St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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McDOWELL HALL.

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, . v. SI. jolzrfs College. T. JOHN'S COLLEGE, at Annapolis, the Alma Mater of so many of Maryland's most noted and honored sons, is charmingly situated on the banks of the Severn River, a few miles' from the Chesapeake Bay. Nothing in the country surpasses the picturesque beauty of its situation. Facing College Avenue are McDowell Hall, the cen- tral building, with Pinkney Hall, named after William Pinkney, a distinguished alumnus, and the residence of the president and vice-president on the left, and Hum- phreys Hall and two buildings which professors occupy on the right. The campus, which slopes toward the avenue, embraces about twenty acres. The front lawn is shaded by large, handsome maples, lindens, poplars and other trees. Nearly in front of Pinkney Halliis a gigantic poplar tree, fresh-looking and green, with ivy climbing up around its old boughs, which is supposed to be older than even the ancient city of Annapolis. The first treaty with the Indians is said to have been signed under its shade. Nearly every side of Pinkney Hall is covered with ivy, and the same vine is making its way over the other buildings, which gives them a venerable and digni- fied appearance. McDowell Hall, the central building, is four stories high, and in it are recitation rooms and offices. On the first floor is a large graduation hall, with a gallery above, upon which are hung shields with Latin and other inscriptions, giving the names of the members of each graduating class. A curious old belfry sur- mounts the structure, and a common cord, by which the bell is rung, passes through the various floors. Every- thing about the old house carries one back to days long past. Even after this lapse of time can be seen places in the old hall filled in with bricks where the pillars were to be put out and from which porches were to project. On the south side the places left for the pillars were never filled in. Near the eaves are blocks of wood inserted in

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the bricks, where cornices were to be placed 3 and in the library is a curious collection of rare old theological books from the old King William's School. Humphreys Hall is used for the accommodation of the younger boys, and Pinkney Hall is occupied by the more mature college students. The view from the halls is attractive. The Severn River is on the left and in the rear of the ground g the Naval Academy further along on the left 5 and the town, with the old State House and Governor's mansion, in front and on the right. Such is St. Iohn's College, whose history forms one of the most interesting chapters in the annals of Maryland. It reaches back in the continuity of its records to the earliest colonial times. The first effort to establish a college in Maryland was made by the General Assembly, convened in the city of St. Mary's in the year 1671. An act was then passed by the Upper House of Assembly for founding and erecting a school or college for the education of youth in learning and virtue. This act was returned by the Lower House with cer- tain amendments providing for the differences in religious views existing at that time among the people, which amendments were not acceptable to the Upper House, and there the bill rested. 1 In 1694, the then Governor, Sir Francis Nicholson, sent a message to the Legislature proposing that a way may be found for the building of a free school for the province, and offering to give money for its mainten- ance. The plan was approved, and the General Assembly offered subscriptions of tobacco. No further action was taken at this time, but in 1696 an act was passed which resulted in the establishment of King William's School. This act recites that the school was established for the propagation of the Gospel and education of youth in good letters and manners. It was addressed to ' His Most Excellent Majesty, etc., ' Dread Sovereign ' Will- iam III. of England. This law further enacted that the Most Reverend Father in God, Thomas, by Divine Providence, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate and Metropolitan of all England, may -be Chancellor of said school, and that to perpetuate the memory of your Majesty, it may be called King William's School. The Reverend Doctor Bray, who had been appointed Commissary of Maryland by the Bishop of London, and who is said to have been the originator of tl1e Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, was mainly instrumental in obtaining this said act. King William's School was thus established. Gov- ernor Nicholson gave to the school a lot in the town of Annapolis, with the house thereon, and the Legislature appropriated money to it, but the school-house was not finished until 1701. It was of brick, and stood on the south side of the State House. The Bishop of London had sent over the Reverend