"^^fcB 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 PRESENTED BY 
 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 HANOVER COLLEGE 
 
 BY 
 
 A. Y. MOORE, D. D. 
 
 ( I 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS 
 
 THE HOLLENBECK PRESS 
 1900 
 

 •HcxrvvcaHA- Lo'LL8=^=a=. 
 

 
 J 
 
 > 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 This brief history of Hanover College owes its exist- 
 ence to Miss Drusilla L. Cravens. It was written at her 
 f^ request, to take a place in another publication. She has 
 
 ' deemed it of sufficient importance in the interests of the 
 
 College to publish it in this form. The writer desires to 
 gratefully acknowledge the kindness of Miss C^'avens in 
 giving his brief history this separate existence. He has 
 endeavored to set forth the historical relation of the 
 College to the planting and growth of the Presbyterian 
 church in Indiana. He also wishes to acknowledge his 
 great indebtedness to the manuscript history of Hanover 
 
 College by Dr. Crowe. 
 
 A. Y. Moore. 
 Hanover J December 1, 1900. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Scenery— Geological Condition — First Settlers — Williamson 
 Dunn — Indian Warfare — Religious Revival— Rev. Wm. 
 Robinson — Church Organization — Primitive School — Dr. 
 Maxwell — Rev. Thomas C. Searle — The Hanover Church 
 -Rev. John Finley Crowe— The Old Stone Church— The 
 Presbytery of Salem — Committee on Education — The 
 Synod of Indiana — Need of Education— Ministers— The 
 Presbyterian Academy at Hanover — Another Revival — 
 Charter Granted— Synod Adopts the Academy — Theolog- 
 ical Department. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Dr. Matthews Takes Charge of Theological Department— J. 
 W. Cunningham, Professor of Biblical Literature — The 
 First Misfortune — Dr. Crowe Solicits Funds — Increase in 
 the Faculty — Dr. Blythe Becomes President: — College 
 Charter Granted — College Building Completed — Manual 
 Training System — ^Hanover 1834 — Financial Embarrass- 
 ment — Ecclesiastical War — An Appeal in the East — Tor- 
 nado of 1837 — The Church to the Rescue — An Impostor. 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Dr. McMasters — A Law Department — Faculty Changes — 
 Theological Department Removed to New Albany — Fac- 
 ulty Difficulties — Financial Distress — Debt Liquidated — 
 Faculty Enlarged — Change of Location Agitated — Madi- 
 son Proposition — University of Madison — College Charter 
 Surrendered — Hanover Indignation and Gloom. 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 College Building Sold to Dr. Crowe — The Academy Revived — 
 Discontent at Madison — Students Return to Hanover — The 
 Philalatheans Return — Dr. Crowe Begins Reorganization 
 — Professors Desert U. of M. for Hanover — Presbyteries of 
 Madison and Crawfordsville Declare for Hanover — Synod 
 of Southern Indiana Adopt Hanover College — Dr. Scovel 
 Elected President —Synod of Northern Indiana Accepts 
 Hanover — The Prosperous Condition of 1848 — Cholera 
 Scourge of 1849 — Death of Dr. Scovel — Election of Thomas 
 E. Thomas — Purchase of College Farm — Dr. Edwards 
 Elected President — Completion of New Building — Plan for 
 Endowment — Administration of Dr. Wood — of Dr. Archi- 
 bald — of Dr. Heckman — Endowment of Mrs. Lapsley — The 
 President's Home — Dr. Fisher — Present Prosperity. 
 
History of Hanover College 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Hanover College is on the Ohio river, six miles below 
 Madison. It is on a high plateau, five hundred feet 
 above the river, commanding an extensive view of the 
 river and its rich valley. The location is one of exceed- 
 ing beauty. It is also distinguished for its healthful- 
 ness. The College is one of the oldest literary institu- 
 tions of Indiana. It has large, substantial and thor- 
 oughly equipped buildings. Its endowment supports its 
 faculty, and its expenditures are kept within the limits 
 of its income. Between eight and nine hundred stu- 
 dents, having completed its courses of study, have gradu- 
 ated from it. Between four and five thousand students 
 have taken these courses of study in part. Its roll of 
 honor includes many eminent men in church and state 
 and in educational and scientific work. While one of 
 the earliest institutions in the State, it is young and 
 vigorous and growing, seeking earnestly with bright 
 prospects for larger endowment, increased equipment 
 and greater efficiency in what has ever been its aim and 
 endeavor, thorough work. 
 
 IS^othing could be more fascinating, if it were possible 
 to give it, than the narrative of the geological and nat- 
 
8 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 ural history of the region where the College is located. 
 Old Silurian rocks, far antedating the Devonian rocks 
 of the falls at Louisville, and still further antedating 
 the sandstones of the Evansville region, come to the sur- 
 face and in immense strata rise several hundred feet in 
 thickness above the waters of the Ohio and the valley 
 through which they flow. Upon these rocks, covered 
 with soil and stretching for miles back into the country 
 with comparatively level surface, grew forests of gigantic 
 trees when the region was first explored by the white 
 man. And through these strata, by mighty erosive 
 forces, whose energies figures can not tabulate, the bed 
 of the river and its valley were in those far-away geologic 
 ages scooped out. Opening into the valley of the river 
 are wild and weird fissures and grand canyons running 
 back into the country, making picturesque valleys, wild 
 ravines, enchanting glens, beautiful water falls and 
 great precipices. From College Point, with its exten- 
 sive and charming view for many miles down the Ohio- 
 through the alternations of the seasons of spring, sum- 
 mer, fall and winter, there is an ever-changing panorama 
 of beauty and glory. Through the countless centuries 
 of geologic time these wonder-scenes of creative power 
 and art grew. Through them LaSalle passed in his 
 voyage down the Ohio in 1685, the first white man that 
 upon its current penetrated to the heart of the continent. 
 We can only surmise what his thoughts might have been 
 as he beheld the vast extent and the undeveloped re- 
 sources of the new world opened to him. 
 
 But our narrative, which is of persons and events con- 
 nected with the origin, growth, struggles and permanent 
 
HISTORY or HAJ^OVER COLLEGE. 9 
 
 establishment of Hanover College, somewhat like Dar- 
 win's survival of the fittest, begins within a very modern 
 period, although it may be early in the history of 
 Indiana. We begin with the appearance of the land- 
 hunter in the region. It was shortly after the extinc- 
 tion of the Indian title to this part of the country by 
 purchase of the United States government and its survey 
 and the opening of a land office at Jeffersonville for its 
 sale. The sound of the steamboat had not yet been 
 heard on the Ohio. The Indian still roamed through 
 the forests, seeking game. "Then occasionally might be 
 seen men on horseback, usually two or three together^, 
 winding their way through the deeply shaded forests, 
 turning aside sometimes to avoid impenetrable thickets, 
 keeping together for company and mutual protection. 
 They were armed with old-fashioned flint-loeked rifles, 
 for they might have an opportunity to shoot a deer or 
 bear, or possibly they might find their rifles convenient 
 for pacifying lurking, treacherous Indians. They were 
 land-hunters, that is, men from Kentucky or elsewhere^ 
 seeking homes in this great wilderness. Such a party 
 of land-hunters,^' continues Greneral Dunn, "were in this 
 region a little while after a narrow strip of land had 
 been purchased from the Indians, recently surveyed and 
 offered for sale by the Dnited States government. They 
 examined the tract of land upon which afterward Han- 
 over was established, as well as other tracts in the neigh- 
 borhood. One of them remained and inspected with 
 great care the soil, the timber, the stones, the springs, 
 the brooks, on this particular spot. He found that there 
 was not an acre of it that was not fit for cultivation; 
 
10 HISTORY OF HAJTOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 that it was well watered on every side. There was not a 
 better tract for farming purposes in all the neighbor- 
 hood. This land-hunter^ a young, vigorous, determined- 
 looking man, made careful examination and note of sur- 
 veyors' marks on the trees, so as to be sure of his tract, 
 and then rode away. A day or two afterjvards he was 
 at Jeffersonville at the land office, and made purchase of 
 the land. This land-hunter was Williamson Dunn, of 
 Mercer county, Kentucky. This land was purchased 
 November 28, 1808. In the fall of the next year, 1809, 
 he came with his wife and two little boys to this land, 
 and built a cabin for a home for himself and family. 
 This was the beginning of the settlement of the region. 
 Settlers came in rapidly, and the stroke of the ax and 
 the sound of falling trees, the blazing of logs and the 
 burning of brush-heaps, were sights and sounds that 
 became familiar. These early settlers were mostly 
 Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who, or their ancestors, had 
 emigrated from the north of Ireland to Virginia, thence 
 to Kentucky, and thence to these new homes." 
 
 After two years of incoming of new settlers, war with 
 the Indians began. The battle of Tippecanoe was 
 fought November 7, 1811. War with England was de- 
 clared June 18, 1812. The Indians became dangerous 
 neighbors. In the fall of 1812, September 3, the terri- 
 ble destruction of the Pigeon Eoost settlement in Scott 
 county occurred. By an unexpected attack of Indians, 
 three white men, five women and sixteen children were 
 mercilessly massacred. This was only eighteen miles 
 from the settlement of these Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. 
 Though militia from Clarke and Jefferson counties and 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 11 
 
 volunteers that came from Kentucky, forming an armed 
 force of three hundred and fifty men, pursued the mur- 
 derous Indians, they escaped. But the new settlements 
 were filled with alarm. Block-houses were built and 
 stockades constructed, in which families were gathered 
 for protection, and men labored with guns and ammuni- 
 tion at hand and butcher-knives in their girdles. For 
 the protection of the settlers Congress passed an act for 
 raising companies of mounted troops called Eangers. 
 These troops were to scout along the frontier to prevent 
 incursions of marauding murderous bands of Indians. 
 Williamson Dunn raised and was made captain of one of 
 these companies. It was the best means of protecting 
 their families. This company was absent about a year, 
 and was mustered out of service at Vincennes in March, 
 1814. In the meantime, because of the victories of the 
 American soldiers and the severe defeats suffered by the 
 Indians, all danger from them ceased, and new settlers 
 again began to appear. With the establishment of peace 
 early in 1815, they came in largely increased numbers. 
 
 But not simply for land and homes had these Scotch- 
 Irish settlers sought the new country. The men and 
 women had had religious training, and doubtless many 
 of them were Christian men and women. The great 
 revival of 1800 and of subsequent jesiTS in Kentucky 
 was widespread and deep and pervasive in its influence. 
 The whole population of the State was more or less 
 stirred and affected by it. Its quickening and uplifting 
 power extended to other and new States, and to other 
 people and generations. 
 
 Captain Dunn, upon his return home after being 
 
12 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 mustered out of the United States service^, wished to be 
 enrolled as a soldier of Christ, and he went to Charles- 
 town, twenty-four miles from home, to unite with a 
 Presbyterian church that had been organized there two 
 years before, in 1812. One other Presbyterian church 
 there was in the Territory of Indiana at this time. It 
 was the Indiana Church, near Vincennes, and had been 
 organized in 1806. This first Presbyterian church in 
 the Territory had a minister resident at Vincennes, the 
 only Presbyterian minister resident in the Territory at 
 this time. It was the Kev. Samuel Thornton Scott. 
 He had as early as 1802, it is said, been a teacher and 
 Christian worker in and about Vincennes, before his- 
 educational course was completed, and before his licen- 
 sure and ordination as a minister. He had, after his 
 licensure and ordination, labored as a missionary in and 
 about Vincennes for several months, in 1806 and 1807 
 each, and in the fall of 1808 he came with his family 
 and became the resident minister of the Indiana Church, 
 and so continued until his death, in 1827. Perhaps some 
 intercourse of Captain Dunn with this Presbyterian 
 minister at Vincennes, who, like himself, was from Ken- 
 tucky, may have had something to do with his going to- 
 Charlestown to unite with the Presbyterian church. 
 
 A Presbyterian minister, the Kev. William Kobinson, 
 came to Madison and took up his abode there, becomings 
 the second resident Presbyterian minister in the State. 
 He taught school in Madison and preached, and in the 
 summer of 1815 organized a Presbyterian church, with 
 fifteen or twenty members. Mr. Eobinson preached to 
 this church until the fall of 1817. He then removed ta 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 13 
 
 Bethlehem, in Clarke count}', where he died in the spring 
 of 1827. 
 
 About the time the Presbyterian chnrch at Madison 
 was organized, another Presbyterian minister came into 
 the Territory and settled within three or fonr miles of 
 Mr. Dnnn. It was a minister of the straightest of the 
 sects of the Presbyterians, an Associate or Seceder min- 
 ister. It was the Eev. Andrew Fulton. 
 
