Millsaps College - Bobashela Yearbook (Jackson, MS)

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ReS ' ilved, That the Executive Committee return our most heartfelt thanks to Maj. R. W. Millsaps for his second gift of ;p25,ooo, this day turned over to us. For his princely liberality and unfaltering interest in the great enterprise so happily and successfully inaugurated. Church and State owe him a large debt of gratitude. The Conference, having provided for a Board of Trustees, the joint commis- sion dissolved in Januarv, 1890. This Board, to which was referred the matter of organizing the College, was composed of the following gentlemen: Bishop Chas. B. Galloway, President. Rev. W. C. Black, D.D. Rev. J. J. Wheat, D.D. Rev. S. M. Thames. Rev. T. T. Newell. • ' ' Rev. R. M. Standifer. Rev. T. L. Mellen. ■ . ■ ■ Rev. A. F. Watkins. Rev. C. G. Anders, D.D. . . Hon. G. D. Shands. Capt. D. L. Sweatman. Mr. J. B. vStreater. Mr. Tohn Trice. Maj. R. W. Millsaps. Col. W. L. Nugent. Dr. Luther Sexton. iHon. M. M. Evans. After the Board organized under the charter, the question of locating the Col- lege was considered with great care. The Board met repeatedly to consider the offers made bv different towns, and finally, on May 20, 1891, while in session at Winona, M.ssissippi, decided to locate the College in Jackson, the capital of the State. The citizens of Jackson contributed $21,000 for grounds and buildings, and to this sum Maj. M llsaps added $15,000. Plans for a commodious main build- ing were immediately procured, grounds were purchased, and in a comparatively short time buildings were in process of erection. When it became evident that everything would soon be in readiness for formal opening of the College for the reception of students, the Board of Trustees, at a meeting held in Jackson, Aprd 28, 1892, began the work of organizing a faculty of instruction. The Rev. W. B. i Iurrah was elected President. Many applications were con- sidered for professorships, and Mr. N. A. Patilo was elected Professor of Mathe- matics, and Mr. L. W. Weber was elected Professor of the English Language and Literature. Prof. Weber was the acting Professor of EngLsh at the Southwest- ern Un,ver.5ity, Georgetown, Texas, when he was bv tnis action called to Millsaps College. At a subsequent meeting of the Board of Trustees held July 13, 1892, iMr. G. C. Swearingen was elected Professor of Latin and Greek, and the Rev. M. M. Black was elected Principal of the Preparatory Department. Both of these gentlemen had recently taken post-graduate degrees at the Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tennesiee. The necessary buildings having been erected, the first scholastic session began with appropriate ceremonies September 29, 1892. At the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees in June, 1S93, Prof. A. M. Muckenfuss was elected Professor of Chemistry and Physics. In June, 1894, Rev. M. M. Black resigned the principalship of the Preparatory

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copal Church South; 2. that a committee of three laymen and three ministers be appointed to confer with a like committee already appointed by the Mississippi Conference. The following committee was accordingly appointed: Rev. J.J. Wheat, Rev. S. M. Thames, Rev. T. J. Newell, Hon. G. D. Shands, Capt. D. L. vSweatman, and Mr. J. B. Streater. To the action of these Conferences we may trace the direct origai of the College. The joint commission, constituted by the action summarized above, met in the city of Jackson in January, 1889. The Rev. Dr. J. J. Wheat was called to the chair. In stating the purpose of the meeting, he made a stirring appeal in behalf of the proposition to establish a Methodist college in Mississippi for the education of young men. In response to this earnest appeal, Maj. R. W. Millsaps, a member of the commission, proposed to give $50,000 to endow the institution, provided the Methodists of Mississippi would give a sum equal to this amount for said pur- pose. This proposition was enthusiasticallv approved, and after a plan of pro- cedure was adopted, Bishop Chas. B. Galloway was invited to conduct a campaign in the interest of the proposed endowment fund. Under the direction of this dis- tinguished leader, the most gratifying progress was reported from time to time, The report submitted to the Conferences by the committee in December, 1889. refers to the movement in the following language : The canvass, on account of the numerous necessitated absences of Bishop Galloway from the State, could not be continuously carried on, but even the partial canvass made, embracing not more than one-fifth of our territory, resulted in the most gratifying and encouraging success. The interest awakened in the enterprise has extended beyond the limits of our own Church and is felt b} ' every denomina- tion of Christians and by every section of the State. It is safe to say that no effort of Methodism has ever kindled such enthusiasm in our vState or evoked such liberal offerings to the Lord. The fact has been demonstrated that the Church is pro- foundly convinced that the College is absolutely a necessity. The report con- tinues: vSo high is the appreciation of the value of the proposed institution that numerous towns in the State nave entered into earnest competition to secure the location of the College within the limits of their respective borders, offering from $10,000 to $36,000, and from twenty to eightv acres of land. In December, 1889, Rev. A. F. Watkins, a member of the Mississippi Confer- ence, was appointed a special agent to cooperate with Bishop Galloway in all mat- ters pertaining to the endowment of the proposed College. As the work of raising the sum designated in the original proposition progressed, and $25,000 had been collected, Maj. Millsaps, in the vear 1890, paid $25,000 into the College treasury. In December, 1S92, the Rev. J. W. Chambers was appointed agent for the College, and on December 30, 1893, he reported that the full amount had been col- lected to meet the terms of Maj. Millsap ' s proposition, and thereupon $25,000 was immediatelv paid by Maj. M.llsaps to the Executive Committee, and the following resolution was adopted; 19

