Hampden Sydney College - Kaleidoscope Yearbook (Hampden Sydney, VA)

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HA IPDEIV-SYDIVEY CDLLtIi p into the W ' atkiiis Bfll Tower, no brick could be found at the birth-place of Archibald Alexander, but a small stone from the chimney was sent, and was installed. Archibald Alexander was a student at Liberty Hall, under its first Principal, William (Jraham. There he gave evidence of his unusual abilities, of his studious day; and of course small endowment. This of course has always beeii the case at Hampden-Sydney. Dis- cipline and instruction took on new life. Presidejit Alexander resigned in i8c6 and went to Philadelphia as pastor of the Pine Street Church, where he remained about six years. In 1812 he became Professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology at Princeton Seminary, of which he may be regarded as the founder. Here he continued until October 22, 1851; nearly forty years of eminent service. He was a prolific writer, both of books and of ar:icles for the religious press. He was a man of singular beauty of person and of singular charm of manner. He was given the degree of Doctor of Divinity U the College of New Jersey in iSio. Southwestern University, Memphis. Tennessee. Rev. John B. Shearer, Class of 1852. was the President and guiding figure of Stewart Col- lege fron-i 1870 until 1875. when through his efforts the college became the university. habits, and of his clean. Christian life. He was licensed in the fall of 1791 by Lexington Presbytery, at Winchester, Virginia, and at once began missionary work in Frederick, Jefferson, and Berk- eley Counties. From the very first he showed marked gifts as a preacher. Being dismissed to F,ast Hanover Pres- bytery, he preached at Old Cumber- land Church, about three miles north of Farmville, and at Hampden-Sydney, where a separate church from Old Cumberland had not yet been organ- ized. He preached also at Buffalo, Briery, Cub Creek, and Charlotte Court House. In 1796 he was elected President of Hampden- Sydney, and took office in the spring of 1797. This brought him into a more intimate contact with John Holt Rice, then a member of the faculty of the College. Thus began an intimate association between these two remarkable men. While President of Hampden-Sydney he continued as pastor in one or more churches. In 1802 he married Janetta Waddell, daughter of Rev. James Waddel, D.D., the celebrated Blind Preacher. The administration of the College by President Alex- ander was a most successful one in every way. It is probable that catalogues were not issued in that day; certainly none have been found prior to 1821, but there are other sources of information. Dr. William Henry Foote states that there was a small wooden building for the President; a brick building which contained rooms for recitation, and lodging rooms; the college hall was a -( vooden building, where the students assembled at an early hour for prayer, and where public worship was held. There was a small library; good scientific apparatus for that University of Richmond, established in t8 0 as Richmond Col- lege, through the work of Edward Baptist, Class of 1613. JOSEPH CARRINGTON CABELL Joseph Carrington Cabell (Dec. 28, 1778-Feb. 5, 1856), was born in that part of Amherst which is now Nelson County, ' irginia. He attended both Hampden- Sydney and Wi!liam and Mary and was of the Class of 1799 at Hampden-Sydney. He spent four years in Europe (1802-1806), married, and settled in (now) Nelson County. Beginning public life in 1808, he was a member of the Virginia Assembly, in both House and Senate, for twenty-seven years; in which time he acquired great influence. He was the first President of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company. Mr. Cabell was a great advocate of public educa- tion, and was instrumental in establishing the Literary Fund, which has been of inestimable benefit to the public schools of ' irginia. Dr. J. H. C. Bagby, in his Gineral Catalo juf of Hampden-Sydney College, published in 1908 (a work that should immortalize him in the annals of the in- stitution), that Mr. Cabell was Jefferson ' s right hand in founding the I ' niversity of ' irginia. In his nota- ble D ' ulionary of Hampden-Sydney Alumni, published in 1921, Dr. A. J. Morrison says that Mr. Cabell was Mr. Jefferson ' s chief coadjutor in the founding of the [14]