 In 1810 George Shannon, Sr., James Anderson and 
 other members of the Associate church settled in Jeffer- 
 son county. The}^ had been members of the Associate 
 church in Kentucky. Seeking deliverance for them- 
 selves and their families from the baleful influence of 
 slavery, some had gone several years before to Ohio, but 
 now came to Indiana, with others direct from Kentuck}^ 
 Some time in the year 1812 they had been organized into 
 a church, and had occasional preaching and ministration 
 of the sacraments by the ministers of the Associate Pres- 
 bytery of Kentucky. In October, 1815, a call for the 
 settlement of the Eev. Andrew Fulton as their pastor 
 was made and accepted, and Mr. Fulton soon after, with 
 his famih", moved from Kentuck}^ and established his 
 home among them. The members of his church were 
 very much scattered, some living twenty miles away in 
 the north part of the county. A church building thirty 
 by forty feet on the ground, and with a ceiling twelve 
 feet high, was erected in 1816. It was simple and rude 
 in its structure and in its furnishing, but in these re- 
 spects was of like character with the houses of the people. 
 xA.fter three years of labor, this first pastor of this church 
 
14 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 died, September 10^ 1818, leaving precious memories and 
 abundant frnits of his labors. In 1821 another pastor, 
 the Rev. Andrew Isaacs, was settled over the church. 
 
 Other Presbyterian and Congregational ministers, on 
 missionary tours through the State, had been visiting 
 and preaching in Jefferson county during the year. In 
 1817 the Rev. ^N'athan B. Derrow, from the Western 
 Reserve, Ohio, visited Jefferson county and preached in 
 Judge Dunnes neighborhood. Our land-hunter and cap- 
 tain of Rangers had now become judge. Mr. Derrow 
 had organized a Presbyterian church at Rising Sun in 
 1816; and in 1817, about the time of his visit at Judge 
 Dunnes, organized the Graham Presbyterian Church in 
 Jennings county, seventeen miles from Judge Dunnes, 
 with seventeen members. In 1818 the Rev. Isaac Reed 
 and the Rev. Orin Fowler met at Judge Dunn's. They 
 were both from ISTew England. They had been ac- 
 quainted in the East as students of divinity, and had 
 both been licensed by the same Association. Mr. Reed 
 had been preaching for several months in Kentucky, and 
 had now come over into Indiana. He had preached at 
 Madison, and was on his way to Xew i^lbany. It was 
 Thursda}^, August 13, 1818, that Messrs. Reed and 
 Fowler met at Judge Dunn's. Towards evening Mr. 
 Reed preached. On Sabbath Mr. Fowler preached in 
 Judge Dunn's barn. On the Friday before, the record 
 in Mr. Fowler's diary is '^Visited the school under the 
 care of Mr. Maxwell, which is large and interesting." 
 The school-house had been built, not as a public school, 
 but as a private school. We have a pen picture of the 
 school-house. It was built of split logs put up edge- 
 
HISTOKY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 15 
 
 wise; the floor was of puncheons; the windows were 
 made by cutting out the parts of two logs next to and 
 parallel to each other^ and instead of glass^ greased paper 
 was used. There was a large chimney at each end of 
 the house, built of stone, sticks and clay. Long in- 
 clined boards along the side and end of the school-house 
 were fixed for those who were worrying with pot-hooks 
 and other exercises in writing. All the benches were 
 narrow, hard and without backs.^^ 
 
 The school was under the care of Dr. Maxwell, doubt- 
 less not taught by him. 
 
 Dr. David H. Maxwell was a brother-in-law of Judge 
 Dunn. When his company of Eangers had been raised 
 for active service in the Indian war, Dr. Maxwell had 
 enlisted as a private. This enlistment was upon the 
 written petition of all the members of the company that 
 he would go with them as their surgeon, they promising 
 him a stipulated compensation for his services as sur- 
 geon. Dr. Maxwell was a member from Jefferson 
 county of the Convention of 1816, which framed the 
 Constitution with which Indiana, in 1816, was admitted 
 as a State into the Federal Union. He was the mover 
 in the Convention of the clause in the Constitution 
 which prohibited slaver}^ for the introduction of which 
 into the new State strong and persistent efforts had been 
 made. In the spring of 1819 Dr. Maxwell moved to 
 Bloomington, and was, with his wife, among the twelve 
 members organized into the Presbyterian Church of 
 Bloomington by the Eev. Isaac Eeed, September 26, 
 1819. After moving to Bloomington, which in 1818 
 had been made the county-seat of the newly organized 
 
'' «^STOHT OP HA.>.OVER COLLEGE. 
 
 eoimtj- of Monroe Dr l\r=, „ , 
 
 ^ngton, and was through all ht I f '"'" '* 2^°°"^- 
 
 f^ the adn.ini.trat:on of this n ?/;'''^ '®'^^''°* ^^'^ 
 tered bj the Legislature in 1S90°°' "■'^^=^' =h"- 
 class of students, ten [n nult ' "";^'"^'' '" "« ^-t 
 ana College in 1827 and C' fr '''''' ^'''^'^ I^di- 
 
 Before Mr. Fo'tTeftlt"" ^'""'^''"'^ '^ ^838. 
 i" Shelby township, so^e ten Jf '°™*^ "^"^ ^^-^'^^'^^d 
 «on, October 17, 18 g the iff ""'^^^ ""^heast of Mad- 
 teen n^embers. Oeto'ber J^"^ ^J^^^^' -"^ -ven- 
 Lexington Church in Scott .n, ,' .'^^ organized the 
 bers, some ten miles luh!f/; ^'* ^''^^"te^" "^em- 
 ^/n .ul„ ,8,, ^hri'Tlttr?^^,^""'^'^- 
 Madison. He was born in Bow^ \r ^T^' '''^' *« 
 nan- 15, 1787, graduated at n ^' ^^^'^'^chusetts, Jan- 
 -as ordained bf the P e^bt '^°"'^ ^""^^'^ ^^^ 1812, 
 ^> 1.S15, and Js paster S'stV' ^^«"'°- ^ecembe 
 land, until 1817 InlST^ fk^ensburg Church, Mary- 
 Logic in Dartmouth Co leie brt'de^'f 1 '1™'^^^°^ °^ 
 for missionary work and caS tn \"^ ^^^ P"^'«o" 
 the auspices of Young Me^r,^ '"''^^"^ '^ 1819, nnder 
 
 York City. A„gu.t^5 /81 T"^'^^'^*^'°^^^- 
 communion service at l\r».r , ' ''""^sted at a 
 
 Clelland, of Kentud; a'd 7^ "" ^^^'- Thomas 
 -ho in the month of Au! 't ^ l^I' '"'''' ''■ ^-%' 
 stalled Presbyterian pa t r iu '.''°'"^'^ *« ^^t ^^- 
 ^'talled by the Presbvterv of n ""' '''^^""^"^^ ^n- 
 
 P^sgah Church, in « rte c! r^''^"' '^^ P^^^°^ "f the 
 Chnrch, in Scott coun v b! ?'; 'f °^ ^^^ Lexington 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 17 
 
 for missionary work in the new fields opening in the 
 new settlements made in the State. At this communion 
 service at Madison thirteen members were added to the 
 church;, making the total membership of the church 
 thirty-three. But a large part of these members were 
 from the Scotch-Irish settlers in the neighborhood of 
 Hanover. They subscribed two hundred dollars, half 
 the salary of Mr. Searle, and were to have preaching 
 half the time in their neighborhood. The ^th of March, 
 1820, Mr. Searle organized these members and other 
 persons that united with them into a church, which was 
 called Hanover in compliment to Mr. Searle's wife, who 
 came from Hanover, Xew Hampshire, the seat of Dart- 
 mouth College. From this affectionate regard for their 
 minister's wife came the name of the church, the college 
 and the village. The postoffice, which came in 1830, 
 was called South Hanover, because there was a post- 
 office in Shelby county by the name of Hanover. In 
 time this postoffice in Shelby county became extinct, and 
 the postoffice of South Hanover in Jefferson county be- 
 came Hanover. August 13, 1820, Mr. Searle was in- 
 stalled by the Presbytery of Louisville pastor of the 
 ]\Iadison and Hanover churches. Before the installa- 
 tion of Mr. Searle the erection of a church building at 
 Hano^^er had been projected. A plot of ground donated 
 for it by Williamson Dunn was accepted. Early in 
 1821 subscriptions were made for the building. The 
 subscriptions vrere in produce or material for building, 
 a very small amount of money. Some subscriptions 
 were for fifty bushels of wheat on demand; some were 
 for several hundred pounds of pork in the following 
 
18 HISTORY OF HANOVEE COLLEGE. 
 
 December; some were in shingles, to be delivered when 
 needed; others for hauling; others for smith work. But 
 all difficulties were overcome by four members of the 
 church, George Logan, Benjamin Smyth, Eobert Sym- 
 ington and Jesse Dickerson, binding themselves to each 
 other for one equal part of what might be lacking on the 
 subscription for erecting a house of worship so far as to 
 have said house enclosed. Benjamin Sm3i^th, Eobert 
 Symington and George Logan were authorized to let the 
 contract for the building of said house ; the house was to 
 be of stone and forty feet square. The fifteenth day of 
 May, 1821, was fixed for letting the contract. 
 
 Within a few months after the beginning of this en- 
 terprise the pastor, under a severe attack of the fever 
 prevalent in the summer and fall in the new country, 
 passed away in death. He died October 15, 1821, at the 
 age of thirty-three. His death was a sad bereavement 
 to the Madison and Hanover churches. Mr. Dickey, in 
 his Brief History, says of Mr. Searle : "He was a man 
 of superior talents, of polished manners, and of a most 
 affectionate disposition. And what was perhaps of more 
 importance to the infant church of Indiana, he was a 
 very zealous, popular and successful minister of the New 
 Testament. He was a man greatly beloved.^^ He was 
 also a man of wide public influence. At the time of his 
 death he was on the committee which, under appoint- 
 ment of the State Legislature, framed the first and 
 fundamental law of the common-school system of the 
 State. Nearly two years elapsed before a successor was 
 found for the church of Hanover. The Rev. John M. 
 Dickey, of the Pisgah and New Lexington churches, and 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 19 
 
 the Eev. W. W. Marton, of the Salem and Livonia 
 churches, visited occasionally the church, preached to its 
 congregation, moderated its session, and received mem- 
 bers into it. 
 
 It was also visited by another missionary from the 
 East, the Eev. David C. Proctor. He was a graduate of 
 Dartmouth College and Andover Theological Seminary. 
 He came West late in the fall of 1821, passed through 
 the State, and organized the Wabash Church in Edwards 
 county, Illinois, March 5, 1822, with five members. In 
 May, 1822, he was back in Indianapolis. The capital of 
 the State had been located by commissioners appointed 
 for the purpose, and by approval of their report by the 
 Legislature, January 6, 1821, was fixed, and at the sug- 
 gestion of Hon. Jeremiah Sullivan, of Madison, was 
 named Indianapolis. At the time of Mr. Proctor's com- 
 ing to Indianapolis there were some earnest Presby- 
 terians there. Dr. Isaac Coe, James M. Ray and James 
 Blake, men that afterwards became eminent and influ- 
 ential in the history of the Presbyterian church in In- 
 diana, as well as in the public affairs of the State. It 
 was not until July o, 1823, that the Indianapolis church 
 was organized by Mr. Proctor and Rev. Isaac Reed, with 
 fifteen members. It was doubtless during the summer 
 of 1822 that Mr. Proctor visited Hanover. A horseback 
 ride of ninety miles from Indianapolis to Hanover was 
 nothing for the pioneer missionaries of the State. Mr. 
 Proctor, preaching three-fourths of his time at Indian- 
 apolis, also supplied the pulpit of the recently organized 
 church of Bloomington one-fourth of his time, making 
 his journey of sixty miles between his two preaching 
 
20 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 points over a road, if such it could be called, that was 
 only a blazed way for the greater part of the distance 
 through a vast unbroken forest. 
 
