Union College - Garnet Yearbook (Schenectady, NY)

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22 THE GARNET The first commencement was held in May, 1797, and the first degree conferred upon three young men who had fin¬ ished the course of study then required. This was an oc¬ casion of signal and novel interest to all the country around, and drew together a large and enthusiastic audience. Dr. Smith was succeeded by the Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D.D., who died in 1801, and was followed by the Rev. Jon¬ athan Maxcy, D.D., who resigned in 1804. Although frequent changes are generally adverse to pros¬ perity, and although the college was still feeble, it was not without enterprise. Under the presidency of Dr. Edwards, a new edifice was begun, on a scale magnificent for that ||| day and still one of the finest and best-built in the city. An event, howevei, occurred in 1804 which proved to be of peculiar advantage to the institution, and from which its success may be justly dated. This event was the choice of the Rev. Eliphalet Nott, as president. Mr. Nott was then a young clergyman of Albany, known at the time as an elo¬ quent and effective public speaker of dignified and court¬ eous manners and distinguished learning, but not as yet known for that talent in the education of young men which this election gave him the opportunity to exercise and which has scarcely been surpassed in the history of any American college. Endowed by nature with a keen perception of character, a discriminating judgment in developing latent talent, a dignity of manners commanding both love and re¬ spect, a facility in governing young men, wherein the secret lay in teaching them to govern themselves, and a zeal and earnestness in the discharge of every duty, he acquired and held, through a long and active life, a comamnding position as an educator which was felt and acknowledged through¬ out the country. Dr. Nott found the college wanting both means and stu¬ dents. The inhabitants of Schenectady had proposed an endowment of $30,000 in lands, obligations and money ;

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THE GARNET. of Schenectady.” A building was erected on the northwest corner of what are now Union and Ferry streets, and in 1793 a school was opened under the care of Col. John Taylor, of New Jersey. This academy appears to have been conducted with much ability, and being well sustained by the community in which it was planted, became the germ of the college, which, fifteen years before, had been an object of earnest effort and ac¬ tive discussion ; nor can we doubt that through these years of hope deferred the favorite thought was cherished, until the plan I was fully realized. The legislature having vested in the regents of the university the right of granting college charters, a memorial was addressed to that board by the trustees of the academy, which led to the granting of a charter to twenty-four persons therein named, and their successors, under the title of u The Trustees of Union Col¬ lege in the Town of Schenectady, in the State of New York.” They were empowered to hold an estate with an income of $ I 3 333 were vested with the usual powers of a college, and were empowered to fill vacancies in their board by election of the remaining members. The trustees of the academy were, a few days after, allowed to vest their property in the college. The name “ Union College” was given as expressing the in¬ tention of uniting all religious s£cts in a common interest for the common good by offering equal advantages to all, with preference to none. It was designed to found an institution up¬ on the broad basis of Christian unity, and this idea has ever since been faithfully followed in the spirit of the original inten¬ tion, no particular religious denomination having at any time claimed or attempted to control its management, or to influence the choice of trustees or faculty. It is believed that this was the first college in the United States not confessedly denomina¬ tional in its character. The college was organized on the 19th of October, 1795, bv the election of the Rev. John Blair Smith, D.D., of Philadel¬ phia, as president; John Taylor, A.M., as prolessor of mathe¬ matics and natural philosophy ; and the Rev, Andrew Yates, as professor of Latin and Greek languages.

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THE GARNET. 23 but the largest subcription was only $250, the next $100, and the total sum altogether, from sources other than direct gift of the State, but $42,043.74. Some grants were made by the State in years as below specified. The building be¬ gun under Dr. Edward’s presidency was still unfinished, and the college was burdened with a heavy debt. The means that had been provided were, of course, quite inadequate to the wants of a prosperous college, and to sup¬ ply the needed endowment recourse was had to an expedi¬ ent now forbidden by a better public sentiment, but then deemed proper for raising funds in aid of every religious, educational and benevolent enterprise of the day, and for every public improvement. King’s College, in New York City, had already been aided to funds by a public lottery, but other institutions had since arisen which had received no such aid. It was there¬ fore deemed advisable to urge the passage of a law, which was secured March 30, 1805, for raising the sum of $80,000 by lottery. A few years’ experience showed that the location in the city was not sufficiently ample, and the observing eyes of Dr. Nott, at an early period in his presidency, had noticed in the suburbs a better one that combined in rare degree every advantage desirable. On the eastern border of the city the fields rise by a gentle slope to a plain of moderate elevation and of easy access. Near the upper edge of this slope the construction of a terrace a few feet high would af¬ ford a level campus of ample space, and a site for buildings that would overlook the valley, the river and the neighbor¬ ing city, while northward glimpses of mountains blue from distance, and southwestward ranges of hills dividing the waters of the Mohawk and Susquehanna River, would pre¬ sent a panorama of peculiar loveliness. A gently murmur¬ ing brook issuing from dense woodlands flowed across the