Presbyterian College - Pac Sac Yearbook (Clinton, SC)

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A DREAM FULFILLED Founded only 26 years after the town itself, Presbyterian College has for so long been a part of Clinton that it is hard to think of the town without the college or the college without the town. Yet, in 1904 the S. C. Presbytery seriously considered mov- ing the College to a more prosperous location. Jacobs opposed this proposition, writing in his diary in April, 1904, But 1 will under no circumstances agree to plant this tree in a box on wheels. Clinton ' s it is and in Clinton it must remain. Sumter, Yorkville, Bennettsville, and Chester all bid for the college, but Jacobs was able to record on Sept. 30, 1905, that CUnton rose up in her strength and resolved that she would have the college. Jacobs ' tree, then, was not uprooted, but was allowed to grow with the small town. The college had begun as a thought of the dynamic William Plumber Jacobs, then pastor of the Presbyterian Church and founder of the young Thomwell Orphanage. On May 28, 1874, he wrote in his diary, I have at last set my heart on a plan . . . It is nothing more or less than the establishment of a male college at Clinton. The thing can be done and although 1 state it in this cool way, as though it were mere WILLIAM P. JACOBS bagatelle, yet when Clinton College is a final fact, as it will be in ten years from now, if God spares me and prospers me, this cool way of speaking will be justified. Six years later, Sept. 22, 1880, the first classes of Clinton College were held. For the next ten years the college was operated mostly as a local institution, utilizing the facilities of Thornwell Orphanage and Clinton High School until its own campus was built. The name, however, was changed from ClintonCoUegetothe Presbyterian Col- lege of South Carolina. In Oct., 1890, Jacobs wrote, The College location is set- tled. Mr. Copeland and Mr. Young together will give us a handsome tract of 16 acres. I rejoice. Settled with a new location and a new name, the P. C. of S. C. still had its pro- blems. In 1904 Jacobs worried, The trouble at present is complicated with the re- signation of our Chancellor, President, and two professors. All for the lack of funds. No Salary. But by 1906, its roots firmly settled in Clinton, the college had rallied enough to build the impressive Neville Hall as an administration and lectiire building. In 1915, Jacobs was able to witness the dedication of a building named after him. June 1, 1915. This afternoon I attended the dedication services of the Wm. P. Jacobs Science Hall and Library -- at present one of the finest buildings in the city. I feel the honor. He concluded, remembering the times of borrowed buildings, of one professor, of struggle to plant his tree in good soil, When I thought of the splendid buildings grouped on the campus and compared it with the trifling early days of the college -- I rejoiced. 20 History

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K Introduction 19

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History 21