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again removed about six miles into the country and established Willington Academy, a school which added to his already great reputation. It is believed that the school was named for Willington, the old home of Major James Morton, near Hampden-Sydney, where young Waddel was a visitor in 1790-92, while a stu- dent at college, and where he had first met Elizabeth Pleasants, a niece of Mrs. James (Mary Smith) Mor- ton. Forty-one years later. Dr. John Newton Waddel established in Mississippi a school modeled on the plan of Willington Academy, and called it Montrose, the name of the old home in Powhatan County, Virginia, where Mary Smith (Mrs. James) Morton was born. There was evidently sentiment in the hearts of father and son. George R. Gilmer, one of his pupils and afterwards Governor of Georgia and Congressman, gives, in his Georgians, a vivid sketch of Dr. Waddel as a teacher, with his unique methods, and as a man of brilliant mind and constructive ability. Among his pupils were John C. Calhoun, William H. Crawford, Hugh S. Legare, George McDuffie, A. B. Longstreet, James L. Pettigru, and George R. Gilmer. Franklin College, at Athens, Georgia, had declined until it had only seven students, and a small faculty whose salaries were based for the most part on hopes. Dr. Waddel was waited upon by a committee of Georgians and urged to take charge of the moribund institution. This was in 1819. The university had bestowed upon him in 1807 the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Governor Gilmer, in his Georgians, says, When he took charge of it (Franklin College), there were neither funds, professors, nor students. In a few years Franklin College, under his direction, became Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, formally opened in 1824 ai htampden-Sydney College as a separate branch of the Theological Department. Seminary Building (1825-1898) was given to the College in 1912 and its name changed to Venabte Hall. I offered a resolution e, pressive of the high apprecia- tion ... of Dr. Waddel ' s value as President, and the desire that he would remain at the head of the college. The resolution was adopted by a nearly unanimous vote. I doubt whether any act of my after life was more cordially approved by the people of Georgia. Thus was Franklin College resurrected from the dying, if not from the dead, and became the University of Georgia. Today (1941) three Hampden-Sydney men are members of its faculty: Willis H. Bocock, who divided the first honor with William 0. Little in 1884; W. D. Hooper, who missed first honor in 1889 by a fractional point; and E. Claybrook Griffith, who took the first honor in 1936. In 1829, Dr. Waddel re- signed the Presidency and re- turned to Willington, South Carolina, where he conducted a large plantation with great success, and preached. In 1836 he returned to Athens, where he died on July 21, 1840. His brother-in-law, U. S. Senator John C. Calhoun, said of him, He may justly be considered as the father of classical edu- cation in the upper country of South Carolina and Georgia. Old Franklin College building in which was housed the Uni- versity of Georgia from 1819-1829 when Rev. Moses Waddell, Class of 1791, revived the college, made if a leading Southern educational center. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER 6 the most flourishing literary institution in the Southern States. Some years after the college commenced pros- pering, one or two trustees . . . expressed the opinion that it w as time for him to yield his place to some one of more distinguished literary reputation. Dr. Wad- del at once sent in his resignation. Gilmer continues: Archibald Alexander, the fourth President of Hampden- Sydney College, was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, April 17, 1772, the son of William Alexander and his wife Agnes Anne Reid. Many sketches of his life, and a biography of his son, James W. Alexander, have been written, but a brief sketch of his life and work belongs In this series. In the search for old brick from the homes of Presidents, members of the Board of Trustees, and alumni, to go THE 13 41 KALEIDDSCDPE [13]

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University of Virginia ; and on February 8, 1856, Governor Henry A. Wise, in a communication to the Senate and House of Delegates, announcing the death of Mr. Caheli, said that he vas one with Mr. Jeffer- son in founding the f ' niversity, a pioneer in the State improvements, a gentleman, a scholar, a devoted pa- triot and ' irginian, a venerable good man. The Dictionary of American Biograpliy (vol. 3, p. 387), of comparatively recent date, says that Mr. Cabell was the principal coadjutor of Thomas Jeffer- son in founding the University of Virginia, and adds: His labors in behalf of a great state university, help- ing first to secure legislative sanction therefor and sub- sequentl ' to obtain financial appropriations towards its construction, have lead the institution ' s historians to designate him as Jefferson ' s right-hand man; nor did he promote merely the material needs of the Univer- sity, but for thirty-seven years, as visitor and rector, he helped to shape its destiny. founding of the Philanthropic Literary Society, states that he joined the society in the first year of its organ- ization, 1805, and that this was his first year in college. After two years here he entered the Medical School at the University of Pennsylvania, received his degree in 1809, and returned to ' irginia to practice. He settled in Norfolk for a while, and in 1835-36 was professor of surgery and surgical anatomy in Washington Medi- cal College, Baltimore. He then returned to Prince Edward County, where he practiced both medicine and surgery until the time of his death. His reputation grew steadily, and pa- tients came to him from distant states. He performed operations not only at his own home, but in nearby taverns, where patients came for treatment. His ac- count books show that he was not only a general prac- titioner, but was called in by other physicians for con- sultation and treatment in difficult cases. In 1905 Dr. George Ben Johnston of Richmond, Virginia, after a study of Dr. Mettauer ' s life, made the President ' s address to the Amer- ican Surgical Association, his theme being John Peter Mettauer. Since that day he has been recognized as one of the great surgeons of all time — far ad- vanced in his practice as a surgeon. He was daring and original. Lack of space forbids an extended mention of his pioneer work in his chosen field. An informative article may be found in the Dictionary of American liiog- raphy ( ' ol. 12, pp. 585-586). Union College, Schetiectady, New York, cfiartered In 1795 wHh Hdmpden-Sydney ' s second President, John Blair Smith, as its first President. JOHN PETER METTAUER Francois Josef Mettauer, born in Sulzbach, LTpper Alsace, came with the French troops under Rochambeau, in the capacity of a surgeon with the troops, in the latter days of the American Rev- olution. After the surrender at Vorktown, he came with some of the French troops to Prince Edward County, at Kingsville, where, it is sup- posed, they needed recuperation before returning to France. Through the influence of Patrick Henry, the Holcombes, and others, he was persuaded to settle in this country as a physician. He established a seat about half way between Kingsville and old Prince Edward Court House. He married Mrs. Jemima Gaulding, who is said to have been a Miss Crump of Henrico County. Here was born their son, John Peter Mettauer. The exact date of his birth is not known, and tradition fixes his age all the way from 88 to 98. An old diary stated on the day of his death (November 22, 1875) that he was 88 years old. The boy attended the Acad- emy of Hampden-Sydney in 1804, which would seem to indicate a rather advanced age for an academy stu- dent. An old paper of his, giving an account of the Monument to John Peter Mettauer erected in the College Cemetery by the Virginia Medical Society. In 1837 Dr. Mettauer organized the Prince Edward Medical Institute and trained many young men for the practice of medicine. In 1847 this became the Medical Department of Randolph-Macon College, the faculty being Dr. Mettauer and two of his sons. At the old Mettauer seat were the residence, the office, and a large two-story building, which was the medical school. A prospectus for 1851-52 advertised a hand- some and chaste office, a school of ten months, and an infirmary where surgical operations were performed. The school was suspended at the outbreak of the War Between the States. THE 1941 KALEIDOSCOPE tl5]