian University of Tennessee. Dr. McKinnon ' s present home is in Clinton, N. C.

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3W Cutler Mtclftitinon, D. 3 . tUM HE SUB J ECT 0F THIS SKETCH was born near Maxton, N. C, in what is now the county of Scotland. He received his early education and prep- aration for college in the best academies of that section, which were usually presided over by college graduates. In 1857 he entered the Freshman Class at Davidson College, and graduated in 1S61, sharing with two others the highest honors of his class. The same year he entered the Theological Seminary at Columbia, S. C. It was in 1862 that he joined ranks in the Confederate Army and there gave faithful service in behalf of the Southern cause for more than a year. In November 1863 he was licensed by the Presbytery of Fayetteville to preach the gospel. Shortly after, at the age of 23 he was elected Chaplain of the 36th North Carolina Regiment and shared its varied fortunes until the surrender near Greensboro, N. C. Upon assuming his duties as chaplain he requested the Colonel not to require the soldiers to attend his preaching, but allow him to trv the power of personal influence over the men. The result was that he had large and attentive congrega- tions, attesting to the great personality and strong character of the man. It is hard to esti- mate the good he did in these meetings and the warm encouragement he gave to the soldiers at a time when they stood in especial need of spiritual uplift. Dr. MeKinnon always regarded his army experience as his most difficult work, but always spoke of it as a most valuable training for his life work. Soon after the Civil War closed he was elected President of Floral College, an institution for the higher education of women, located four miles from Maxton, N. C. He went to work and selected suitable teachers for the various departments and during the short time he was there, he put the College on a firm basis and left it in a flourishing condition. In connection with his college work at this place he supplied the Presbyterian churches at Laurinburg and Lumberton, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Fayetteville in April, 1866. However, his growing popularity and power as a preacher did not permit him to remain here long. In 1867 he received and accepted a call from the Goldsboro Presbyterian Church, where he spent nearly four and a half years of laborious and successful service in the cause of Christ, to which he has ever been so much devoted. During his residence in Goldsboro the Presbytery of Wilmington was constituted and Dr. MeKinnon was elected its first stated clerk. Dr. MeKinnon was married in December, 1869, to Miss Addie Lee, of Clinton, N.C., from which union were born four children. Early in the year 1871 he received a call to the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church in Concord, N. C, but declined to accept. Ho ' vever, the people of Concord were so anxi his for him that the call was renewed later in the same year and this time he accepted it. Here he remained for about twelve years and gave to the people of this church and community prob- ably the richest and most fruitful years of his gifted and consecrated life. During his useful pastorate at this place his friends and co-laborers showed the high esteem in which they held him by frequently electing him to such important positions as Moderator of Presbytery. Synod, Commissioner to the General Assembly, Trustee of Davidson College; and for about ten years he was President of the Board of Trustees of the last named institution and Chair- man of the Executive Committee.

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tSlft|§ g Contents L Dedication Rev. Luther McKinnon, D. D Table of Contents Editorial Department The Faculty ' OS Senior Class Organization 16 At Evening. 38 Junior Class Organization 10 In 31, 982, 743 A. D 10 The College Man [deal 49 Love ' s Conquering Lyre 50 Sophomore Class (rganization 52 58 Freshman ' s Class Organization 62 70 The 1 a ids,, i, Spirit 74 Officers of Student Bodj 75 Caught in the Act . 77 The Musi ' of Poetry 7s Philanthopic and Eumenean Literary So- |)a idson College Magazine The Land of Sunset Light A Bargain Sale Triolet Philanthopic Marshals Eumenean Marshals Three Flowerets A Tribute fo Love Thr V. M.C. A 90 92 93 95 96 07 98 99 100 Volunteer Band 104 A Retrospective View of the Post, etc. . . 106 A Junior ' s Vision 017 Junior Speaking 108 The Davidson Church 110 Ad Noctum Ill The Snipe Hunt 113 Our rtists 114 Library Organization 115 ( ml) a Dream 116 Sophomore Banquet 117 To a Garden of Flowers lis Sigma Alpha Epsilon 120 Pi Kappa Alpha 124 Kappa Sigma 130 Kappa Alpha 132 Beta Theta Pi 130 When Sen. Went to the Circus 140 ' Hie Thorny Way 141 Find I lie Bureau 142 The Hall of Fame 143 Phyllis Ill The Bear Hunt 146 A Warning 1 10 Proverbs of Davidson 151 Our Heterogeneous I lipprodiome of Harm- ful Hobbyists 153 Athletics 155 Clubs 1S1 College Calendar 209 Statistics 212 Grinds 214 D.C 217 Advertisements 219