 The 16th of January, 1823, at a congregational meet- 
 ing of the Hanover Church, moderated by the Eev. John 
 M. Dickey, a call was made for the pastoral labors of the 
 Eev. John Finley Crowe, of Shelbyville, Kentucky. 
 The call was accepted, and in the following May Mr. 
 Crowe moved with his family to Hanover. August 13, 
 1823, he was installed, the. Eev. Isaac Eeed and the Eev. 
 John M. Dickey officiating for that purpose by appoint- 
 ment of Louisville Presbytery. In the meantime the 
 stone church, as it was called, had been completed. Mr. 
 Crowe speaks of it as a building that did not shame the 
 times. The walls were not high; the roof had a low 
 pitch, and was finished without cornice or ornament of 
 any kind. There were two large windows on the east, 
 west and north sides each, and two doors on the south 
 side. The appearance of the building as you approached 
 it from the east or north was not satisfactory. But 
 coming from the south or the west, the hill on which it 
 stood gave it a good elevation and favorable aspect. The 
 interior was commodious and well lighted. The walls 
 were plastered up to the square, and then half way up 
 the rafters and across. This vaulted form increased the 
 spacious appearance, and made "it an easy auditorium 
 for speaker and hearer. The church was seated with 
 peg benches. On these, unsupported by any back or 
 rest, the congregation sat in their services of public wor- 
 ship until xVpril 15, 1829, when the church was fur- 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 21 
 
 nished with pews^ at which time the practice of families 
 sitting together was adopted. 
 
 Mr. Crowe, when he came to Hanover, was about 
 thirty-six years of age. The following sketch of his life 
 until his removal to Hanover was written by his daugh- 
 ter, Mrs. S. C. Garritt: "He was born June 16, 1787, 
 in a frontier settlement of North Carolina, which, in 
 the division of States, fell within the limits of Green 
 county, Tennessee. In 1802 his parents, with a num- 
 ber of families, removed west of the Mississippi, forming 
 a village, which from the beauty of its situation they 
 called Bellevue, now in Washington county, Missouri. 
 Here he taught the neighborhood school, but for years 
 heard no sermon or public prayer. Through the in- 
 coming of three ruling elders from the church of Dr. 
 James Hall, of North Carolina, his attention to religion 
 was aroused, and later, through the preaching of a 
 Methodist minister, Rev. Mr. Ward, he was brought 
 under powerful conviction for sin, which resulted in a 
 complete change of life. He soon decided to study for 
 the ministry, and in April, 1809, started for Danville, 
 Kentucky, to enter the classical school of Dr. Priestly. 
 But Dr. Priestly had just gone with his school to Nash- 
 ville, Tennessee. For a year varied dilhculties wrecked 
 his hopes, but through providential leading and the wise 
 advice of the Eev. Samuel Finley, with whom he studied 
 privately his second year, he had excellent literary and 
 social advantages. He then spent two years in Transyl- 
 vania University, completing his course in 1813. He 
 also began his theological studies under Rev. Dr. Robert 
 Bishop. 
 
22 HISTOEY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 "In Msij, 1814, having been ordained an elder in the 
 Pisgah Chnreh, the pastoral charge of his friend and 
 patron, Dr. James Bh^the, he was sent as a delegate from 
 West Lexington Presb3^ter3^ to the General Assembly, 
 meeting, as it was accustomed to then, at Philadelphia^ 
 At the close of the Assembh^ he went to Princeton, Xew 
 Jersey, studied through the summer, and entered the 
 second class in the Theological Seminary. He was 
 licensed by the West Lexington Presbytery in 1815, and 
 went to Shelb3^Yille, Kentuck}^, to take charge of the 
 Academy. He was for a time associated with Rev. 
 Archibald Cameron in a sort of bishopric of the Shelby 
 county Presbyterian churches; later was the happy pas- 
 tor of two churches, Fox Run and Bull Skin, near Shel- 
 byville. 
 
 "But from the time of his conversion he had doubted 
 the righteousness of slavery, and on entering the minis- 
 try longed to ameliorate the condition of the slave. To 
 this end he successfully attempted Sunday-school work 
 for slaves, who had permission from their masters to 
 attend, and later afternoon preaching services for them. 
 In numbers and interest these services were successful, 
 but in each case the buildings in which to hold them 
 were denied them. An effort to educate public senti- 
 ment through the press then seemed the only way open 
 to him. Being deeply interested in the Foreign Mis- 
 sionary Movement then developing, he finally decided 
 to write of these live questions in a monthly paper to be 
 called the Abolition Intelligencer and Missionary Mag- 
 azine. The first number was issued in May, 1812. The 
 abolitionism was mild. He advocated the enactmeni of 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 23 
 
 laws that would permit such instruction of slaves as 
 would lit them for self-government under gradual eman- 
 cipation, a movement which was then expected to be 
 speedily established. But the theme was distasteful. 
 It immediately brought out protests, then warnings, at 
 last threats, should he continue its publication. The 
 prospects of loss of friends and property and congrega- 
 tions caused great distress of mind and commitment of 
 the case to God for direction, which resulted in his be- 
 coming satisfied that the deplorable condition of two 
 millions of enslaved Africans called for exertion and 
 sacrifice. Peace and comfort returned to him under the 
 fixed determination in the strength of divine grace to go 
 forward. This he did for twelve months ; but, unlike 
 Garrison, who had '^a, dauntless spirit and a press,^ he 
 had no press. Then the lack of subscriptions to share 
 the expense, together with the call of the church at Han- 
 over, were to him the voice of God calling away. Ee- 
 moving to Hanover, the following entry was made in his 
 diary : ^By the good hand of God upon me, have I been 
 preserved through dangers, and led, as I trust, by a wise 
 and holy Providence, to Hanover, Indiana, the land of 
 civil and religious liberty.^ His interest in the cause 
 did not cease with removal. Voice and a pen were freely 
 used." 
 
 In September, 1823, the Presbytery of Louisville, in 
 session at Charlestown, petitioned the Synod of Ken- 
 tucky to erect a new Presbytery north of the Ohio river, 
 to be called the Presbytery of Salem. The Synod in its 
 session in October granted the petition, and formed the 
 Presbytery of Salem. It was bounded on the east by a 
 
24 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE, 
 
 line running due north from the mouth of the Kentucky- 
 river. Its boundar}^ on the west, fixed a 3'ear later, was 
 a line running due north from the mouth of Green river, 
 twenty miles, then a line from that point running north- 
 westerly to the mouth of White river. From thence a 
 line running due west indefinitely was its boundary on 
 the south. On the north no boundaries were fixed. 
 Thus the Presbytery embraced the most of both Indiana 
 and Illinois. Its first meeting was at Salem, Indiana, 
 April 1, 1821. There were six ministers present, and 
 one was absent. The number of elders present was 
 thirteen. The organization of the Presbytery was im- 
 portant, as its ministers and" elders had oversight of the 
 whole field embraced within their boundaries, and were 
 brought in their discussions and counsels into unity of 
 plan and action for the promotion of the religious in- 
 terests of the rapidly growing and developing country 
 for which they were laboring. At this first meeting of 
 the Presbytery a committee was appointed to devise ways 
 and means for the education of poor and pious youth 
 for the ministry. The committee were to report at the 
 next spring meeting, having a year for their work. The 
 committee were Eev. John Finley Crowe, Eev. John M. 
 Dickey, Elder Lemuel Ford, of Charlestown, Elder Alex- 
 ander Walker, of Pisgah Church, and Elder William 
 Eeed, of Hanover. The great need of the Presbyterian 
 church and of the country was ministers of the gospel. 
 Of the ministers of Salem Presbytery, John Todd had 
 come from Virginia to Kentucky in 1806, the Eev. Isaac 
 Eeed had come from New England to Kentuck}^ in 1817, 
 the other members of the Presbytery had received their 
 
HISTOEY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 25 
 
 classical and theological training principally in the 
 West, and were what would be called Western men. All 
 felt that to supply the great religious necessities of the 
 field, ministers would have to be raised up in the West 
 and from among the churches of the West. The action 
 of the Presbytery in the appointment of this committee 
 to devise ways and means for the education of poor and 
 pious young men for the work of the ministry was 
 doubtless the initial action that led on through the con- 
 tinuity of providential events to the origin and establish- 
 ment of Hanover College, likewise of Indiana Theolog- 
 ical Seminary, and the seminaries that grew out of it, 
 ^ew Alban}^, and McCormick at Chicago. 
 
 At the fall meeting of the Presbytery at Charlestown, 
 further action in educational work was taken. The Pres- 
 bytery formed itself into an educational society, accord- 
 ing to a plan recommended b}^ its Committee on Educa- 
 tion. There is no record in the minutes of the Presby- 
 tery of this plan, or of the proceedings of the Presbytery 
 as an educational society. From another source we gain 
 a knowledge of their proceedings. But this educational 
 work is connected with the growth of the churches, and 
 we note this growth. The Presbytery, before the fall 
 meeting at Charlestown, had met August 10, 1824, at 
 Madison, for the purpose of receiving and ordaining Mr. 
 Joseph Trimble, a licentiate of the Presbytery of Car- 
 lisle. Mr. Trimble was also to be installed as pastor of 
 the church at Madison. But when the Presbytery met 
 he was very sick with fever prevalent in the summer and 
 fall through the country at that early day. The cer- 
 tificate of Mr. Trimble's dismission to the Presbytery 
 
26 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 was received, and he was taken into the Presbytery as a 
 licentiate. The Presbytery then adjourned. On the 
 following day Mr. Trimble died. He was a graduate of 
 Jefferson College, and had studied theology at Princeton 
 Seminary. He was twenty-eight years of age at the 
 time of his death. October 9, 1824, Tilly H. Brown 
 was licensed by the Presbytery at its stated meeting at 
 Charlestown. At this meeting at Charlestown the 
 church of Indianapolis presented a call for the minis- 
 terial labors of Eev. Oeorge Bush. Mr. Bush not hav- 
 ing received his letter of dismission from the Presbj^tery 
 of New York, the Presbytery could take no action. 
 March 4, 1825, the Presbytery met in a called meeting at 
 Indianapolis for the purpose of receiving and ordaining 
 Mr. Bush and installing him as pastor of the church at 
 IndianapolivS, and also to receive Mr. Baynard R. Hall, 
 a licentiate of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. They 
 were received, and the next day, March 5, Mr. Bush was 
 ordained and installed, Mr. Crowe preaching the ser- 
 mon, Mr. Dickey giving the charge to the pastor, and 
 Rev. Isaac Reed the charge to the people. The spring 
 meeting of the Presbytery was at Washington, Daviess 
 county, April 5. Alexander Williamson, a licentiate of 
 Carlisle Presbytery, was received, and also Mr. Stephen 
 Bliss, a licentiate of Hopkinton Association of JSTew 
 Hampshire. The Presbytery adjourned on the 9th to 
 meet three days after at Bloomington for the ordination 
 of Bavnard R. Hall. The ordination was in the State 
 Seminary, of which j\Ir. Hall was the first teacher. He 
 was also the minister of the Presb3^terian church of 
 Bloomington. The Presbytery again met on adjourn- 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOYER COLLEGE. 27 
 
 ment the 3d of June and ordained Mr. Williamson. 
 Again the Presbytery met nj^on its adjournment, June 
 24:, at Bethlehem, for the ordination and installation of 
 Mr. Brown, whom they had licensed eight months be- 
 fore. Again the Presbytery met upon its adjournment 
 at Vincennes and installed Mr. Scott pastor of the In- 
 diana Church, to which he had been ministering for sev- 
 enteen years. It also ordained at this time Stephen 
 Bliss, who was preaching to the Wabash Church in 
 Illinois. After these numerous meetings, in places re- 
 mote from each other, with horseback riding the only 
 mode of transit, the Presbytery met in its regular fall 
 meeting at the Pisgah Church, in Clarke county, October 
 7. At this meeting of the Presbytery the Rev. John T. 
 Hamilton was received from the Muhlenberg Presbytery. 
 The Presbytery also received as a licentiate from Colum- 
 bia Presbytery, James H. Johnston, and when it ad- 
 journed, it adjourned to meet at Madison on the third 
 Wednesday of October for the ordination of Mr. John- 
 ston and his installation as j^astor of the Madison 
 Church. 
 
 Important action was taken at this meeting looking to 
 the enlargement of the church and the erection of a new 
 Synod. A number of new members had been received 
 into the Presbytery, and a number of new churches had 
 been organized. There were now about fifty in the 
 Presbytery. It was determined to ask the Synod of 
 Kentucky, soon to meet, to divide Salem Presbytery into 
 three, the Presbyteries of Madison, Salem and Wabash. 
 The petition was granted, and the General Assembly of 
 the Presbyterian Church, in its sessions the next May, 
 formed these Presbyteries, together with the Presbytery 
 
28 HISTORY OP HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 of Missouri, into a new Synod, to be called tiie Synod of 
 Indiana, and authorized the meeting and organization 
 of the Synod at Yincennes, Wednesday, the 18th day of 
 October, 1826. 
 
