Ripon College - Crimson Yearbook (Ripon, WI)

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1 145 gvva 1 1 Q 1 V i ! 1 I I n i l 11 . f. fl -E 711 i 'I x . ! l I ,1 I . LQ4' fi-flier' :.1?,f....et'.gHgf5:qg:.:if.fi,Y---W, -, Y 1 - r I 'IV' l 3 iliiaturiml Svkrtrh S. M. PEDRICK, '91 ,j,A,, , ,,A f n..f,L-..,i...-. - - 4 Q4 ill Egfr-i if fx- , . . IPCN College had its beginning at a xg Ll gathering of pioneer folk at the home of H. D. Scott in the village fl of Ripon on November 23, 1850. This meeting had been called with the formalities required by the statutes of the new state, for the formation of a corporation for 5 mental improvement and the promotion of il- educationf Such an organization was li 5 formed under the name of the Lyceum of ll Ripon, a seal was adopted, David P. Mapes LI was elected President, Alvin E. Bovay, sec' retaryg E. L. Northrup, treasurer, and War' ren Chase, jehdeiah Bowen, John S. Horner, Asa Kinney, Almon Osborn and Edwin Lf-I Lockwood, with the officers, were constif li-H tuted the board of directors of this new ed' lil ucational corporation. gil At the first meeting the directors were authorized to contract for the erection of a llff building of stone, fifty feet square, two stories high, with hip roof, dome, etc., to be used for the purposes of education. To 5 f, gct the full significance of this action, one 1, L should have in mind a picture of the condif ff tions in this little community at the time. H11 In May, 1844, the Wisconsin Phalanx had established itself in the valley which they lif' lad named Ceresco, and had been working ll-Ll out in a practical way the principles of Charles Fourier of France, but at the time of this meeting it had resolved to dissolve, fm and under an act of the legislature was 1 dividing up its two thousand acres of land and was going out of business. Many of 35 its members were taking farms and becomf ing permanent settlers, others were taking gl lots in the newly laid out village of Ceresco, ll: -xA... x ,fx .A 1 , 4 ,, wg-- , , .5 ,,-.-, -g .- ,, f . f' 'ufggi , ' , -.xx A ,fy . planning to remain permanently. There were probably not more than two hundred souls then left of that social experiment. At the crest of the hill east of the village of Ceresco, Captain D. P. Mapes had obtained control of a fortyfacre lot, from its owner, Governor John S. Horner, and had there laid out and platted the village of Ripon in April, 1849, and was doing everything that he could to attract settlers to his plat. In the year and a half that had intervened from the time of platting this village, its founder had obtained but few families to locate, and we know that the hamlet was small and the people poor, when the colf lege' was projected. The farms in the adf jacent territory had all been taken up from the government between 1844 and 1850, but the numbers of settlers thereon was still small. The school maintained by the Phalf anx had been taken over by the local school district, but it was feebly supported and not largely attended. Cf the men whose names were on the directorate of this Lyceum, several conf tributed to the history of the state. Alvan E. Bovay first suggested to Horace Greeley the name Republican,' for the new party that should rise in 1854 on the ashes of the Whig party, and was the moving spirit in that school house meeting, the first in the United States, March 20, 1854, where it was dehnitely determined that, so far as this pioneer community could do so, anew parf ty should be organized under the name Ref publican, to meet the issues raised by the KansasfNebraska bill. John S. Horner had been an early secretary and as such exfofficio L 1-Q l:fwz1fff,.l'.. Will? Nfl . I aw

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y. There J hundred ment. At village of d Obtained its Owner, had there Ripcm in :thing that 5 plat. ln intervened village, its fannlies tu hztrnlet was n the calf in the ad' en up lrffllll and 1850, ' ' 'll MII Vmit :Il ty the l'hztlf lfferll wehwul ted and nfmt 1.'t'Ttj ull Illc N-.jVtTl'ill um' gal-J. AlN'LlI1 Int' f1Vr't'lCy ' 11-'-.14 party f1'll X Q 'lI1 'pmt in in-1 111 tl J, --th.-rv ll lar' lr llxlx 1 r . . ..x, -2 lll' H PIT' 1 . 1 Ilia-' lil ll' In ,In ll l, ll Illl 1 lx V lllf J :.' A. t- ffl tht ilu' Fav' within Wisconsin's pmiyies S lilifreathed m laurels gyggn tan LA our 'noble Alma Mater, R1P0v1 S glorious Queen. 11'