Simpson College - Zenith Yearbook (Indianola, IA)

Page 27 text:

its limitations were never approached by any of his students, whatever demands they might make upon it. He was a court of last appeal up- on any and all subjects. His is a name to conjure with among a large number of middle-aged people, today. ‘You were at Simpson in Dr. Burns’ time?’ That is the formula. Then will follow anecdotes and reminiscences, winding up with eulogies of the good old times and Dr. Burns. To us all, it seems a great privilege to have been with him. He set before us the highest ideals,he strengthened faltering courage, aroused ambition and fostered self-respect and confidence. His students invariably treated him with the greatest respect. Some say that to do so was in accordance with the spirit of those times; it may have been in part due to the sarcasm, pointed with wit, which was his ever ready weapon in time of need; but, more than all, it was the result of his own treatment of his students. The statement with which he began each term: ‘There are no rules of conduct gov- erning the students of this institution other than those rules which govern ladies and gentlemen everywhere,’ was the key-note of his policy.” Another of his graduates notes the fact that the students were sons and daughters of pioneer families, and came for the purpose of an education, came unacquainted with college life, many of them with only the crudest ideas of social amenities. She thinks they were not sa easily governed as at present, and that the great respect they had for Dr. Burns was the ruling force. Certainly the respect and affection of students for the president and teachers has always been a source of strength. One of Simpson’s great advantages over larger institutions is the character of her fac- ulty and their close association with the students. Their interest is not bounded by the walls of the classroom, their friendship and sym- pathy is freely given. Dr. Burns’ presidency of ten years has been the longest, so far, in the history of the school. He spent the remainder of his life at the head of a girls’ school in Canada. For some years there was constant agitation on the part of capi- talists in Des Moines, seconded by Dr. Burns, for the removal of the college to that city. This, together with the financial crash of ’73, caused a marked decrease, both in contributions and in the number of students. All friends of the school, however, had confidence in the ability of the new president, Dr. Thomas S. Berry, to “wring vic- 26

Page 26 text:

erty. Mrs. Baker and her sisters, the Misses Ridley, ably assisted her husband in bringing the school safely through this crisis. Prof. Baker afterward spent many years among us as teacher and editor, and is now United States consul in Sidney, Australia. From September 1866 to February, 1868, Rev. S. M. Vernon, of Iowa Wesleyan, was at the head of the school. It was during his administration that the conference raised the grade of the school, and it was given the name “Simpson Centenary College,” the word “Cent- enary” being dropped in 1884. Bishop Simpson visited his name- sake on twoi or three occasions, but his contributions to its mainten- ance were small. When Dr. Vernon resigned in February to take a pastorate in Pennsylvania, Prof. W. E. Hamilton filled his place tr. the end of the year. Dr. Vernon has remained in Pennsylvania, a minister and writer for religious papers. His successor, Dr. Alex- ander Burns, was much more a college man. A native of the Emerald Isle, he was educated in Canada, and when elected to this presidency, was a professor in Iowa Wesleyan. During his first year the total attendance was 161, and during his last, 178, though in 1875-6 there were 297. This includes 38 law students, the department having been added in that year, and continuing to 1880 as an adjunct of Simpson, though located in Dcs Moines. In the five years the law graduates numbered 95. The citizens had, in 1867, under the leadership of Hon. Geo. E. Griffith, subscribed funds for the erection of the chapel building. The contract was let for $17,500, but the final cost was much more. It was completed and dedicated in October, 1870. Two literary so- cieties, the Everett and the Zetalethean, were organized in 1868, and the Smithsonian, named after its patron the Rev. D. N. Smith, of Burlington, in 1876. For some years the catalogue stated that “these societies have large and elegantly furnished halls,” but, because of a change of standard in furnishings, or an appreciation of the force of adverbs, this glowing description no longer appears. A graduate whose entire course was under the presidency of Dr. Burns gives us the following estimate of him: “A man in the early prime of life, of medium height and weight, of Irish parentage, the fair dark-haired type; a man whose abounding vitality and tense ner- vous energy were seen at a glance; a man of genial yet commanding presence, possessing a quick sense of humor, a keen and caustic wit, boundless tact, great eloquence and scholarship so broad and deep that 25

Page 28 text:

tory from defeat.” He was a man of 37, had served as lieutenant of the 114th Illinois, and been taken prisoner at the battle of Guntown in June, 1864, nearly losing his life in a southern hospital from the effects of a wound in his hip. He had afterwards graduated from Northwestern University at Evanston, and entered the ministry, where he at once took his place in the front ranks. It was at the end of his first year as pastor of the church at Indianola that he was elected president. The position was not an enviable one—the cour- age of the soldier was needed for. the task. On account of the precarious condition of the college, President Berry called the class of 1879 to his room, frankly stated the case, and offered them their credentials if they wished to go to another school to graduate. Upon consideration, they resolved and recorded in their class minutes, that they would stand by the college “as long as there was a plank left to stand on.” All honor to class ’79! The next year, class ’8o considered the advisability of making a change but largely through personal loyalty to President Berry, who was even then dying, they decided to stay. President Berry being taken from us in February, the year was filled out by Edward L. Parks, A. M., B. D., of Northwestern University, whose presidency continued to 1886. Of less commanding appearance than Dr. Burns, he exerted by the dignity and earnestness of his daily life, an in- fluence no less potent. Beyond this we can say that no truer gentle- man, none more earnest in the work of building Christian character, has held a place in our faculty. He labored faithfully for the finan- cial welfare of the school, and succeeded in three years in raising money to pay the debt, then amounting to more than twenty thousand dollars. At the commencement of 1886 he resigned to take a profes- sorship in Gammon Theological seminary, where he remained till this year. He is now on the lecture platform. Dr. W. E. Hamilton, A. M.. of Iowa Wesleyan, who had occupied the chair of Mathematics from 1883, was now elected president. To the hosts of students and alumni who know and love this Nestor of our faculty, it is unnecessary to speak at length. His strong origin- ality, his clearness and simplicity of thought and expression and the patent fact that he exemplifies in his own life all his high principles make him a most delightful and revered teacher. He found the re- sponsibilities of the position so wearing, that in 1889 he resigned, to be followed by Edmund M. Holmes, Simpson ’8o, and Garrett Biblical Institute, who had been here four years as professor of 27