 But at this fall meeting of the Presbytery at Pisgah 
 other matters of interest claimed the attention of the 
 Presbytery. A committee was appointed to cooperate 
 with the General Assembly in locating the Western 
 Theological Seminary, which it had deemed necessary to 
 supplement the work of Princeton Seminary in provid- 
 ing ministers for the rapidly growing West. The Pres- 
 bytery hoped to induce the iVssembly to locate the Sem- 
 inary as far west as Charlestown. The committee con- 
 sisted of Messrs. Crowe, Dickey, Hamilton and Brown. 
 The appointment of the committee made evident the 
 deep interest of the Presbytery in the work of securing 
 ministers of the gospel for the widening field of the 
 West. Another record of the Presbytery, manifesting 
 deep interest in this work and anxious solicitude for it, 
 was a tender tribute paid to Rev. John Young, who had 
 spent a year in missionary labors within the widely ex- 
 tended bounds of the Presbytery. He had been at the 
 meeting of the Presbytery at Yincennes in August. He 
 was taken sick with the prevalent fever of the new coun- 
 try before the Presbytery adjourned, and shortly after- 
 wards died. He had been very useful in his ministrv, 
 and his loss was deeply felt. He was a graduate of 
 Union College, and had studied theology at Princeton. 
 He was a licentiate of New Brunswick Presbytery. He 
 and Mr. Johnston were classmates in the Seminary at 
 Princeton, and they came to the West together in the 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 29 
 
 fall of 1824, reaching Madison the 9th of December. 
 Mr. Johnston was to take charge of the Madison Church, 
 but before doing so he spent three months in missionary 
 labor all over the southern part of the State, traveling 
 about five hundred miles and preaching about fifty 
 times before his return to Madison. Mr. Young 
 preached for him at Madison during eight weeks of his 
 absence. After a few weeks' labor along the White 
 river in the vicinity of Indianapolis, he went to the 
 Wabash, and most of his labors were given to Paris, in 
 Edgar county, Illinois, and to N'ew Hope, whose mem- 
 bers were partly in Clark county, Illinois, and Sullivan 
 count}^, Indiana. 
 
 The death of Mr. Searle had been followed by the 
 death of Ezra H. Day, a minister beloved, who came to 
 the church of iSTew Albany in ISTovember, 1822. The 
 prevalent bilious fever of the new country for new- 
 comers terminated his life September 22, 1823. Then 
 followed the death of Trimble at Madison in August, 
 1824. And now the death of Young, in August, 1825, 
 deeply moved the Presbytery, and they appointed a day 
 of humiliation, fasting and prayer, that these afflictive 
 dispensations of Divine Providence might be sanctified 
 to them and their churches. 
 
 Eecalling the facts of the constitution of the Presby- 
 tery into an educational society, and of the appointment 
 of a committee to form a plan and devise ways and 
 means to aid poor and pious young men into the min- 
 istry' ; remembering the appointment of the committee 
 to cooperate with the General Assembly in its establish- 
 ment of a Western Theological Seminary, and recalling 
 
30 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 this tender and solemn feeling pervading the Presbytery 
 because of the frequent deaths of young and prominent 
 ministers, we understand what Mr. Crowe reports in 
 after years as transacted at this Presbytery in connec-. 
 tion with work for securing an educated ministry. In 
 a manuscript history, written by Dr. Crowe towards the 
 end of his life, he wrote : "The fewness of the laborers 
 and the immensity of the harvest, together with the loud 
 and importunate Macedonian cry which came from every 
 part of the land, urged upon the Presbytery the ques- 
 tion. What can be done to increase the number of the 
 laborers ? Again and again,'' he says, "had the General 
 Assembly been applied to for aid ; but that venerable 
 body had not been able to do anything more than to send 
 out occasionally such young. men as had intimated their 
 willingness to labor a few months as missionaries in the 
 West. Very few of their missionaries, however, seemed 
 disposed to encounter the trials and privations of a set- 
 tlement in the wilderness. And of those who consented 
 to remain, four, within two or three years, fell victims 
 to the acclimating fever. Though discouraged by these 
 facts, the Presbytery had still to meet the question, 
 What can be done for the multitudes ready to perish, 
 with eyes directed to us for aid? We had long been 
 praying the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers, 
 but now felt we were called upon to act. The only 
 plan which seemed to promise, with God's blessing, a 
 competent supply for the extended and constantly ex- 
 tending harvest was to raise them up upon the ground." 
 At this fall meeting of the Presbytery in 1825 it was 
 determined to establish a Presbyterian Academy, and a 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 31 
 
 committee was appointed to devise a plan and select a 
 place. This committee, for various reasons, fixed upon 
 Hanover as the place of the Academy, and the manual 
 labor system as the plan. 
 
 The first meeting of Madison Presbytery was at Han- 
 over, April 6, 1826. There vrere four ministers. All 
 were present — William Eobinson, John M. Dickey, John 
 Finley Crowe, James H. Johnston. Seven elders were 
 present. The Presbytery adopted the following order 
 on education : "Presbytery shall use vigorous efforts to 
 educate poor and pious youth of promising talent for the 
 gospel ministry; and they shall earnestly request the 
 members of the churches under their care, if they are 
 acquainted with any such youth, to encourage and assist 
 them, and make them known to Presbytery.^^ 
 
 Mr. Crowe, in his manuscript history, writes : "As 
 the contemplated academy was to be located within the 
 bounds of Madison Presbytery, that body at their first 
 meeting took action on the subject, adopted the report 
 of the committee which had been appointed by the Salem 
 Presbytery, and appointed a committee to secure a 
 teacher. This was doubtless done, as the action of the 
 Salem Presbytery had been, by the Presbytery as an 
 educational society. At the fall meeting of the Presby- 
 tery at the Jefferson Church a committee was appointed 
 to draft a constitution for the Presbytery as an educa- 
 tion society. At this fall meeting of the Presbytery, as 
 the committee had been unable to procure a teacher for 
 the projected academy, Mr. Crowe was urged to organize 
 the school and take charge of it until it might grow into 
 sufficient importance to justify the employment of a 
 
32 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 competent teacher. Convinced that the interests of the 
 church demanded a school, and that the interests in- 
 volved would justify any reasonable sacrifices in meeting 
 that demand, he consented to make the experiment. 
 Accordingly on the first day of January, 1827, he 
 opened in a log cabin, which had been bnilt for a differ- 
 ent purpose on his own premises, a little grammar 
 school, consisting of six boys, not one of whom was pious, 
 although all the sons of the covenant. 
 
 The Eev. W. M. Cheever, a graduate of Hanover 
 College, writes: "My father, who was teaching school 
 in Paris, Jennings county, was prevailed upon by Eev. 
 John Finley Crowe to remove in 1825 to Hanover and 
 open a school in the old stone meeting-house, which was 
 to become in part a sort of feeder to the classical acad- 
 emy which Mr. Crowe intended to open at no distant 
 da}^ Though a mere lad, I attended my father's school, 
 studjdng under him the Latin grammar. Two years 
 after, in 1827, when between eight and nine years of age, 
 I started to Mr. Crowe's Classical Academy, which was 
 opened in his old loom house. I remember vividly that 
 first day. It was quite an epoch in my life. Besides 
 my father, who was deeply interested in this young 
 school of the prophets, as he termed it, often afterwards 
 alluded to the events of that day, and they became fixed 
 in my memory. He used to tell me I had this pre- 
 eminence, if no other: I was the first student on the 
 ground the day when Dr. Crowe opened his Academy. 
 On the first day there were but two students present, 
 James Logan and I. He and I had the distinguished 
 honor of being the pioneer students. There were but 
 
HISTORY OF HAI^OVER COLLEGE. 33 
 
 two at the first recitation, three at the second, and sev- 
 eral others dropped in that week, and more the week 
 following. Perhaps one reason why my memory of those 
 days onght to be better than that of others is that my 
 father was Dr. Growers nearest neighbor and intimate 
 friend. These matters were themes of constant conver- 
 sation between Dr. Crowe and my father in my presence. 
 I call np with more ease the recollections of those days 
 than I do the transactions of 1832, when I re-entered 
 and graduated." 
 
 Of the first six entering the Academy, four became 
 ministers of the gospel and two pious physicians. 
 
 At the meeting of the Madison Presbytery with the 
 Sand Creek Church, now Kingston, in Decatur county, 
 April 11, 1828, the following resolutions were adopted: 
 
 ''Resolved, That we deem it important to the interests 
 of the church that a school should be established within 
 our bounds, at which young men of promising talent and 
 good moral character may receive such education as, 
 with the blessing of God, may qualify them for useful- 
 ness in the church ; and whereas a school of this descrip- 
 tion has been established at Hanover, Jefferson county, 
 under the care of Eev. John Finley Crowe, with assur- 
 ance of liberal patronage from those in its vicinity, pro- 
 vided it be taken under the superintendence of this 
 Presbytery, therefore, 
 
 "Resolved, further. That we take said school under 
 our patronage, and that Messrs. Crowe and Duncan be a 
 committee to report a plan for its organization and gov- 
 ernment." 
 
 The school was so received, a board of trustees elected. 
 
34 ■ HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 a visiting committee appointed, and Eev. Mr. Crowe ap- 
 pointed principal under direction of the trustees. 
 
 At the fall meeting of the Presbytery, which was at 
 Hanover, October 3, 1828, the visiting committee made 
 a ver}^ favorable report concerning the literary progress 
 of the students. They stated that the condition and 
 prospects of the school were of a very encouraging char- 
 acter; that the number of students was sixteen, and a 
 considerable addition was expected at the next session. 
 They also stated that ground had been given by William- 
 son Dunn for the erection of a building, and also a dona- 
 tion by him of several lots in the village of Hanover, 
 which had been platted, the proceeds of the sale of which 
 were for the benefit of the Academy, and that a brick 
 building two stories high, twent3^-five by forty feet on 
 the ground, would be built in the coming year, subscrip- 
 tions for the same having been made. 
 
 The committee recommended, with some changes in 
 the board of trustees, the appointment of a committee to 
 seek from the Legislature of the State a charter for the 
 Academy. The recommendations of the committee were 
 adopted. Additions were made to the board of trustees, 
 and Jeremiah Sullivan, Williamson Dunn, Eev. John 
 Finley Crowe and Eev. James H. Johnston were ap- 
 pointed to secure the charter from the next Legislature. 
 
 A special blessing followed the meeting of the Presby- 
 tery at Hanover. Eeligious services were continued 
 after the adjournment of Presbytery. There was a 
 gracious revival, in which forty persons were added to 
 the church. The revival gave a spiritual blessing to the 
 Academy, added to its reputation among the churches, 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 35 
 
 and increased its numbers so that to accommodate them 
 it was necessary to remove the school from its close quar- 
 ters to the stone church. 
 
 The committee appointed to secure a charter were suc- 
 cessful, and February 26, 1829, the trustees met and 
 organized under their charter. Eev. J. M. Dickey was 
 elected President of the board, Col. Samuel Smock, 
 Treasurer, and Eev. James H. Johnston, Secretary; 
 Rev. J. F. Crowe, Principal of the Academy. It was 
 also determined that another teacher possessing the nec- 
 essary qualifications for giving instruction in theology 
 should be employed as soon as it was practicable. Messrs. 
 Crowe and Johnston were appointed a committee of 
 correspondence with reference to the subject with such 
 persons as they deemed suitable. October 1, 1829, this 
 committee reported a letter from the Rev. John Mat- 
 thews, D. D., Shephardstown, Virginia. The committee 
 was continued, and was authorized to bring the subject 
 before the Synod of Indiana. In the meantime the 
 Academy building had been transferred by deed to the 
 board of trustees, and also a farm for carrying forward 
 the plan for a manual labor school. Fifty acres of this 
 farm had been given by Mr. Crowe and fifty by William- 
 son Dunn. 
 
 The Synod of Indiana, which at that time embraced 
 the three States of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, and 
 had united in it the Presbyteries of Madison, Salem and 
 Wabash in Indiana, the Center Presbytery of Illinois, 
 and the Presbytery of Missouri, met on the 15th day of 
 October, 1829, at Shoals Creek, Bond county, Illinois, 
 forty or forty-five miles east of St. Louis. The dis- 
 
36 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 tance which the members of Madison Presbytery were to 
 travel was more than three hundred miles, and the trav- 
 eling was to be done on horseback. 
 
