St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

Page 23 text:

,,.x, i v -LV ,-f - I II' . .L T12 '1 , v4.WX, Q, PINKNEY HALL

Page 22 text:

Andrew Gaddes to take charge of the school, but he, not finding it finished, was sent to All Saints', Calvert County, Maryland. The earliest mention of an ofiiciating master of the school is found in the records of St. Anne's Parish Church. They record, Died, November 9th, 1713, Rev- erend Edward Butler, rector of St. Anne's and master of the free school, Annapolis. Few of the names of the rectors of the school have come down to us, but about 1756, and for nine years after that date, Mr. Isaac Daken is mentioned as master of the school. On the 17th of August, 1784, the Reverend Ralph Higginbotham was appointed master of King William's School, and when at a later date the school became incorporated with the college, we find him occu- pying the position of Professor of Languages in the newly organized institution. This school is noted in the annals of the State as the nursery of some of her greatest men, amongst others the distinguished lawyer and states- man, William Pinkney. Information, however, regarding this seminary is but meager, although the act of 1750 indicates that the school was not without influential friends and supporters. In the meantime, in 1732, as appears by a paper now lying in the executive department at Annapolis, proposals for founding a college at Annapolis were read in the Upper House of Assembly and recommended to the considera- tion of the Lower House, but no legislative effect was given to these proposals. This project was again revived in 1763. A commit- tee of the General Assembly recommended that the house in the city of Annapolis which was intended for the Governor of the province, be completely finished and used for the college proposed to be established, the money for the work to come out of the public treasury. The annual cost of the faculty, consisting of seven mas- ters, with the five servants, was provided for. The meas- ure, however, failed to pass the Upper House. Ten years later the intention of establishing a college in Annapolis was again manifested, as we learn from a letter written October 4th, 1773, by William Eddis, surveyor of cus- toms, at Annapolis, to a friend in England. In this letter he states that the Legislature has determined to found a college for the education of youth in every liberal and useful branch of science, whichgwill preclude the necessity of crossing the Atlantic for the completion of a classical and polite education. A building on the banks of the Severn, originally intended for the Governor's mansion, but described in the letter as a melancholy and mouldering monument, was desig- nated as the proposed collegiate edifice. This building is now McDowell Hall, the central one of five constituting St. John's College. The Revolution interfered with the carrying out of 1

Page 24 text:

the plan, but in I784 the charter of St. Iohn's College was granted, two years after a like charter had been given for the establishment of Washington College at Chestertown, on the Eastern Shore. It was intended by the terms of the charter that the two colleges thus founded should constitute one univer- sity under the name of the University of Maryland. By act, 1785, the property and funds and students of King William's School were conveyed to St. Iohn's College. Among the chattels passed to the college were a num- ber of quaint and curious volumes brought over by the Reverend Doctor Bray from England, and which still remain in the library of St. john's. On November 11, 1789, the college was formally opened, and the dedication was performed with much solemnity, all the public bodies being in attendance, and forming a long procession from the State House to the college hall. 7 'Among the students of that early, period are to be found the names of George Washington Park Custis, a stepgrandson, and .Fairfax and Lawrence Washington, nephews of George Washington g also, of Francis Scott Key, who entered St. john's November 11th, 1789, and graduated in 1706. On Friday morning, March 25th, 1791, President Washington, attended by the Governor of Maryland and Q. a number of citizens, visited St. Iohn's College, and expressed much satisfaction at the appearance of this rising institution. The following letter was written a little later as a proof of his friendly sentiments toward St. john's : ANNAPOLIS, April 7th, 179r. To the Facully of St. folm's C allege : Gentlemen :-The satisfaction which I have derived from my visit to your infant seminary is expressed with real pleasure, and my wishes for its progress to perfection are proffered with sincere regard. The very promising appearance of its infancy must flatter all its friends Cwith whom I entreat you to class mel, with the hope of an early, and at the same time, a mature manhood. You will do justice to the sentiments which your kind regard towards myself inspires, by believing that I reciprocate the good wishes contained in your address, and I sincerely hope the excel- lence of your seminary will be manifested in the morals and science of the youths who are favored with your care. GEORGE WASHINGTON. With the aid of private subscriptions as well as liberal appropriations from the Legislature, the college went forward under Dr. John McDowell, the first president, in its work of educating men, till January, 1806, when the Legislature, by majority of only six, withdrew the annu- ity, and the visitors and governors of the college were compelled to announce that the college must close. Within the brief period of thirteen years, from 1793, when the first class was graduated, until I806, the names