Monmouth College - Ravelings Yearbook (Monmouth, IL)

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19 TRAVELINGS earlier years and which may long enrich its spirit and lay the foundation of great character for noble men and women. The first class was graduated in 1 858 with an enrollment of fourteen. Mrs. Margaret Find- ley Thompson, who was born in 1837, is the only surviving member of this class. For many years, she has made her home in Monmouth. She has always held a very deep interest in her alma mater. She is a woman of rare intellect and culture. Mrs. Thompson was a sister of Mrs. David A. Wal- lace. Mrs. Margaret Findley Thompson y ne JJ est a l urnnus Q f MonmOUth College is Rev. John S. Speer, who left Monmouth College in the second graduating class, that of 1860, there being no graduates in 1859. Mr. Speer was born on Novem- ber 25, 1836, being just one year older than his cousin, Mrs. Thompson. No alumnus of Monmouth College has iived a fuller life than this one. He has been a student, a teacher of schools, a professor in College, Muskingum; a superintend- ent of city schools, at Cambridge, Ohio; a soldier, serving in the Civil War, first as Captain of Infantry, Company A, 85th Ohio Volunteer Infantry; then as a Signal Officer; a minister, and not the least, a farmer. He has been a minister of the gospel for nearly fifty-seven years and still can conduct a service with as much vigor and ease as he ever could. He still serves as a minister at Cambridge, Ohio . That David A. Wallace proved to be divinely chosen to become the first first president of Monmouth College was evi- dent from his high quality leadership and per- sonality. His name was a synonym of loyalty, faithfulness, and devotion. He sent many a man and woman into the world who were trained and equipped by his care and faith- fulness, and inspired through his teaching, prayers, and heroic example. Two years after the first college faculty, above mentioned, began the great educationa work of our school, there came another bring- ing with him ability and resources, namely Dr. Alexander Young. He possessed the strength of will that won the the respect of everybody, with scholarship that feared no criticism, with thoughtfulness of the feelings of others that touched every heart — especially every student ' s heart. — 12— Rev. John S. Speer

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19 TRAVELINGS 13$ . with Rev. W. R. Erskine, be a committee to devise and report means and measures, and at the next meeting of the Presbytery held at Clayton, in Adams County, in April, 1853, upon the report of this com- mittee it was resolved that an academy should be established which was located at Monmouth, and its first board of di- rectors consisted of Rev. J. C. Porter, Rev. Robert Ross, Rev. W. R. Erskine and Messrs. Madden, A. C. Harding and N. A. Rankin. This board placed Rev. James R. Brown promptly in charge of the Academy and it was opened for the reception of students in November, 1853. „ , , , ill The First College hucn marked success attended the undertaking that in the summer of 1 855 the Presbytery resolved to raise the institu- tion to the grade of a college, and measures were taken to provide buildings and funds, and in January, 1856, the Board of Trustees elected a faculty. Rev. David A. Wallace of Fall River, Massachusetts, was chosen president; Rev. Marion Morrison of Tranquility, Ohio, Professor of Mathematics; and Rev. J. R. Brown, before mentioned, Professor of Ancient Languages. These persons accepted their respective appointments and on the first Monday of September, 1 856, Monmouth College opened for the reception of students for the first time, as a college. It is to these early founders that we owe the existence of Monmouth College. It is through their sturdy spirit, bred of poverty and self-denial, that marked its The Old Main Bui ' .dinff — 11— J

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19 TRAVELINGS 24 It was largely through the excel- lent leadership of Dr. Wallace that Monmouth College made such rapid progress in the early days of its exis- tence. There were various helpers in this work, but the bulk of the effec- tive work, was, after all, done by the president. His purpose, and that of his coadjutors, was to found a school where the higher education should be given for the glory of Christ. The de- sign was to build a Christian college which should move, as far as possible, by Christian principles and on the line of Christian life. In dealing with the students, while he sought their thor- oughness in educational matters, he desired, above all things, and at all times, that their hearts might be right and their Spiritual life rightly directed. Dr. RusseU Graham (From the First Ravelings ) Though at the time of the Civil War, Monmouth College was struggling in its infancy such a great number of the men of the faculty and student body left their educational work and fell in line with those who were endeavoring to save the union, that it nearly became necessary to close the school altogether. Dr. Wal- lace after much thought and prayer concluded that it was not for the best to halt the work of the college thus far carried on but rather said, We must educate whether there be peace or war! From its Board of Trustees, its Faculty, and its student body, the College furnished to the Union Army from 1861 to 1865 not only many privates but a large number of men who were placed in high positions of command, namely, one Brigadier General, four Majors, seventeen Captains, thirteen Lieutenants, etc. Aside from the officers there were one hundred and forty-three who served in the ranks, making a total of two hundred and thirty-two men as the contribution of Monmouth College to this gigantic struggle. ' Tis true there were many who did not return, one out of every eight gave the last full measure of devotion, but happy were the days on Monmouth Col- lege campus when in June, 1865, all the ' 62 troops came home. Tongue cannot tell nor heart feel the joy at their coming. They had opened up to four million black people the opportunity to make the best of themselves and revealed the per petuating power of republican institutions. It was a great work. Social recep- tions were given them. They were feasted and dined Public entertainments were arranged for them, at which tables were burdened with all the luxuries and delicacies of the season. Bells were rung and the nights made glorious with bril- liant fire-works. —13— J