Milton College - Fides Yearbook (Milton, WI)

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D 93.7. gait-1 A Q is :fi'f1'41a3f?i A Q .Q by leaps and bounds. In 1849 a new three-story building was erected on a hill in the southwestern part of the village at a cost of over five thousand dollars. This building forms the north half of the present main building known as College Hall. Two years later a women's dormitory, Goodrich I-Iall, was built. The course of study was enlarged and additions were made to the faculty. Among these teachers was Professor Albert Whitford, now professor emeritus of mathematics in Milton College. This period likewise saw the formation of two of the present literary societies, and the beginning of a Christian Associa- tion. is s Main Hall Goodrich Hall In 1858 the Rev. William C. Whitford, then pastor of the Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church, was requested by the trustees to take charge of the acad- emy. After one year he resigned his pastorate to bcome permanently connected with the school, a connection which was maintained until his death in 1902. He received his education at De Ruyter Institute, De Ruyter, N. Y., Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., and Union Theological Seminary, New York City. I-Iis life-long devotion to Milton College was an inspiration to all who came in con- tact with him. During the Civil War the attendance diminished with every call for volun- teers. At one such call to the colors forty-live young men stepped forward to place their names on the roll of Co. C. of the 49th Wfisconsin Infantry. Drills were held in the chapel and on the campus. Altogether the academy sent out a total of 325 students of whom 41 sacrificed their lives. A tablet in the col-- lege library perpetrates the names of those who died in battle. After the close of the war the enrollment steadily increased to over four hundred. The need for accommodations became so urgent that in 1863 an old mill was purchased for four hundred dollars, removed to the north side of Col- lege Street and remodeled as a men's dormitory. Three years later, as a result of the need for class rooms, an addition was built on the main building, making it as it is at the present time. In response to the demand for college courses of study, Milton Academy was converted into a college by a charter from the state, March 13. 1367. It EHHEBISZIEHEHE Page Twenty-six

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17 Y -1 i - W -ge -La: ' -,az Y i:2:Yi1f.7:j:n:-.nazi 2 jf History of Milton College J- Y- , i 53: :Ii Y Eng? V Sli , Eli ' 2'3 'X A It was out of the dream of a sturdy pioneer that Milton College arose. liarly in the spring of 1839, joseph Goodrich, a descendant of the New England Puritans, with his family and others emigrated from New York to Prairie du Lac. where Milton now is. Here he laid out a large public square and distri- buted lots to those who would build upon them. But, as the little settlement grew, the rare vision of joseph Goodrich saw clearly the necessity of an educa- tion for the young people of the vicinity further than that of the district school. lt was he who gave the ground for the Hrst building: it was he who paid the cost of the structure tabout three hundred dollarsj. and for a number of years he was the sole supporter of the school. The history of Milton College falls into four periods. that of the private school, 1844-18483 that of the Academy, 1848-18543 from 1854-1867, that of the academy which pre- pared students for - teaching: and from 1867 to the present time, that of the col- lege. The building' in which the school be- gan its existence in 1844 was situated on the west side of the public park. It was a one-story gravel structure on the front of which was painted in huge letters Mil- ton Academyf' Al- though the school was of modest preten- sions, during' the first year it had an attend- ance of sixty students. It was in 1848 that the charter for the founding of Milton Academy was ob- tained from the legis- lature of lVisconsin. In the next few years Milton Academy 1844 the school progressed BEER! SE WER!! Page 'l'wenly-five

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V V W ,gg gf-KRW: W W V 455 31.211 QW: -5. A A A f'AfWf 't A A A was about this time that the library was founded by the Rev. Daniel Babcock, who at his death, left to the college his private library and one thousand dollars with which to buy books. At the death of l.'resident XVhitford on May 20, 1902. Dr. XN'illiam C. Daland, who was then pastor of the Seventh Day Paptist Church of Leonardsville, N. Y., was called to take up the work of the lamented former president. Few men were better equipped by ability and character to assume this of- lice than Dr. Ualand. and his self-sacrificing devotion to the interests of the col- lege has been rewarded by the affectionate regard of hundrds of students whose lives bear the imprint of his influence. At the commencement of 1902, it was suggested that the most fitting me- morial to the late president Whitford would be the Science hall which he had so earnestly advocated. The cost of the building which was about thirty thou- sand dollars, was met by subscriptions. A gift of live thousand dollars was received from the widow of the late George 1-1. Habcock, and six thousand live hundred dollars from Andrew Carnegie through the influence of Dr. james Mills, a graduate of the college. The building was finished in October 1906. and was dedicated at Commencement of the next year. For some time the need for a gymnasium had been pressing and in 1909. with the gift of one thousand dollars from the class of that year, pledges were made amounting to over eight thousand dollars. The building, which cost over twenty-two thousand dollars was iinished.in 'Iune 1911. lt is used both for a gymnasium and an auditorium. The old Christian Association was reorganized in 1907 and formed into two societies, the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. NV. C. A. In 1910 a new woman's literary society was formed, known as the Miltonian lyceum. Among other student ac- tivities are the Athletic Association which includes all college students, and the EEHHM WHERE Page '1'wenty-seven