St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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7 viz INTERIOR OF CHAPEL

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1 rg Mgfc ,W A I '. Q of four Governors of Maryland, six United States Sen- ators, five members of the House of Representatives, four Judges of the Courts, one Attorney-General, one United States District Attorney, one Auditor of the United States Treasury, six State Senators, fifteen members of the House of Delegates, besides foreign consuls, officers of the army and navy, physicians and surgeons, distin- guished lawyers Qincluding one Chancellor of South Car- olinaj, college professors, etc., are to be found among the names in the register of the alumni. In 1807 Rev. Dr. Bethel Judd was chosen principal, and the work, though grieviously hampered by the action of the Legislature, was partially continued, and in January, 1812, S1000 of the annuity was restored. A lottery granted in 1821 added 320,000 to the funds, and enabled the college to extend its work. Reverend Doctor Henry Lyon Davis served as principal from 1820 to 1824, and the Reverend Doctor William Rafferty from 1824 to 1831. In 1831 Reverend Doctor Hector ,Humphreys was appointed principal, and by his persevering efforts and personal influence with the members of the Legislature a sum of S2000 was added to the annuity, provided the Board of Visitors and Governors should agree to accept it in full satisfaction of all legal or equitable claims that they might have or be supposed to have against the State. The Board consented, and the deed of release was exe-5 cuted and entered upon the records of the Court of .i . V Appeals. At the same time the Governor of the State, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Dele- gates, and the Judges of the Court of Appeals were made ex-ofiicio members of the Board, indelibly fixing to the college the character of a State institution. In 1833 the principal was authorized by the Visitors and Governors to collect a fund of S30,000. About SII,OOO was raised, and in June, 1835, the cor- ner stone of Humphreys Hall was laid with impressive ceremonies. Chancellor John Johnson, a distinguished alumnus, was the orator. From this time on there are lists of graduates for each year except 1843, 1845, 1848, 1851 and 1854, until 1855, whenlthe college was reorgan- ized, and in the same year Pinkney Hall was built. Two years afterward Doctor Humphreys was succeeded by Reverend Doctor C. K. Nelson. He guided the college successfully till 1861, when the college buildings were utilized as a military hospital by the United States Army until the close of the war. The Board of Visitors in 1859, believing the Act of 1806 a violation of charter rights, and therefore void, brought suit to recover the amount of their claim - over S3fJ0,000, including interest - but the Court held that the Board of Visitors could not avoid the release given in 1833, and the suit went against them. Reverdy Johnson and other eminent lawyers held that under the terms of the charter the Board had gone beyond its powers in

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granting the release, and advised that the case be taken to the Supreme 'Court of the United States. In 1866, after the close of the Civil War, and while measures were in progress for obtaining a decree in favor of the college, the Legislature restored the arrearages of the annuity of 33000, suspended from 1861 to 1866, and appropriated an additional sum of 312,000 per annum for five years from the first of 1868. The Board of Visitors, believing that this appropriation would be a permanent one, and that it was given in due recognition of the claims of the college, accepted it in good faith, and relinquished the suit which they had been prepared to make. The college buildings were put in thorough repair, and Doctor Henry Barnard, of Connecticut, late Commis- sioner of Education, was elected principal, and the col- lege was reopened in September, 1866. Cn his resigna- tion the following summer, Doctor james C. Welling, afterwards and now president of Columbian University, Washington, D. C., was chosen principal, and the college opened in the autumn with one hundred and fifteen students. Before the close of the next session the Board of Visitors and Governors, in recognition of the increased annuity, passed an ordinance establishing one hundred and fifty State scholarships, each scholarship entitling the holder to exemption from the payment of room rent and tuition fees in any department of the college, and the number ofstudents in attendance increased to two hundred and twenty-five. Doctor Welling resigned at the close of the session of 1869-70, and Doctor James M. Garnett, now professor at the University of Virginia, was appointed in his stead. Under his administration, in 1871, the first class since 1860 was graduated, and continuously thereafter classes have been duly graduated each year. The General Assembly of 1872 renewed the appropria- tions for six years, and that of 1878 for two years. The Legislature of 1880 having failed to make an appropria- tion, Doctor James M. Garnett, with other members of the faculty, tendered their resignations, which were accepted by the Board of Visitors. Reverend Doctor J. M. Leavitt was invited to under- take the administrative duties of the college, and though, in 1882, the Legislature appropriated S7500 for two years, the number of students in attendance continued steadily to dwindle. The Legislature of 1884 made no appropria- tion, but S4000 was appropriated in 1886, and the interest on the college debt provided for in 1888. In the summer of I884 Doctor Leavitt resigned, and went abroad for his health, and Professor Wililam H. Hopkins, subsequently appointed President of the W0man's College, Baltimore, Maryland, was installed as acting principal. He main- tained control during the sessions of 1884-85 and 1885-86, but in spite of strenuous efforts on his part to ameliorate