Vincennes University - Le Revoir Yearbook (Vincennes, IN)

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VINCENNES UNIVERSITY FOUNDED 1801 Out of a Rich Heritage... When William Henry Harrison arrived in Vincennes to become the first governor of the Indiana Territory, he discovered ‘that the inhabitants of the country...have long experienced the inconvenience arising from the total want of an institution for the education of youth.’ His answer was the establishment of a two room log cabin school named Jefferson Academy in 1801. The trustees of this little frontier school applied to the federal government for a land grant. Congress approved the grant in 1804 and two years later 23,040 acres of land, in what is now Gibson County, Indiana, was assigned for the support of the school. The pioneer institution became Vincennes University on November 27, 1806, and was officially incorporated by the first General Assembly of the Indiana Territory meeting in the old Territorial Capitol in Vincennes. Governor William Henry Harrison was elected president of the Board. Vincennes University was established as the center of education on the frontier -- the first college to be established west of the Alleghenies and north of the Ohio River, the symbol of the intent of the people of the new nation that ‘religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and happiness of mankind schools and means of education shall forever be encouraged.’ oe ee G aA ane PP aT a a