Ripon College - Crimson Yearbook (Ripon, WI)

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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'

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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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as 1 governor of Michigan Territory, later, in 1836, secretary of the newlyforgamized Wisf consin Territory, and had lately been judge of the probate court in Marquette county. Warren Chase had been the leader in the Wisconsin Phalanx in Ceresco, a member Of both the first and second constitutional conf ventions, had served the state Senate as the Hrst senator from Fond du Lac county, and was later a candidate for governor on the Free Soil ticket. Asa Kinney had been a member of the second constitutional convention. In fact, all of the names were those of strong men of those pioneer days. At this first meeting, which organized the Lyceum, the record reports the following as subscriptions toward the new educational enterprise: John S. Horner, 325, Alan E. Bovay, 325, David P. Mapes, 35 0g Jehdiah Bowen, 350, E. L. Northrup, 3503 A. P. Mapes, 350, John T. Woodside, 320, Marf cellus Pedrick, 310, Lyman Turner, 310, Griffith Beynon, 310, Levi Parker, 310, George F. Lynch, 325, Edwin Lockwood, 310. Thus with 3345 pledged, the direcf tors were encouraged to proceed. Cf actual money there was but little, and subscripf tions were payable in goods, lumber, lime, grain, and such other commodities as were then current. Indeed, it is related that the leader in the enterprise turned in his gold watch later when the needs were most pressf mg. Contract with Andrew Gill of Dartford was authorized for the new building at a board meeting December 18, 1850, at a cost of 3800. January 1, 1851, the directors met in conference concerning a charter for the col' lege, which was to succeed the Lyceum, The legislature was soon to meet and a draft Of Charter Was completed for presentaf tion and passage at the coming session. What name should be used for the college? Cn motion of Mr. Northrup, the honor of giving a name to the institution was put up at auction. The record says that the bidf ding was spirited, resulting in the name be' ing struck off to William S. Brockway for a donation of 325 from him. So the name of Brockway College went into the char' ter. The legislature enacted the charter into law, entrusting the trustees therein named and their successors to found, estabf lish and maintain at Ripon . . . an institution of learning of the highest orderfl A lot sixteen rods by eight was conveyed to the trustees by D. P. Mapes and arrangef ments were made for the purchase of two additional acres of land from the Phalanx, and the new building was staked out on the Mapes tract, in a snow storm, by three men, who, together, were probably not worth 315 ,000, and no part of that in ready money. Still the contracts were made and the walls of the building pushed up. May 10, 1851, the corner stone was laid with simple ceremonies. The building went to the full three stories during the summer, and the builders took a rest, for lack of funds. This rest period lasted well through the following year, negotiations being opf ened with the Winnebago District Convenf tion of Presbyterian and Congregational churches, offering to the convention a transf fer of the college property if the convention would assume onefhalf of the debt, then amounting to 3800, and would complete the building and open a school in it in the spring of 185 3. The churches were all poor and there had been a failure of the wheat crop for that year, so the convention was unable to assume any additional burdens, however small. The convention, however, appealed .. ,W ,T ?D5',.1- iii' V 'Tlx 'W A A A cw. sf, ' '1'ff, ,f,r,.' nj.-1' --- --fa.. Mx.-. ,Vw at a . -4 wfiif+fy5JC..,,.J1c., ii-. 5 A Q h'4+ K 1 '.'. . fzwl--Q..,I1 5 'fe' f' TTT g T 'Z -', !., A?'1-1 f.. 'W 'Ili 11 iXN2?1ef:2LYA.a.i-ilgqijr:-+-eff-5Q4-AM -.-,,B,, .. ,... ,g,,L.2,aJ fl. 531-58. . 12 3-,p,.,t,,,,kA,,,,-,,,,,,g. g,,S5Jg. ,gg 5 W.. -7 . ,fs-,ig ,-... ,Jw 5.1. 4555511-PM-'A-'-P-f-W' ' 15,1 fx-sg 555 ie, X ,. W X L. ' ff'?'1fai1S. Ex Md' fR'r'tQg1 Wfif X if c 51?llWseffiifl'7 NQXN - . 'mix I 043 YW: Mg. t fu 'ii V-Q, ei Bi ' 1 Si 3 ,x it .,Y.,X,.v Lx. ilu M