 The time occupied in the journey was over a week. 
 The members that went from Madison Presbytery were 
 John M. Dickey, John F. Crowe, Samuel Gl. Lowry, 
 Samuel Gregg, James IsT. Johnston and Samuel Smock. 
 The only elder was Samuel Smock, of the Hanover 
 church. They started early enough in the week preced- 
 ing Synod to reach Yincennes and spend the Sabbath 
 with the Indiana Church. On Monday their cavalcade, 
 increased by members of other Presbyteries, numbered 
 fifteen. They crossed the Wabash earh^ in the morning 
 and set forward cheerily into the grand prairies of Illi- 
 nois. These were then uninhabitated, mth the excep- 
 tion of a few establishments along the principal thor- 
 oughfares for the accommodation of travelers. The fol- 
 lowing is a matter-of-fact statement from the pen of 
 Mr. Crowe of the accommodation of this company of 
 ministers and elders for a night not far from Yandalia, 
 then the capital of the Territor};^ : 
 
 "We had traveled until the shades of evening were 
 gathering thick around, when we came to a human hab- 
 itation, a little cabin by the roadside. As it seemed out 
 of the question for so large a company to be accommo- 
 dated there, we inquired how far to the next house ? 
 Six miles was the response. As the road was new and 
 unbroken, we saw at once that we must make the best of 
 our condition. The f amil}^ consisted of the man and his 
 wife, their domicile of a single room some fifteen feet 
 square, and without furniture except a small table and 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOYER COLLEGE, 37 
 
 three or four stools. But they were willing to do all 
 they could for our comfort. They would supply our 
 horses with corn and plenty of pumpkins^ and ourselves 
 with fried venison and corn breads and when it came to 
 sleeping, they would resign the house to us. The supper 
 passed off satisfactorily, and when bed-time came we 
 covered the entire floor with our saddle blankets, using 
 our saddles for pillows and our cloaks for covering, the 
 good people of the house occupying a little shanty in the 
 yard as a bed-chamber for the night.'^ 
 
 After a journey of eight days the place appointed for 
 the meeting of the Synod was reached. At this meeting 
 of the Synod, the fourth in its history, twenty-two min- 
 isters were present and seven elders. Nineteen minis- 
 ters were absent. Mr. Crowe, as retiring Moderator, 
 preached the opening sermon. At every preceding meet- 
 ing of the Synod from the beginning the subject of 
 education, and especially theological education, had been 
 under consideration. At the first Synod, at Vincennes, 
 in 1826, a committee was appointed to prepare an over- 
 ture to the G-eneral Assembly on the location of the 
 Western Theological Seminary. Salmon Iddings, of 
 Missouri Presbytery, Baynard E. Hall and George Bush, 
 of Wabash Presbytery, John F. Crowe and James H. 
 Johnston, of Madison Presbytery, were the committee. 
 They prepared an overture for the location of the Sem- 
 inary at Charlestown, Indiana. Messrs. Dickey, Hamil- 
 ton and Bush were appointed a special committee of 
 correspondence to look after the interests involved in the 
 overture. This action of the Synod was ineffective, the 
 Assembly locating the Seminary at Alleghany, which 
 
38 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 the Synod thought too far East to secure the needed 
 benefits for the West. The action taken by the Synod, 
 thougli ineffective, showed that interest in the establish- 
 ment of an institution of learning for raising up min- 
 isters on the field for the great Central West was not 
 local or confined to a few individuals, but pervaded the 
 entire ministry and all the churches of the widely ex- 
 fended Synod. At the second meeting of the Synod, at 
 Salem, a committee was appointed to consider the ex- 
 pediency of taking preparatory steps for the establish- 
 ment of a Literary and Theological Seminary under the 
 care of the Synod, and should such be thought by them 
 expedient, they were authorized to draw up a plan of 
 such Seminary and report at the next meeting of the 
 S3^nod. Messrs. Dickey, Crowe and Johnston were ap- 
 pointed said committee. At the meeting of the Synod 
 the next year, 1828, at Yincennes, the minutes of the 
 Synod say : "The committee appointed at the last meet- 
 ing to report on the propriety of Synod taking prepara- 
 tory steps for the establishment of a Literary and Theo- 
 logical Seminary reported on the same, which was re- 
 ceived and is on file. After some discussion on the sub- 
 ject of the report, the further consideration of it was 
 indefinitely postponed, except the item concerning a 
 Theological Seminary, the consideration of which was 
 postponed until the next meeting of Synod.^^ This next 
 meeting of the Synod, the fourth, was the meeting at 
 Shoals Creek, Bond county, Illinois. 
 
 It was not an unprepared soil upon which the good 
 seed from Hanover was to be cast, but the ground that 
 had been gone over very carefully for several years in 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 39 
 
 succession, and that had been thoroughly prepared. The 
 consideration of the report concerning a Theological 
 Seminary, laid over from the Synod of the preceding 
 year, was taken up, and the following resolution was 
 passed: 
 
 "Whereas^ Hanover Academy has been incorporated 
 by an act of the Legislature of the State of Indiana, 
 according to which act the board of trustees of said 
 Academy are permitted by special provision to place it 
 under the care of any body of learned men that they may 
 select; and 
 
 "Whereas^ The board at a late meeting appointed a 
 committee of that body to make a tender of the institu- 
 tion to the Synod of Indiana, that said Synod might 
 avail themselves of the corporate privileges granted in 
 founding a Theological Seminary in connection with the 
 Academy ; therefore, 
 
 ''Resolved, That a committee be appointed on the part 
 of the Synod to confer with the committee of the trustees 
 of the .Academy, and to report on the subject as soon as 
 practicable.^^ 
 
 The committee consisted of John M. Dickey, of Mad- 
 ison Presbytery, Ashbel S. Wells, of Salem, and James 
 Thomson, of Wabash. The committee reported that 
 the interests of the churches within the bounds of the 
 Synod would be promoted by taking the Academy under 
 the care of the Synod. They recommended the Synod 
 to adopt the Academy; to take measures to establish a 
 permanent fund for the support of Theological Profes- 
 sors, and that the Synod appoint a board of directors to 
 superintend the Theological Department in Hanover 
 
40 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 Academy. The recommendations of the committee were 
 adopted. The time was fixed later in the day for the 
 election of the Theological Professor. It was ordered to 
 be by ballot. When the time of election came, John 
 Matthews, of Shephardstown, Virginia, was unani- 
 mously elected. Thus were the prayers and labors, faith 
 and hope of the pioneer ministers of Indiana crowned 
 with success in the establishment of an institution of 
 learning which was to begin the work of supplying min- 
 isters for the needy and widening fields of the great 
 Central West. 
 
CHAPTEK n. 
 
 Dr. Matthews was informed forthwith of his election. 
 Early in December he arrived in Hanover to overlook 
 the field. He met with the board of trustees. They 
 gave full exposition of the origin and design of the in- 
 stitution, its resources and prospects, and placed before 
 him the destitution and wants of the country, and the 
 views and feelings manifested by the Synod at its recent 
 meeting with reference to the whole subject. Dr. Mat- 
 thews frankly stated to the board the conditions upon 
 which he would accept the position to which he was 
 elected, provided, upon consultation with his friends and 
 consideration of the matter in all its bearings, he felt it 
 was his duty to do so. One of his conditions was the 
 assurance of a support by some responsible body. The 
 board at once took action pledging a salary of six hun- 
 dred dollars a year for his services, if he should accept 
 the place. 
 
 After his return to Virginia, Dr. Matthews was in 
 great doubt as to his duty. His iriends counseled 
 against his going to the West. It was hard to sever the 
 ties that bound him to a large and loving church. But 
 he would not close his ears to the Macedonian cry from 
 the West. He determined in his stress of mind to com- 
 mit the determination of the matter to the Providence of 
 God. He knew that there would be need at once of an 
 
43 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 additional Professor for the Theological Department of 
 the school. He determined to visit Philadelphia and 
 'New York, and if he conld succeed in securing pledges 
 for a salary of five hundred dollars a year for five years 
 for the support of an additional Professor, he would 
 accept the appointment as of a work to which he was 
 called of God. He had no difficulty in obtaining in 
 those cities what he sought from Christian men deeply 
 interested, both from piety and patriotism, in the work 
 of missions in the West. He was successful beyond his 
 expectations. The question was settled, and upon his 
 return home he informed the board of his acceptance, 
 and of his purpose to remove to Hanover in the spring. 
 When he was elected it was not expected that he would 
 enter upon his work in less than twelve months, nor was 
 it expected that there would be any students on the 
 ground for instruction in theology before that time. 
 But Dr. Matthews thought it best for the church he was 
 serving and for all concerned that his removal should 
 take place at once. At Hanover there was no house for 
 him and his family. The board met and directed the 
 building committee to erect at once a log house for the 
 temporary dwelling of Dr. Matthews while a suitable 
 brick building could be erected. The citizens and stu- 
 dents turned out as if for fun and frolic, and in a few 
 weeks had a hewed log house, with shingle roof, brick 
 chimneys and four rooms, ready for occupancy, and with 
 but little expense to the board. Dr. Matthews and his 
 family arrived about the middle of May. On the 
 twenty-fourth day of May the board convened and Dr. 
 Matthews, having been elected a member, took his seat 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 43 
 
 with them. Correspondence, by direction of the board, 
 was at once opened with the Professors of the Theolog- 
 ical Seminary at Princeton, 'New Jersey, with reference 
 to securing a suitable young man from the Seminary to 
 be appointed by the Synod as Professor of Biblical Lit- 
 erature. J. W. Cunningham, of the Senior Class, was 
 recommended, and at the meeting of the Synod at Mad- 
 ison in October, 1830, he was elected. At this meeting 
 of the Synod at Madison a detailed plan of union and 
 cooperation of the Synod and of the Academy was 
 adopted. But when the Synod adjourned it had failed 
 to provide for the payment of the salary of the Professor 
 of Theology whom they had called to their work, leaving 
 the burden of this on the board of trustees. In this 
 same month of October a severe calamity had befallen 
 the young institution. The building committee had 
 succeeded in securing funds and erecting a comfortable 
 and commodious brick dwelling for the Professor of 
 Theolog}^ Not only friends at Hanover and vicinity 
 had contributed liberally, but at Madison and at Louis- 
 ville and from other places help had been given, and the 
 house was about ready for plastering and painting, when, 
 in the absence of the workmen at dinner, children play- 
 ing with fire ignited the shavings on the floor, and the 
 building was speedily consumed. To again gather 
 means to rebuild from those who had given was hope- 
 less. In this emergency the board determined to appeal 
 for aid for the Theological Department of the Academy 
 to Christian friends east of the mountains. As there 
 were no students of the Acadeni}'' advanced enough to 
 enter upon theological studies, and as none from abroad 
 
44 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 had presented themselves. Dr. Matthews agreed to take 
 charge of the Academy for a time; Mr. William Gregg, 
 a graduate of Miami University, was secured as teacher 
 of mathematics, and Mr. Crowe, principal of the Acad- 
 emy, was commissioned to go to the East as an agent of 
 the institution to solicit funds for it. Early in Decem- 
 ber, 1830, Mr. Crowe set out on his eastward journey. 
 It was near April, 1831, before he returned. This work 
 was one crowded with difficulties. It called for the 
 exercise of exhaustless patience, of unfailing persever- 
 ance and unremitting diligence. Nothing but devoted 
 consecration to the Lord^s work, with faith and hope and 
 prayer, could have carried him through all its difficulties 
 and pathetic details, and given him the measure of suc- 
 cess which in the end he achieved. He returned with 
 something over three thousand dollars. With this the 
 trustees were enabled to rebuild the house of the Profes- 
 sor of Theology, and also erect a house for the superin- 
 tendent of the farm, by means of which the plan of the 
 Manual Labor School was to be carried on. This house 
 was also to be a boarding-house for students. The 
 school v\^as prosperous. There were about fifty students 
 in attendance, and these, prosecuting their studies, were 
 clearing off the farm, making rails and cutting cord 
 wood, for which they were credited on their board and 
 tuition at the usual price for that kind of labor. 
 
