Muhlenberg College - Ciarla Yearbook (Allentown, PA)

Page 17 text:

MUHLENBERG COLLEGE. Colors : CARDINAL and GREY. COLLEGE YELL YEA— MULHENBERG RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! RAH! YEA— MUHLENBERG Founded September 4, 1867.

Page 16 text:

AMMON W. GEIGER. AMMON W. GEIGER ( 1847-1908). A MMON W. GEIGER was born January 21, 1847, at Amityville and died February 15, 1908, at Norristown, Pa., having spent most of his life in the latter community. From early manhood he was prominent in the business affairs of Norristown, and at the time of his death was a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees and Real Estate Officer in the Norristown Trust Co. He traveled extensively in America, and in 1895 made a foreign tour which included Egypt, Palestine and many of the principal cities of Europe. As a young man he was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Trinity, Norristown, of which congre- gation he remained a loyal and devoted member to the day of his death. He was for many years the President of the Vestry of Trinity and by his wise counsel did much to promote the prosperity of the local church. He served for years as the Standing Delegate of the congregation to Synod and was an active participant in the affairs of that body as well as of the General Council. As a member of the Board of Trustees of Muhlenberg College he was indefatigable in his devotion to the interests of that institution and gave liberally to it during his lifetime, besides providing generously for it in his will. 10

Page 18 text:

History of Muhlenberg College. T HE history of Muhlenberg College may be said to have had its beginning a hundred years before the College was founded, when Patriarch Muhlenberg and several of his co-laborers undertook the establishment of an educa- tional institution in Philadelphia. Although their undertaking was frustrated by the Revolutionary War, they nevertheless succeeded in securing privileges for their young men in the University of Pennsylvania, and for a num- ber of years one of the Lutheran pastors held a professorship in that institution. In the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century the Ministerium of Pennsylvania helped to found Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, and until 1867 retained its connection with that institution, contributing largely to its support and to the maintenance of several of its professors. Muhlenberg College was established in 1867, as.the result of a long-felt want for an educational institution in Eastern Pennsylvania, under Lutheran control. The property of the “ Allentown Collegiate Institute and Military Academy,” the successor of the old Allentown Academy, founded in 1848, located at the corner of Fourth and Wal- nut Streets of this c ity, was purchased, a charter was secured, and Muhlenberg College began its important work on September 4, 1867, with twenty-five students and a Faculty of eight members. The Rev. Frederick A. Muhlenberg, D. D., until that time professor of Greek at Pennsylvania College, and acknowledged to be the best Greek scholar in the State, was the President, and the Rev. Theodore L. Seip, who had just graduated from the Philadelphia Theo- logical Seminary, was the Principal of the Academic Department and Assistant Professor of Greek. The property of the new college consisted of about five acres of ground, on which had been erected a brick building, attached to the old ” Livingstone Mansion,” with a frontage of one hundred and thirty feet and a depth of forty feet. The building was three stories high. To this the trustees at once added a rear wing, one hundred feet long and five stories high. The building was provided with rooms for the accommodation of students, a chapel, library, recitation-rooms, and a reading-room. The presidency of Dr. Muhlenberg continued until the close of the year 1876, when he resigned to accept a professorship in the University of Pennsylvania. On January 1, 1877, the Rev. Benjamin Sadtler, D. D., assumed the duties of the presidency, and served the institution until the year 1885, when the Rev. Theodore L. Seip, D. D., who had been connected with the college from the beginning of its exist- tence, was unanimously elected his successor. He devoted the remainder of his life to the service of the college. He died November 28, 1903. During the presidency of Dr. Seip the college enjoyed its greatest prosperity at the old location, both in the matter of securing funds for its support and endowment, as well as in number of students. The Mosser-Keck and the Asa Packer professorships were endowed as the direct result of his efforts and influence. The courses of study were advanced, the sphere of usefulness of the college was enlarged, the Scientific Department was added, and the institution began to exercise a wide influence in educational circles. With his death ended the 12