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Department to enter on the work of regular pastorate. In reorganizing the depart- ment, it was made more distinctively a training school with independent jurisdic- tion, and Prof. R. vS. Ricketts was elected Head Master, with Pro ' . E. h- Bailev as Assistant Master. The formal establishment of the Department of Modern Languages and His- tory was effected by action of the Board of Trustees in June, 1897, and Prof. J. P. Hanner was elcted to fill the chair thus created. Work, however, had been offered in these subjects prior to this Lme. The organization indicated bv this review represents the status of affairs ex- isting up to that t,me; but the peisoiuiel of the Faculty has been changed in sev- eral departments. Dr. J. A. Moore was elected Professor in Mathematics in June, 1894, to succeed Prof. N. A. Patilo, which chair he has held since. In June, 1900, Prof. D. H. Bishop was elected to the chair of English to succeed Prof. Weber. Prof. Bishop held this chair, where he won the highest regard and respect of the Faculty, Board of Trustees, and especially the student-body, until 1904, when he was elected to the chair of Enghsh in the State Uuiversitv at Oxford, Mississippi. In I goo Prof. B. E. Young was elected to the chair of Modern Languages and His- tory, which place he held unt.l 1904, when he was elected Adjunct Professor in Romance Language in Vanderbilt Un.vers.ty. In 1903 Prof. J. E. A ' almslev was elected Acting Professor of Modern Languages and History, as Prof. Young was away in Europe studying. In 1904 Prof. Walmsley was elected Professor m His- tory, which was made separate from the Modern Languages. Professor OLn H. Moore was elected to the chair of Modern Languages. To the chair of English, made vacant by the resignation of Prof. Bishop, Dr. A. A. Kern was elected. In 1900 Prof. E. L. Ba.lev resigned as AsSj.stant Master ,n the Preparatory Depart- ment, and Prof. G. ' . Huddleston was elected in his place. Dr. J. M. SulLvan was elected to the chair of Physics and Chemistry in 1902 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Prof. Muckenfuss. The remarkable facilities for conducting a law school in Jackson led to the establishment in 1896 of a Law Department. The Hon. Edward Mayes, ex-Chan- cellor of the iMississippi State University, and for over fourteen years a professor of law in that institution, was engaged to take active control of this department. Dr. Mayes has associated with him as active professors Judge A. H. Whitfield, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, and Judge Wm. R. Harper, a dis- tinguished member of the Jackson bar. In addition to the buildings first provided, consisting of the main college build- ing, the President ' s house and houses for the accommodation of students, the facil- ities of the institution were greatly enlarged during the session of 1895-96 by the generosity of Maj. M.llsaps in the gJt of the Webster Science Hall, at a cost of $10,- 000. In 190 1 Mr. Dan. A. James, of Yazoo City, built an observatory for the col lege in honor of the memory of his father, Mr. Peter James, and of his brother, I Ir. Samuel James, and furnished it with a magnificent telescope, thus enabling us to offer the finest advantages in the study of Astronomv. 21