 There were some misgivings as to the Manual Labor 
 system. It was an experiment. It was popular. Many 
 things seemed favorable to it. The institution was 
 prosperous and the trustees went forward. Col. George 
 Briggs had come from ISTew England, highly com- 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 45 
 
 mended, and a contract was made with him to take 
 charge as superintendent of the buildings, of the work 
 to be done on the farm and in the shop, and to have 
 charge as steward of the boarding-honse. Plans were 
 made for the erection of shops and cottages for rooms 
 for students, and also for a college building proper, of 
 brick, forty by one hundred feet on the ground, three 
 stories high, with chapel and recitation rooms and 
 thirty-three rooms for students. This was by the end 
 of 1832. Progress was also made in instruction and 
 studies. At the beginning of the summer session of 
 1832 over seventy students were enrolled. In the mid- 
 dle of the summer the teaching force was increased by 
 the employment of Mark A. H. Niles, from Princeton 
 Theological Seminary, and a graduate of Amherst Col- 
 lege. May 8, 1832, Mr. Crowe resigned the principal- 
 ship of the Academy, and the Eev. Dr. James Blythe, of 
 Lexington, Kentucky, was elected President. He was a 
 man of reputation and widely known. He had been 
 some years before Moderator of the General Assembly of 
 the Presbyterian Church. He had also been President 
 of Transylvania University for a number of years, and 
 afterwards Professor of Chemistry in the Lexington 
 Medical School. Mr. Crowe was elected Vice-President. 
 The scheme of studies was changed to that of a college 
 course, with a Preparatory Department. Dr. Blythe was 
 Professor of Moral Science, Chemistry and Natural 
 Philosophy. Vice-President Crowe was Professor of 
 Logic, Belles-Lettres and History. M. A. H. Niles was 
 Professor of the Latin, Creek and French Languages, 
 and John H. Hamej, who had previously been Professor 
 
46 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 in Indiana College at Bloomington^ became Professor of 
 Mathematics and Astronomy. Until other provisions 
 could be made, the instruction in the Preparatory De- 
 partment was to be divided among these teachers. Dr. 
 BlythC;, with his family;, came to Hanover late in Octo- 
 ber, and entered upon his work at the opening of the 
 session, November 1, 1832. At the first of the year 
 1833 the ceremonies of the inauguration of the Presi- 
 dent, the Vice-President and the Professors occurred. 
 A few days after these ceremonies the trustees received 
 from the State Legislature a college charter. This char- 
 ter they had asked from the preceding Legislature, but 
 opposition from the trustees of the State Institution at 
 Bloomington had caused their petition to be denied. 
 This opposition had been overcome in the succeeding 
 Legislature, and the obtaining of the charter for the 
 .College was celebrated with enthusiasm, and with a 
 grand illumination of the College building. 
 
 The College edifice was now completed;, the large 
 boarding-house was occupied by a business man, pre- 
 pared to board two hundred students, and there were 
 dormitories furnished for half that number. There 
 were opportunities for labor, not only on the farm, but 
 in a carpenter's shop and wagon-maker's shop, all fur- 
 nished with tools and competent men to boss them. 
 These facts were published, and an assurance given that 
 young men of industrious habits might defray the whole 
 expense of their board by their own labor, without im- 
 peding their progress in acquiring an education. The 
 spreading of these facts throughout the country by the 
 press caused a confluence of men and boys at the College. 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 47 
 
 The summer session opened with an enrollment of a 
 hundred and sixty students from fifteen different States. 
 And they kept coming. The number soon became about 
 two hundred. A pen picture of Hanover at the time is 
 of interest. It is from Judge W. W. Gilleland: "My 
 first view of Hanover was in ISS-i, by moonlight^ after 
 walking up from the landing. The dwellings were 
 plain^ few and small. There were no sidewalkS;, but 
 plenty of stumps^, and students were everywhere. I shall 
 never forget the strange appearance of the faculty and 
 students as they assembled in the chapel for morning 
 prayers. There were Dr. Bl3^the, Dr. Crowe and Pro- 
 fessors Harney, jSTiles and Thomson, and students seemed 
 to come from everywhere — the upper stories of the Col- 
 lege, Bachelors^ Row, four rooms on College Point, a log 
 cabin on Judge Dunnes lot, and from private houses in 
 the town and neighborhood. The town and the College 
 were one in interest and one in sympathy, and each a 
 blessing to the other.'' But all was not as prosperous as 
 this pen picture and the number of students in attend- 
 ance seemed to indicate. Troubles arose in connection 
 with the boarding of the students at a dollar a week. 
 These troubles were met and obviated in various ways. 
 But greater troubles arose from the want of sufficient 
 returns from the labors of the students on the farm and 
 in the workshops. But wdiat was to be done? It was 
 the Manual Labor system that had given the College its 
 prestige and secured for it its unparalleled prosperity. 
 Besides, by its charter the College was bound to furnish 
 students a limited amount of manual labor, for which 
 they were to be remunerated by credit on their expenses 
 
48 HISTORY OE HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 in pursuing their studies. But the employment of more 
 than two hundred young men and boys of every variety 
 of disposition and habits for two hours a day in a way 
 that would prove remunerative seemed to be out of the 
 question. A committee was appointed to investigate. 
 They reported a debt of two thousand dollars. The re- 
 port was startling. But there seemed to open a way of 
 deliverance in adopting the work of printing and bind- 
 ing. This had been publicly advocated in the news- 
 papers as affording profitable employment for manual 
 labor institutions. Some members of the board became 
 its ardent advocates. A heavy expense must necessarily 
 be incurred in adopting this kind of work. But the ad- 
 vocates of the new industry thought there would be no 
 difficulty in raising all needful funds from the benevo- 
 lent friends of the church school. A press was bought, 
 and with it a religious newspaper, the Christian Stand- 
 ard, printed in Cincinnati under the editorial super- 
 vision of Dr. Joshua Wilson, pastor of the First Presby- 
 terian Church of Cincinnati. The name of the paper 
 was changed to that of the Western Presbyterian. But 
 it soon became apparent that if the printing business 
 and the publishing of a religious paper were to be of ad- 
 vantage to the pecuniary interests of the College, it 
 would be necessary that the business should be largely 
 increased. With this in view, the printing of books and 
 book-binding were undertaken. This involved the pur- 
 chase of more machinery and the employment of prac- 
 tical printers for constant labor. To some this enlarge- 
 ment of the business seemed extremely hazardous. But 
 there were others that were earnest advocates of it. 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 49 
 
 The Eev. J. T. Eussel was appointed general agent for 
 the board. He supplied the pulpit of the First Madison 
 Church from April, 1834, to September, 1835. He was 
 an able and eloquent minister. He had become a mem- 
 ber of the board of trustees, and was a very earnest and 
 ardent advocate of the printing work of the College and 
 its enlargement. It was hoped that with him in the 
 field as general agent a way of deliverance from pecuni- 
 ary difficulties would be found. Meanwhile the institu- 
 tion was apparently flourishing. Its number of stu- 
 dents increased. In the catalogue for 1835 two hun- 
 dred and thirty were enrolled; twelve of these were in 
 the Theological Department, five of them graduating. 
 
 There was at this time a wide interest taken in the 
 Theological Department of the College. A convention 
 had been held at Eipley, Ohio, August 20, 1834, to which 
 delegates had been invited from the Synods of Ohio, 
 Cincinnati, Kentucky and Indiana. The convention 
 had for its object the reorganization of this department 
 of the College. It was proposed that out of this de- 
 partment the Indiana Theological Seminary should be 
 constituted, with less intimate relations to the board of 
 trustees of the College, the Synods, or those of them 
 cooperating in the scheme, appointing directors, who, 
 with directors appointed by the trustees of the College, 
 should have joint control of the Seminary, while its 
 property and funds should be under the management of 
 the College. This action, greatly enlarging the sphere 
 of influence of the institution, was for the time favor- 
 able to it. But there were untoward ecclesiastical con- 
 ditions, as well as favorable. There were differences in 
 
50 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 the Presbyterian Church throughout the country on ec- 
 clesiastical methods and measures, as well as differences 
 upon doctrines. These differences grew and increased 
 in intensity, until the great church was divided in 1837 
 and 1838 into the New and Old School churches. These 
 differences in their beginnings became manifest in the 
 management of the College. There was a struggle in 
 the Synod of Indiana, where the New and Old School 
 parties were prett}^ evenly divided, for the management 
 of the Theological Department of the College. xVnd 
 when it was seen that the Old School men were in the 
 ascendency in the board of trustees and the instruction 
 of the College, several who had been active in the board 
 resigned their seats and withdrew their influence and 
 support. J. W. Cunningham, Professor of Biblical and 
 Oriental Literature, resigned. But the board found a 
 successor to him in Eev. Eobert H. Bishop. A year 
 afterwards W. McKee Dunn, who had been principal of 
 the Preparatory Department, was elected Professor ^f 
 Mathematics, ISTatural Philosophy and Chemistry, in 
 order to divide with Professor Harney the classes in 
 these branches. He accepted on condition that he might 
 be absent a year in study at Yale. Charles K. Thomp- 
 son became principal of the Preparatory Department. 
 But while the institution, despite the ecclesiastical dif- 
 ferences that were troubling it, seemed on the full tide 
 of prosperity, there was real and great danger for it in 
 the financial breakers ahead, which those in charge of 
 the College were making the most strenuous efforts to 
 avoid. While agents were in the field for the religious 
 paper, and a general agent was also laboring, the Presi- 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOVEE COLLEGE. 51 
 
 dent of the College visited the East to solicit aid for the 
 institution so prosperous in its work of reaching stu- 
 dents, exerting so beneficent an influence, and promising 
 to accomplish so much more, situated, as it was, on the 
 great highway of steam navigation in the Ohio and 
 Mississippi valleys. 
 
 The President had not begun his work in the East 
 when he received intelligence of the death of his wife, 
 who had dropped dead from apoplexy while returning 
 on her way home from an errand of mercy to a poor 
 neighbor. It was an overwhelming affliction to him, 
 taking away from him fitness for his work. After a 
 time, however, he resumed it, having made the long 
 journey for it. He succeeded in obtaining in Xew York 
 and Philadelphia subscriptions for aid to the amount of 
 ten thousand dollars, payable at a future time, but ob- 
 taining very little money. He brought back with him, 
 however, on his return a number of books for the library, 
 and also an extensive and well-selected chemical and 
 philosophical apparatus. But no relief was obtained 
 for the growing debt. The general agency was also dis- 
 continued, because it had not been successful. Real 
 estate had been offered for sale, and some sold, but noth- 
 ing like a sufficient amount for the emergency. The 
 printing establishment, with all pertaining to it, was 
 offered for sale, but no purchaser was found. And still 
 the debt grew. It was continually increasing through 
 the printing work. In this emergency Dr. Crowe went 
 to the East to secure help. He made no stop until he 
 reached Xew York City, and arrived there to see the 
 smoking ruins of one of the most disastrous conflagra- 
 
52 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 tions that to that date had occurred in the history of the 
 country. Fire had swept over forty acres of the busi- 
 ness part of the city, destroying two millions' worth of 
 property and leaving thousands houseless and homeless. 
 Under such circumstances the men most noted for their 
 liberality and benevolence could not listen to a detail of 
 the pecuniary difficulties of a college far away off in 
 Indiana. Dr. Crowe went on to Boston, but ecclesi- 
 astical differences closed the door against him in that 
 city, and after going still further East to Newburyport 
 and not accomplishing anything, he returned to Phila- 
 delphia and endeavored to make collections of the sub- 
 scriptions taken by Dr. Blythe the year before, but with 
 little success, and he was obliged to return to Hanover 
 with only a few hundred dollars as the result of his 
 labors. But the discouraging letters he had written 
 concerning his work had caused the Executive Com- 
 mittee to confer with a young gentleman distinguished 
 for his enterprise and business tact, and who had for 
 some time been connected with the printing establish- 
 ment, and ascertain if he would not take it and the 
 bindery and the religious paper, the Westerm Presby- 
 ierian, off their hands. The committee found him will- 
 ing to negotiate, and at once closed a bargain with him. 
 The purchaser was Joseph G-. Montfort, now, in the last 
 year of the nineteenth century, the venerable nono- 
 genarian editor of the Herald and Presbyter, of Cincin- 
 nati, and for so many years distinguished as a minister 
 and editor for his work in the church and by the press. 
 The constant growth of the debt was stopped, although 
 the debt was not liquidated. The Manual Labor system 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 53 
 
 of defraying in a large measure the expenses of the stu- 
 dents had proved a failure^ and the number of students 
 in attendance began to diminish. 
 
 But there were other untoward events that doubtless 
 cooperated to produce this diminution. Unhappily^ di- 
 visions arose in the faculty^ both in regard to govern- 
 ment and instruction. These difficulties issued in the 
 resignation of the venerable President^, after four years 
 of most successful conduct of the educational work of 
 the College. The board accepted his resignation^, and 
 at the end of the collegiate year in 1836 the College was 
 without a President. Immediate steps were taken to 
 secure a successor, but they were without avail. Dr. 
 Matthews, of the Theological Department, was acting 
 President, the Vice-President, Dr. Crowe, being, at the 
 request of the Board, actively engaged in agency work 
 to relieve the College from its embarrassments, which 
 were suddenly and unexpectedly largely increased. 
 
