Ripon College - Crimson Yearbook (Ripon, WI)

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im: to .step-tgggzqcemmyaga. as m The Republican Party ' N a little school house which now stands on the southwest corner of Ripon campus, was held March 20, 1854, a meeting which marks the first break from the old Democratic party a.nd the organization of a new party under the name ' ' Republican. 1 It was at the time the Nebraska Bill threatened to pass Congress and become a law.. ln answer to what appeared to threaten a spread of slavery into northern states, a body of Ripon citizens rose to protest passage of the bill. Chief among those who read in the Nebraska Bill an menace to the anti-slavery forces, stood Mr. Alvan E. Bovay. With Mr. J ehdeiah Bowen as his chief helper, he headed the new movement and started propaganda which soon resulted in definite action. .Llc it was who iii-st suggested the name Republicanl' for the new party. It was also he who interviewed Horace Greeley in New York City two years before the party wa.s definitely organized, and who later was responsible for Greeley's editorial suggesting the name. After several preliminary meetings, a, mass meeting was finally held on the night of March 20, 1854. in the school house 5 a meeting which Udeiinitely and positively cut loose from old parties and advocated a new party under the name Republican. Of this meeting M r. Bovay himself later wrote: HI set to work in the most systematic way that I could contrive, to dissolve the Whig party and all other parties opposed to the slave party, and to organize the Republican party right here in Ripon, because I was fully convinced that sooner or later others would take similar steps elsewhere, and that in a few months we should have a. great irresistable Northern party, organized on the single issue of the non-extension of slavery. , . . . They came to our meetings, and were respectfully heard. but the large majority had made up their minds. The hour was late, the candles burned low. It was a cold, windy night at the vernal equinox. In the end, all IDHJCN two or three gave in and we formed an organi- aation .... The election of that first Republican committee-A. E. Bovay, Jehdeiah Bowen, Amos Lo- per, Jacob Xhloodruff and Abram Thomas-was a sol- emn act .... It was no fragmentary movement. It contemplated the consoli- dation of all shades of an- A ti-slavery opinion under the name Republican. Home of Mc Rcjzublimn Parry ' T 9 VVYV V -gfffffs, . . - him-Q i . Un .'1lff5 3f.QfTB .. ti-alive it w Cr 2 Swugaoiq Page I6

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uxrf C out fl-Tf1e1024 CRIM.f0NDj1 C gmac pp an Q :for one year. She remarks that even her seanty schooling surpassed that of most of the members oilf her class upon entering Brockway. The task of such an insti- tution was at that time, she declares, extremely difficult owing to the lack of preparation ot the beginners. Brockway College was originally more ol? an academy than a eollege. What is now a wing oi? East 'Hall was the only buildingg elasses 'lior girls were held on the 'first' tloor and for boys on the second. 'llhere were two teachers, one avman, the other a woman. It was the coming of the Reverend Wiliiam E. Merriman that gave Ripon its real beginning, as has been related above. - Several years atfter graduation Miss Adams returned to Ripon as head of the department ot Greek and Latin. One ot her most precious treasures today is a silver card tray, a remembrance from her last' class in Greek. She was forced to leave Ripon finally because ot? the death ot her mother. For 'fourteen years she kept house ilfor her tather until he also died. Miss Adams' has always, and still is, intensely interested in educational matters. She is a stauneh supporter ot the theory ol? discipline for its own sake. At her home in Omro she for many years privately coached boys and girls preparing t.o enter colleges and has been instrumental in sending many new students to Ripon. Today, she explains, I am still as interested as ever in my Latin and Greek, although l have not as much time to devote to them as formerly. ' ' Ripon College is rightly proud to designate such a remarkable woman as among its first' graduates. Miss Adams is an example which other generations of Riponites may well attempt to copy. She exemplifies the true Crimson spirit and is still as loyal to her alma mater as upon graduation day. In June, 1921, she attend- ed the eonnneneement exercises at the college, and, if possible, hopes to be present again this yea r. And yet, upon her own authority, her feel- i ing is not singular for a Riponiteg it is simply the spirit of New Ripon which lives eter- nal. Miss fldams' 1101110 in Omro fV. 'Gf me c 'mx nn rif t- e i g p pgwagfp 1111 p an gp .R 'll a-16+ Page I5

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B5 PE 1 iii 'ri l t wg p p or C 'ghe E924 CRINI-JDJEIQ mln. Q The Hrst party convention to 't ' i M' J ' adopt the new name was held July 6, 1854, at Jackson, Michigan. Greeley wrote to Jacob M. Howard of Michi- gan that he had been advised that 'Wisconsin would adopt. the name 4'Republican on July 13, and urged Michigan to anticipate such action by using the same name. The letter was shown to leaders in Michigan and the suggestion was accepted. Numerous articles have been written regarding the origin ot the Republican party, but historians to- I day make practically full recognition ' to the claims of Ripon as its birthplace and ol? Mr. Revay as its 'I'ounder. This historic building, the school house which fostered within its walls a movement which has been ot such prodigious intiuenee in the political develop- .i ..: Cfollcgc If'alk ment of America has been moved from its original site to its present location where it stands, unpretentiously guarding one corner ot the Ripon College campus. Each student generation regards and designates it proudly and it is visited annually by scores ot interested spectators. The building at present houses a rare collection ot curios, which might with proper organization, form the nucleus of an interesting museum, but which today is inaccessible to visitors primarily because of the limited space which is aiiforded. The biological specimens included in the collection are frequently employed by the biology department of the college and it is the hope of both college authorities and students that some day the eollcetion can be organized into a museum by which not only the college, but the general public as well may benefit. , The First Wisconsin Cavalry HE Ripon College campus was the rendezvous of the First Vlisconsin cavalry organized early in the summer of 1861 by Colonel Edward Daniels, who was commanded by the war department to recruit and organize the battalion. Colonel Daniels collected sixi hundred men at Camp Frement on the present college grounds. Later, two more companies were organized, and the governor of the state completed the regiment by the organization of six additional com- panies. Such were the men who composed the ofheersz Edward Daniels, col- onel, O. H. Lagrange, first major, Henry Pomeroy, second major, H. N. Greg- ory, surgeon, Charles Lord and H. XV. Cansall, assistants, and J. E. Mann, , ' 1 d f2Q i , H- - rr, Mei K E nn.. - r f-'mcg gncffp mm in mf RPQ QGW Page I7