Westminster College - Blue Jay Yearbook (Fulton, MO)

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' fmt ' in - , t .Wa A The following year C1862-35, 89 young men were in attendance. The next year Rev. john Montgomery, D.D., was elected president. He accepted, serving this year and a few months of the next. During 1865 the lack of funds was felt so keenly that it was necessary to decrease the teaching force of tl1e college, leaving only Drs. Montgomery and Fisher. A little later the services of Mr. John Harvey Scott were secured as professor of mathematics. Dr. Scott was then in the last part of his senior year at Westminster. We find that from the very first-A he was eminently successful in his department. ACROSS THE CAMPUS ' The year 186677 was marked by an attendance of 160 students-a number which up to the last two years has not been equalled, except in 1858- Con- sidering the state ofthe country at this time Qimmediately after the Civil Warj, this number was very remarkable. V In.1868 Dr. N. L. Rice was chosen president of the college. He accepted. Dr. Rice was a man of national, reputation, and friends of the college felt its future was assured when he entered on -his duties as president in the fall of that year. In September of the year following he was formally inaugurated. He was the first president thus installed. , 16

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3x'5TBR co 0 uuxwr uma I-rorlff' o U 'ff I is . 'x if . I mann -'z, .0- 1905-6 brought 174 students. President Laws devoted a great part of his time during this year to the work of raising additional endowment. The following year C1858-9D was a memorable one in the history of West- minster. The college opened with a still greater enrollment of students. During this year 320,000 was given to endow the Charless Professorship of Physical Science. Mr. Joseph Charless, who had been one of the most promi- nent and active friends of Westminster up to this time, was assassinated in St. Louis in june, 1859. His daughter, Mrs. E. E. Le Bourgeois endowed this chair in his memory. Professor Alfred Mayer, of the university, was chosen as the first Charless Professor. In December of this year a-bell was presented to the College. It was a magnificent one and is said to have been superior to any in Central Missouri. This bell was ruined as the result of a college prank in 1875. The present bell was received in exchange for the pieces of this old one, since even these were very valuable to the manufacturers. Seven young men graduated in june. CDr.D C. C. I-Iersmann was valedictorian of this class -the largest graduating class up to this time. , VVith this year ends what we might call the ante-bellum period of West- 1ninster's history. It was now eight years since the charter had been granted andin that time the college had become one of the foremost institutions in the West. Westminster was in the zenith of her prosperity. She was now ready for great things. But just then the Civil VVar burst like a storm over the country. We quote the following: In the spring of 1861 the clouds of war began to hover over the land. The wave of trouble beginning at the presidential elec- tion of the preceding November and rolling over the whole land, stirring society to its lowest depths, had dashed overthe college also. But amid the most intense excitement pervading the whole nation, the regular exercises were continued and the students with few exceptions were kept in their places and induced, under the influence of the faculty, to give to their studies a degree of attention which under the circumstances could hardly have been eX- pected. Although the land almost trembled under the feet of thousands hurry- ing to the field of battle, but few of the students left before commencement day.' ' In 1861 President Laws resigned. The trustees met to consider whether or not it was advisable in View of the disturbed state of the country to en- deavor to keep the college open. They decided that the work of the school should go on. Though the numbers of the faculty and of the students were greatly decreased, the work done during the year was the highest quality. There were two graduates at the end of the year. 15

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Gsm c xo mv :CIO . K P' . G. cmurrrsnnn P fr, 5 0' B . crow' We might now notice briefly the financial condition of the college up to this time. At the beginning of the Civil War the total assets of the college amounted to somewhere near QS150,000. The Civil War swept away the greater part of this. In 1869 we find that of the old endowment the largest sum thought to be available was 5lE35,000. The same year an effort was made to raise a new endowment. About 554.000 was secured. Thus in 1870 West- niinster's total endowment was not quite Ef390,000, and part of this was not available. . V l SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW Hy 1873 financial affairs had reached such a crisis that the trustees found it necessary to reduce the number of the facility and in other ways to cut down expenses to the very lowest ngure possible. This year Dr. Rice resigned the presidency. Seven years of financial difficulty followed. In 1880, Prof. C. C. Hers- nian, who for three years had been acting-president, was elected president of the college. During the following years the college conducted its work of education most successfuily. VVe are told that the outlook in all directions except 17