 On the fifth day of July, 1837, a tornado of great 
 violence swept over the village of Hanover, prostrating 
 everything in its path. The College building was sadly 
 wrecked. That there were no lives lost was due to the 
 fact that when the disaster occurred some seventy stu- 
 dents that roomed in the building were at supper in the 
 Eefectory, which was not in the path of the tornado. 
 The tornado was followed by a tremendous rain, which 
 continued all night. The ruin wrought was revealed 
 next morning. The main building of the College was 
 unroofed ; the eastern wall of the third story was thrown 
 down, and the wing, a two-story building, twenty-five 
 by forty feet on the ground, was demolished to the 
 
54 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 ground. The house of Professor ISTiles, a few rods to 
 the east of the College^, was not only demolished^, but its 
 materials, together with a large library, had been scat- 
 tered like chaff before the wind. Happily, there were 
 no occupants in the house. Professor Mies and his fam- 
 ily were in jSTew England, whither they had gone some 
 months before for rest and recuperation. The effects 
 of the tornado were more seriously felt in the finances 
 of the College. Immediate repairs were necessar}^, and 
 to make them required a large outlay. The destruc- 
 tion of most of the dormitories and all the recitation 
 rooms led necessaril}^ to a dispersion of most of the stu- 
 dents until repairs could be made. Some forty or fifty, 
 mostly of the higher classes, remained and had their 
 regular recitations in a school-house. The old stone 
 church had been torn down, and arrangements had been 
 made for building a new house of worship, larger than 
 the old, which was too strait for the growing congre- 
 gation. The church had made arrangements with the 
 College authorities to hold their Sabbath services in the 
 College chapel while their new building was going up, 
 and they had a large amount of material on hand and a 
 goodly sum promised upon subscription for their build- 
 ing. All this inured greatly to the benefit of the Col- 
 lege in its emergency and financial distress, which was 
 increased by the loss of the fees of the departed students 
 and their diminished numbers, as many that left never 
 returned, having entered into other institutions. By the 
 trustees and officers of the church, representing the mind 
 of the congregation, an agreement was made with the 
 trustees of the College by which the subscription and 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 55 
 
 material of the church for its new edifice were turned 
 over to the College for reconstructing its edifice^ the 
 church acquiring the right to hold its services in the 
 College chapel until such time as the College could re- 
 imburse them for what had thus been turned over and it 
 should be best for all parties that there should be a new 
 church building, as had been originally planned. 
 
 At the College commencement of 183T there were 
 fifteen in the graduating class, but the prospects of the 
 College were dark. Professor Xiles sent his resigna- 
 tion from Xew England, giving as his principal reason 
 the condition of his wife's health. A month afterwards 
 Professor Dunn tendered his resignation, on account of 
 the financial difficulties of the College. A month after 
 this Professor Harney tendered his resignation. It was 
 stroke after stroke. The hearts of some of the trustees 
 failed them. They proposed to disband and give up the 
 institution. But notwithstanding the embarrassments, 
 difficulties and discouragements, the majority, convinced 
 of the great importance of the work in which they were 
 engaged to the interests of church and state in the rap- 
 idly growing West, resolved to go forward, trusting in 
 the favor of God and man to crown their efforts with 
 success, and to establish in permanency and with widen- 
 ing influence the institution which had been founded in 
 faith and prayer. At the beginning of 1838 they 
 thought they had found a President in Rev. Duncan Mc- 
 Aule}', D. D., of Columbus, Ohio. He was principal of 
 a high school at Columbus. He was commended to the 
 board as a gentleman well qualified to preside over a 
 college. He was represented as having recently emi- 
 
56 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 grated from Scotland, and as having testimonials of the 
 most satisfactory character as to his talents, attainments 
 and high standing among the scholars of Scotland. 
 During some agency work in Ohio Dr. Crowe had visited 
 him, and was favorably impressed with his appearance 
 and manners. He was elected President at the begin- 
 ning of the year. At the same time the board of trustees 
 elected Noble Butler Professor of Latin and Greek. 
 They also elected Thomas Hynes Professor of Mathe- 
 matics. Dr. McAuley was inaugurated March 27. His 
 address at his inauguration made a fine impression. He 
 was attractive and popular in his manners. The sum- 
 mer session opened with the most flattering prospects. 
 But two months had not elapsed when the board were 
 astounded by the most indubitable evidence that their 
 President was an impostor, and that twelve months be- 
 fore he had been deposed from the ministry by a Presby- 
 tery in Upper Canada for gross immoralities. His rela- 
 tions to the College were consequently severed, and in 
 July it was again without a President. But, marred as 
 the history of the College was by this incident, and sad 
 as it is to have so ignoble a name upon the pages of its 
 catalogue and in the roll of its honored and distin- 
 guished Presidents, the mistake was so quickly corrected 
 that no permanent injury came to the College from it. 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 Again the institntion was in quest of a President. 
 Soon they fonnd a trne man. It was E. D. McMasters, 
 of Scotch lineage, from Ballston Center, Xew York. A 
 letter of inquiry to him respecting his willingness to 
 accept the position brought in return a letter of inquiry 
 from him respecting the College, its condition and pros- 
 pects, that made so favorable an impression that they at 
 once unanimously elected him President. 
 
 The answer of the board to a question of Mr. Mc- 
 Masters respecting the extent of the country that might 
 be considered tributary to the College sets forth very 
 clearl}" the difference between the Hanover of that day 
 of steamboat, traveling, and before there were any rail- 
 roads in the Stat^, and the Hanover of to-day, when 
 railroads are everywhere and steamboat traveling is com- 
 paratively a thing of the past. The board wrote: 
 ^^Judging from the patronage heretofore given, we would 
 answer that the extent of country is immense, the inhab- 
 itants of which are disposed to patronize our College. 
 As it is located on the bluffs of the Ohio river, almost all 
 the States of the great valley are brought, as it were, to 
 its doors, so that we have students from ISTew York, 
 Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentuck}', Tennessee, Illinois 
 . and Missouri, as well as from the Southwestern States.^' 
 In their reply to the questions of Mr. McMasters the 
 
58 IIISTOKY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 trustees fully set forth the difficulties and embarrass- 
 ments of the institution : no funds for the support of the 
 faculty and for contingent expenses, except tuition fees 
 of students and such aid as could be gathered by agents 
 from friends of the institution willing to contribute to 
 its support; the debt of the College about equal in 
 amount to the value of its property ; the untoward events 
 that had occurred, greatly embarrassing the College ; the 
 great tornado that had wrecked the College building; 
 the fact that the College had been without a President 
 or chief executive officer for the past two years ; and the 
 great financial depression and distress of the country 
 that had begun in the preceding year and was still pre- 
 vailing. But the trustees also set forth in their letter 
 the encouragements they had for the institution. First, 
 the fact that, with no other foundation but the faith and 
 prayers and efforts of its founders, it had grown in 
 eleven years from a school of six scholars in a log cabin 
 fourteen by sixteen feet to be one of the most reputable 
 colleges in the West. Second, the fact that the Old 
 School part of the Presbyterian Church took a lively in- 
 terest in it, and looked to it for their future ministry, 
 and the assurance that the friends of the College were 
 numerous, and would, if it were conducted acceptably to 
 them, exert their influence to direct students to it and 
 aid its funds. 
 
 j\Ir. McMasters accepted the Presidency. He was ex- 
 pected to be in Hanover at the commencement, which 
 then occurred in Sentember, but did not arrive until 
 two days after. On November 7, 1838, during the first 
 week of the opening college year, he was inaugurated 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 59 
 
 President. He was at this time thirty-two years of age. 
 He was a man of great abilities and great learning, and, 
 beginning in his connection with Hanover College the 
 educational work of his life, he became greatly distin- 
 guished in it, though not so mnch in collegiate as in 
 theological instrnction. He sought with an earnest zeal 
 the promotion of the interests of the College, and in 
 many ways manifested an eminent wisdom and pru- 
 dence. One of the first things recommended by Presi- 
 dent McMasters was the establishment of a Law Depart- 
 ment in connection with the College. Upon his recom- 
 mendation Judge Eggleston, an eminent jurist of Mad- 
 ison, who, it was ascertained, would accept the position, 
 was elected Professor of Law. At the end of the college 
 year four students reported in the Law Department. At 
 the beginning of the year 1839 Professor Butler re- 
 signed his professorship, and shortly afterwards Samuel 
 Galloway, of Hillsborough, Ohio, a' graduate of Miami 
 Universit}^, was elected his successor as Professor of 
 Greek and Latin. At the annual meeting of the board 
 in September, 1839, Dr. Crowe was compelled by the 
 state of his health, which had been declining for several 
 years, to resign his position as secretary of the board, and 
 also his professorship in the College. He spent the 
 winter in western Texas, and returned the following 
 spring with renewed vigor, and, declining the further 
 work of instruction in the College, was called a second 
 time to the pastorate of the church of Hanover, and was 
 again, in August, 1840, installed as pastor. 
 
 In the fall of 1840 an event not a little detrimental to 
 the interests of the College occurred. It was the re- 
 
60 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 moval of the Theological Seminary from Hanover to 
 New Albany. For several years this change had been 
 foreshadowed. The primary object in the establishment 
 of Hanover Academy and College had been the educa- 
 tion of ministers of the gospel for the growing West. 
 For the accomplishment of this work the Synod of In- 
 diana had established in connection with it a Theological 
 Department. The growing wants of the West had 
 brought into association with the Synod of Indiana other 
 adjoining Synods^ and an entire separation of the man- 
 agement of the Theological Department from the Col- 
 lege had been effected, and the Theological Department 
 had become a theological seminary entirely independent 
 of the College, except its funds were under the manage- 
 ment of the trustees of the College. It had, however, 
 been ascertained that its connection with Hanover Col- 
 lege even this much was a reason for some of the friends 
 of the colleges of neighboring Synods to stand aloof 
 from the Seminary, under the impression that it gave to 
 the College at Hanover an important advantage over its 
 rivals in their laudable competition for public favor. 
 The directors of the Seminary therefore proposed, with 
 the concurrence of the several Synods interested, to sub- 
 mit the question of its continuance at Hanover or re- 
 moval from it to a delegated convention called to deter- 
 mine the question of location. This convention met at 
 Louisville in N"ovember, 1838. N'ew Albany, Hanover 
 and Charlestown were put in nomination. New Albany 
 offered a bonus of eight thousand dollars; Hanover 
 offered a bonus of two thousand dollars, which included 
 a beautiful site for buildings overlooking the river, a gift 
 
HISTORY 0¥ HANOVER COLLEGE. 61 
 
 offered by the owner, George Logan, an elder of the 
 Presbyterian church. Charlestown offered no bonns. 
 Xew Alban}^ was chosen. But it was two years before 
 all arrangements were made for removal of the Sem- 
 inary to its new home. During its continuance in Han- 
 over its number of students had gradually increased 
 from three to thirty. Dr. Matthews had continued with 
 it from the beginning, and remained in the institution 
 until his death, which occurred on the 19th of May, 
 1818, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. There had 
 been associated with him at Hanover five different Pro- 
 fessors in the chair of Biblical and Oriental Literature. 
 Of two of these. Professors Cunningham and Bishop, 
 mention has been already made. The third was Eev. 
 Oswald Hunter, from Scotland. He was on a visit to 
 friends, and was persuaded by the directors of the Sem- 
 inary to occupy temporarily the chair of Ecclesiastical 
 History and Church Government. Upon the death of 
 Professor Bishop he was called to the chair of Biblical 
 and Oriental Literature. His wife dying soon after- 
 ward, he returned at the close of the session to Scotland. 
 The S3mod of Kentucky, in the fall of 1838, elected the 
 Eev. Lewis W. Green Professor of Biblical Criticism and 
 Oriental Literature. He entered upon his duties at 
 Hanover, but after a few months resigned and returned 
 to Kentucky. In the fall of 1839 the directors elected 
 the Eev. James Wood to the chair that had been vacated 
 by Professor Green, and in November he brought his 
 family to Hanover and entered upon his duties. The 
 presence and work and influence of these men had been 
 of great benefit to the College and community, and the 
 
62 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 removal of the institution which had brought such men 
 and which would take them away with it was felt as a 
 sore bereavement. 
 
