Furman University - Bonhomie Yearbook (Greenville, SC)

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'rheological Departments were opened under I)r. .lames C. Furman, as chairman of the Faculty. Fifty-nine acres were purchased at first, hut a part was afterwards disposed of. In 1852 the College of I. Feral Arts began its work. Four years after the Cniversity was opened, the treasurer, C. II. .Judson, reported to the Convention that $I3,500 had been spent for buildings and improvements of grounds, $1,000 for purchase of real estate. $3,825 for interest and exchange, $3,300 for library, and $37,000 for salaries of instructors and agents. In 1855 Prof. .Mims, of the Theological Department, died, and was succeeded by James 1 . Boyce, under whose leadership this department of the Cniversity grew into the Southern Baptist 'Theological Seminary (1859), with the famous quartet, James P. Boyce. John A. Broadus, Basil .Manly and William Williams as professors. In this year, 1859. Dr. Furman became president of the Cniversity, and served in that capacity till 1879, as chairman of the Faculty till 1881, and as professor of moral philosophy till his death, in 1891. Dr. Charles Manly succeeded to the presidency in 1881, and held this position till 1897. The period from 1835 to 1885 was a period of precarious struggle. At its beginning the Cniversity was stripped of everything but the campus, the main building and several thousand dollars held for ministerial education: and it was only in 1885 and 1886’ when, by the successful agency of K. II. Griffith, a considerable endowment fund was raised, that the institution breathed freely again. In 1888 .Judson cottage was built, at a cost of $2,800, and shortly after this Griffith Hall, at about the same cost, and some other smaller buildings. In 1897 l)r. A. P. Montague became president, and during his incumbency of five years the Alumni Hall, Fitting School and the Montague Hall were built, at a cost of $22,000, $3,000 and $12,000, respectively. Dr. E. M. Poteat succeeded Dr. Montague in November, 1903. In this same year, under the agency of llev. Joel i. Allen, subscriptions to the amount of $125,000 were secured for endowment. Of these subscriptions upwards of $85,000 have been paid at this writing (February, 1907). In March, 1905, Mr. Andrew Carnegie proposed to give $15,000 for a Library Building, on condition that $15,000 be raised as an endowment for the Library. This condition was met by Dr. Judson, who created the Charles II. Judson Endowment Fund for the Library. Dr. Judson died January 12. 1907, in his 87th year, after having served in various capacities, professor, treasurer, acting president, dean, for fifty-six years. In recognition of his eminence as a mathematician and teacher, shortly [10]

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iijisturiral B’krtrlt OI:HING the first quarter of the last century, the Baptists of South Carolina sent some of their ministerial students to the Academy on the High Hills of Santee, where the principal. I)r. J. M. Roberts, received a part, if not all, of them free of tuition. In 1827 the Baptist State Convention opened “The Furman Academy and Theological Institution” at Edgefield, buildings and land having been conditionally offered by the citizens of the village. The magnetic influence of Basil Manly, Sr., then a young man and pastor of the village church, and a desire on the part of the Convention to secure the co-operation of Georgia Baptists, caused the school to be located not far from the Savannah river. After an experiment of less than two years, with Dr. Joseph Warne as principal, the Convention decided to abandon the classical department, surrender the property to the donors and remove the beneficiaries to the High Hills of Santee, in Sumter County. As the school grew. Prof. Samuel Furman was added to the teaching force. The last four years at the High Hills, 1880-1884, was the period when it was attempted to support the school by means of scholarships. A suspension of two years, 1885-1886, followed the failure of this method of supporting the Faculty. Efforts were resumed on the first Monday in February. 1837, when a Manual Labor Classical School was opened near Winnsborough, under the principalship of Prof. W. E. Bailey, but its bright prospects began to wane in the following May, when the building was burned. In 1838 the Theological Department was resumed under Dr. V. Hooper as president. I)r. J. L. Reynolds succeeded him in 1840, and in 18453 Rev. J. S. Mims became junior professor and teacher of systematic theology. Dr. J. C. Furman succeeded Dr. Reynolds in 1844. and Rev. Peter C. Edwards was made teacher of Hebrew and Biblical exegesis the following year. 'This celebrated trio were hardly in their chairs before a removal to Greenville and the enlargement of the school began to he a general topic. In 1848. Dr. Furman was released from the duties of the school room, and with the help of others was successful in raising $70,000 for Furman Cniversity, to he located in Greenville. In 1851 this transfer was made, and the Academy and [9J

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before bis death, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching granted him a pension of one thousand dollars per annum. In his last will and testament. Dr. Judson made the Library Endowment Fund residuary legatee of bis estate, and it is expected that several thousand dollars will thus be added to the fund. 'Flic Library Building was erected in 1906-07, at a cost of $23,000, Mr. Carnegie having added $1,000 to his original grant and other friends contributing a like sum.