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

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or I 5 years SAMUEL STANHOPE SMITH, PROJECTOR OF HAMPDENSYDNEY COLLEGE By JAMES RENWICK KENNEDY, JR., 158 The life of a college is born from the lives of men. HampdenfSydncy College was begun by men who had ideals of what a new college should be like. Of the men who saw the necessity for a liberal arts institution in the Southside area of Virginia, Samuel Stanhope Smith stands out as the main projector of the College. That part of his life which is the natal life of Hampden' Sydney mingles together and is renewed here. Born on March 16, 1750, at Pequa, Lancaster County. Pennsylvania, Samuel Stanhope Smith grew up in the home of a distinguished Presbyf terian minister, the Reverend Robert Smith, an Irish emigrant. Young Smith took his early schooling in his father's famous log school in Pexcelling. He excelled in Latin. At the age of sixteen, he entered, as a junior, the College of New Jersey fnow Princctonjg and he was grad' uated two years later. After teaching for his father and later a tutor at Princeton, Samuel Smith desired to be licensed by the Presbytery of Newcastle. to which Virginia belonged until the formation of Hanover Presbytery in 1775, to go SAMUEL STANHOPE SMITH President, 17764779 as a missionary to the western countries of Virf ginia. The Irish settlers quickly received him and welcomed him. His evangelical spirit and captif vating oratory made him a popular preacher. Because of Mr. Smith's powerful impression on some of the most influential and wealthy people in the area, a desire for a literary college arose. Mr. Smith took charge of the program. On October 18, 1774, plans were formally made to take subscriptions. The minutes of the Presbytery of Hanover at the Cub Creek Church stated that the Presbytery resumed the consideration of a School fan attempt in 1771 having fail-edj for the liberal education of youth, which we unanf imously judge to be of great and immediate importance . . . Mr. Saml Smith . . . is inclimable to take charge. The congregation of Cumberf land, Prince Edward, and other surrounding counties were to begin the subscriptions. Hanover Presbytery was to take it under its care. At the next group of meetings held on Feb' ruary 1 f 3, 1775, further development was ref ported. A group of men met in a onefroom structure which Nathaniel Venable occupied as his law oilice on his plantation of Slate Hill, near Worshrim, the county seat of Prince Edward at that time. It was reported that the unbelieveable amount of 1260 pounds had been raised in such a short amount of time. Mr. Peter Johnston gave a hundred acres of land for the building of the College. The Presbytery appointed Mr. Samuel Smith as the 'kRector of the Academy. It was not called a college until 1783. Four professors were to be paid four pounds per annum for each student. The Presbytery declared the liberality of their plan for the Academy. They declared that the morals and religion of the students would be ref garded, each worshipping as they were accusf torned. From this it is shown that the purpose of the men who formed the College, although Presf byterian by origin, was -for all who wanted an education. Religious liberty was very emphatf ically stated. Not only did the subscriptions come from Presbyterians, but they came from people of other denominations as well. Shortly after the February meeting, Mr. Smith began preparations for the College. He continued to serve the churches in the area of Prince Edward and Cumberland, the original purpose for his coming to Virginia. In October, 1775, Mr. Smith advertised in the Virginia Gazette the opening of the new college

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project the future Four ye.1rs in ll students nczideinic life .u'e short indeed, hut wh.it ll H.unpdenf Sydney innn has acquired from the 183 you- old college in the he.u't of Virginia during this hrief spgind is the lmsis of the inotixxiting force for the rest of his life. ln this volume, the 62th edition of the K,xLE1Dosi'oPL, we have attempted to present the past :ind the present of l-l.unpdenfSydney :ts the foundation for the future. Living for four years in the atmosphere of tl small Christian College, l-l.unpden'Sydney inen receive xi liherzil arts education from .1 dedicated faculty to pref p.1re them to ineet the challenge of the future. NVe hope th.tt presenting xi picture of the unique life git H:1mpdenfSydney College in this volume will show that the grains of time project the future. rxt- --1 fu 60-7:5 .1 GQLLEGE LIBRARY HAMPDENASYDNEY, VA

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I 1 VENABLE HALL QUnion Theological Seininaryj at thc turn of the century distinguished by the name of HampdenfSydney. john Hampden and Algernon Sydney of England represented the ideas set forth in the founding of the College: the continuation of human rights and freedom of conscience. The College did not open on November 10 as had been planned bcf cause of several diliiculties. Opposition came early. In the Gazette of November 18, 1777, an article spoke against it by calling Presbyterians dissenters. It was felt that the Church of England should take it over. Mr. Smith replied publicly in the December 9 edition by saying that most of the Trustees were ministers of the Church of England. Rector Smith used common sense in planning for the opening of the College by the iirst day of the coming year. He used the system which was used at Princeton. He placed much stress on the English language, Greek, Latin, Geography, Mathematics, History, and science of Morals. Science and the humanities were equally stressed. Three masters and professors, with the foresight of two additional professors before the end of the Hrst year, were to teach. Further, Mr. Smith stated at the November 23 meeting of the Trustees that the steward was to furnish food for the students consisting of one half of meat and one half of bread. Servants were to be furnished for cleaning the rooms, students were to provide their own beds, buy their own candles, and cut their own wood. The students were to live within a two mile radius of the Col' lege. Mr. Smith stated that he had brought the books for the library, and the students were to rent their books from the library. Although the buildings were not completed, Mr. Smith held the first session on January 1, 1776, as a senior college. The students, besides studying, used their time to help build huts in which eight to ten boys lived. In May, 1776, the walls of the College were only a few feet high, l but 110 students enrolled at HampdenfSydney by the summer. Before the Commons was built, servants brought the prepared food on trays from Slatc Hill Plantation two miles away. With the use of authori:ed lottery, in 1777 funds were raised to construct several buildings. The college plant. faculty, and students body made progress under Reverend Smith's brilliant leadership. The students continued their studies as the Revolution began. And when war threat' ened in September, 1777, all students over sixteen, about seventy-five, formed Prince Edward Com' pany No. 1. Led by John Blair Smith, brother of the president, they marched to Williamsburg. Their uniform consisted of purple shirts and coonskin caps. After several weeks in Williams' burg an invasion had not developed, and the Governor thanked them. The HampdenfSydney boys returned to the Hill. Later they were called to serve near Petersburg. However, not once did HampdenfSydney close its doors alf though the sessions were interrupted. Because of the unsettled conditions of the Revolution, Hampf denfSydney did not receive its formal charter until 1783. These were the stirring days of a new strugf gling college in the hard days of a new struggling country. While Washington led the rising country, Smith led the growing College of Hampden' Sydney. Samuel Smith remained in charge of the College for four years, until 1779. At that time he returned to Princeton to teach philosophy and later to become its president in 1795. john Blair Smith meanwhile became the second president of HampdenfSydney College with a number of Princeton men as tutors. However, the very life of HampdenfSydney College owes much to Samuel Stanhope Smith for the many years of his life that he spent to see an ideal become real and lasting.