 Before the removal of the Seminary occurred^ Pro- 
 fessor Galloway resigned. Judge Eggleston^s health 
 also failed him^ and the Law Department of the College 
 was closed because the trustees were unable to provide a 
 successor to Judge Eggleston. During the continuance 
 of the Law Department its attendance increased to ten 
 students. At the annual meeting of the board in Sep- 
 tember^ 1840^ the Eev. C. K. Thompson was elected to 
 succeed Professor Galloway. Minard Sturgus was 
 elected principal of the Preparatory Department and 
 Professor of Modern Languages. Mr. Thompson could 
 not, on account of other labors in which he engaged, 
 accept the professorship to which he was elected. The 
 year after Professor Sturgus was elected Professor of 
 Greek and Latin. Combined with all these changes and 
 discouragements still continued the burden of the cor- 
 poration's debt. The financial stringency still contin- 
 ued, and hard times. The attendance of students had 
 also been decreasing. The number on the catalogue for 
 1840 was one hundred and five, but the largest number 
 present at any time was eighty-five. The number on 
 the catalogue for 1841 was eighty-five, but the largest 
 number in attendance at any time was sixty-five. Cer- 
 tainly there had been depression, and there was discour- 
 agement. But the President wrought at his work with 
 zeal and success. Under a plan recommended by him to 
 the board, and approved by them, for securing a perma- 
 nent endowment fund, he had obtained twelve thousand 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 63 
 
 and four hundred, dollars. Work, however, which had 
 been begun on this endowment fund soon after Dr. Me- 
 Masters was inaugurated President, was suspended on 
 account of the continued tinancial depression of the 
 country. But in March, 1842, the President submitted 
 a plan for the liquidation of the debt of the College. 
 The plan was adopted, and December following, nine 
 months afterwards, a rej^ort was made to the board of 
 the settlement and payment of all claims, except one 
 claim of a few hundred dollars, which remained unpaid 
 for the time because of legal delays in connection 
 with the settlement of an estate. A debt of fifteen thou- 
 sand dollars liad been removed. The skies certainly 
 were brightening. Dr. Crowe says: "The year 1843 
 seemed to open with prospects peculiarly encouraging 
 for the prosperity of the College. The stringency of 
 the money market had relaxed, and both agricultural 
 and commercial interests were looking up. Dr. Mc- 
 Masters was 23opular, both as a presiding officer and as a 
 successful teacher, and the College stood high in the 
 public estimation.^^ At a meeting of the board in 1843 
 two new Professors were elected: the Eev. Sylvester 
 Scovel, Professor of Chemistry and ISTatural Histor}", 
 and Eev. W. C. Anderson, Professor of Logic, Ehetoric 
 and Belles-Lettres. Some of the members of the board 
 hesitated, fearing a consequent debt. But Mr. Mc- 
 Masters urged that, as the College was now disenthralled 
 from all pecuniary embarrassments, both its patrons and 
 the community at large expected it to take a higher 
 stand among the literary institutions than it ever had 
 occupied, and it behooved the board to see to it that 
 
64 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 these reasonable expectations were not disappointed. 
 And while he admitted the correctness of the principle 
 that expenditures should not exceed income, he assured 
 them that if Messrs. Scovel and Anderson were elected, 
 both of whom were known to be successful agents, all 
 difficulty would be overcome by making such arrange- 
 ments that either he himself or one of these men should 
 be in the field as agents of the College until it should be 
 able to sustain itself. Thus urged, the board elected the 
 new Professors. Mr. Scovel declined, but Mr. Anderson 
 accepted. 
 
 The commencement in July, to which month it had 
 been changed, gave decided indications of improvement. 
 There were nearly one hundred students, and there were 
 eight graduates. In October Professor Anderson at- 
 tended the meetings of the Synods of Indiana and of 
 Northern Indiana, and made a verbal report of the con- 
 dition and prosperity of the College in every way prom- 
 ising, with more than a hundred students in attendance. 
 Eesolutions were passed in both Synods, with active 
 unanimity and great cordiality, pledging themselves to 
 sustain the College with all their influence, and recom- 
 mending it to the patronage of all their churches. The 
 College, indeed, seemed on the high road of prosperity 
 and of desired and deserved success. In December, 
 1843, another scene opened in the drama of its life, 
 which at first seemed bright with promise, but soon 
 gathered gloom and portents of destruction. On the 
 10th of December an adjourned meeting of the board 
 was held, at which the treasurer made his report for the 
 college year ending in July preceding, and also a report 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 65 
 
 for the current year. There were nine members present, 
 all from Hanover and Madison. At this meeting the 
 following resolution was adopted : 
 
 ''Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed on 
 the state of the College, with instructions to report con- 
 cerning the practicability and expediency of selecting a 
 new location and the erection of new edifices thereon; 
 and also concerning the ways and means of effecting the 
 same and meeting the current expenses of the College.^^ 
 
 Messrs. E. D. McMasters, Victor King, Williamson 
 Dunn, L. M. G. Simrall and Tilly H. Brown were ap- 
 pointed the committee. The board then adjourned, to 
 meet on the 18th day of December to hear the report of 
 the committee and to act upon it. 
 
 The College building had been sadly wrecked by the 
 tornado of 1837. In repairing damages the third story 
 of the building had been removed, and it had been made 
 a two-story building. The wing that had been demol- 
 ished had not been re-erected, and the building, as it had 
 not been repaired after several years of use, greatly 
 needed renovating. It was insufficient also for college 
 purposes. The erection of a new building had been 
 talked of. There had been also talk of a change of loca- 
 tion, removing from the center of the village to the high 
 bluff a half a mile east, overlooking the river, and visible 
 to the throngs of travelers passing up and down the 
 river on the steamboats of that time. With entire 
 unanimity the action of the board had been taken that 
 this question concerning the new building and new loca- 
 tion might be settled. The committee, before dispers- 
 ing, agreed to meet on Friday afternoon of the following 
 
66 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 weekj three days before the meeting of the board, for 
 preparation and consideration of the report. Dr. Mc- 
 Masters went to Madison with the members of the board 
 from that place;, and did not return until late in the 
 afternoon of the Friday upon which the committee was 
 to meet. Before this Friday came, rumors were heard 
 in Hanover that Dr. McMasters was in Madison negoti- 
 ating with the citizens of Madison for a transfer of the 
 College to Madison, with a change of name to Madison 
 University, and with enlarged powers. On Thursday 
 afternoon word of this proposed change was brought to 
 Dr. Crowe, the founder of the College, and whose life 
 and work had been so intimately connected with it. He 
 had not heard of the matter before. He assured his in- 
 formant that it could not be; he was certain Dr. Mc- 
 Masters could not be taking part in such a scheme or 
 work. But a few hours later a hand-bill, printed over 
 the names of some thirty citizens of Madison, was shown 
 him. The document was as follows : 
 '''To the Citizens of Madison: 
 
 "It is probably known to most of you that the Hanover 
 College, which has existed the past ten years in our 
 vicinity, after a period of great pecuniary embarrass- 
 ment, is at the present time in a much improved condi- 
 tion. A debt of more than fifteen thousand dollars has, 
 we learn, been recently liquidated. The trustees hold a 
 subscription of more than twelve thousand dollars to- 
 ward a permanent fund. 
 
 "The number of students is much increased, about one 
 hundred being in attendance the present session. From 
 a concurrence of causes, this institution is looked to at 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOYER COLLEGE. 67 
 
 the present time with a lively interest^, not only by a 
 large portion of the citizens of our own State, but from 
 a very extensive region of the Ohio, including large por- 
 tions of the adjoining States, as well as of the country 
 further south. We understand that the trustees, en- 
 couraged by the favorable prospects of the institution, 
 have it in contemplation to take immediate measures to 
 select a new location, erect new edifices, and improve in 
 other respects its condition. 
 
 "The question has arisen in our minds, and we trust 
 will enlist the interest of every citizen of Madison, 
 whether such inducements may not be offered to the re- 
 moval of the College from Hanover to this place and its 
 combination with a large institution to be established 
 here, under the conduct of the gentlemen now at Han- 
 over, and such as may be associated with them, and thus 
 to secure our city the advantages of a literary institution 
 established upon such a character as to become the lead- 
 ing institution for the whole central and lower part of 
 the Ohio valley. The object should be at once to obtain 
 the power of a University, and to take measures for the 
 establishment of a Law Department and for professional 
 teachers, in addition to the general College Department. 
 
 "The advantages, pecuniary, literary and moral, 
 which such an institution would confer upon our young 
 and rising city are as obvious as they are numerous and 
 great. 
 
 "1. The erection of the requisite buildings would at 
 once cause an expenditure here of from twent}^ to forty 
 thousand dollars, benefiting mechanics, merchants, la- 
 borers and all classes of citizens. And, beautiful and 
 
68 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 elegant as they would be, would be an ornament to the 
 city. 
 
 "2. Such an institution, with two, three or four hun- 
 dred students in its various departments, would cause a 
 permanent annual expenditure of not less than thirty to 
 fifty thousand dollars among us. 
 
 "3. Every parent who has a son that otherwise must 
 be sent abroad to be educated will save from five hundred 
 to one thousand dollars by having an institution at his 
 own doors, besides all advantages of having his son un- 
 der his eyes, and enjoying all the salutary influences of 
 home. 
 
 "4. The location of such an institution here will en- 
 able many to avail themselves of its advantages who 
 could not otherwise hope to enjoy them. Many parents 
 would be able to educate their own sons liberally at home 
 who can not afford to send them abroad. Our young 
 men in mechanical, mercantile and other employments, 
 who do not contemplate the prosecution of a classical 
 education, would have an opportunity of pursuing such 
 branches of stud}^ as they might desire without any ma- 
 terial interference with their other occupations. 
 
 '^^0. The establishment of such an institution among 
 us would to the commercial character of our cit}^ add 
 that literary character which to every liberal and en- 
 lightened mind is so desirable, and would confer on it 
 an enviable reputation throughout our own State and 
 the whole country. 
 
 "6. It would induce an immigration of families of 
 the best description for intellectual and moral worth, 
 who would be attracted to the place on account of the 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 69 
 
 education of tlieir sons, and who would form most im- 
 portant accessions to our population. 
 
 "Such, fellow-citizens, are some of the advantages 
 which at first sight suggest themselves as about to arise 
 to us from the establishment of such a literary institu- 
 tion among us. What say you? Shall we make the 
 effort necessary to secure these advantages to ourselves ? 
 The question is, we understand, in agitation already at 
 New Albany, Jeffersonville, and perhaps other towns on 
 the river. These towns will not be slow to perceive the 
 advantages which its location will confer on the place 
 where it may be established. Can not Madison, in this 
 liberal and honorable competition, offer as strong in- 
 ducements as an}^ other of its neighbors ? It is true we 
 yet feel to some extent the pecuniary embarrassment of 
 the times that have gone over us. But, should a liberal 
 and spirited movement be made, we trust that such ar- 
 rangements as time and terms of payment may be 
 effected as shall meet the convenience of the citizens. 
 The citizens will be called on in reference to this sub- 
 ject. 
 
 "Madison, December 13, 181^3.'' 
 
 The plans and purposes of the new University were 
 ideal. If there could have only been a realization of the 
 ideal, a grand institution would have been founded. 
 The advantages of such an institution were clearly set 
 forth, yet the half was not told. But was the building 
 of such an institution with the means at hand practi- 
 cable? Was it wise to undertake such a scheme by 
 soliciting subscriptions from those just emerging from 
 the conditions of pecuniary embarrassments and make 
 
TO HISTORY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 payment of subscriptions easy by granting long periods 
 of time for payment? Could general promises of in- 
 fluence and help from prominent citizens build up such 
 a projected University ? Was it a good^ sound, wise, 
 practical judgment to give up an institution that had a 
 heroic history, and had just gotten through a wilderness 
 of trouble, and was on the border of a promised land of 
 prosperity, and concerning whose progress and useful- 
 ness there could be no doubt, although there was no im- 
 mediate prospect of ample endowment and enlarged 
 equipment from resources of wealth in its immediate 
 neighborhood ? If some influential and wealthy man or 
 men had deposited in a bank a hundred thousand dollars 
 as a starter for buildings and endowment, there might 
 have been a solid ground of confldence upon which to be- 
 gin to build in the establishment of the new university. 
 But there was no such foundation. Then, again, Hanover 
 might not die. It had a warm-hearted and large con- 
 stituency, larger than Dr. McMasters, in his five years' 
 residence at Hanover, had learned of. For it was the 
 college of the church, and was favored and cherished by 
 the growing church throughout the State. But the ex- 
 periment was to be tried. On the Friday afternoon on 
 which the committee was to meet to consider and ap- 
 prove the report to be made to the board on the following 
 Monday forenoon. Dr. McMasters returned from Mad- 
 ison and read the report which, without consultation 
 with any member of the committee or of the board re- 
 siding at Hanover, he had prepared. Two of the com- 
 mittee were from Madison. These, with Dr. McMasters, 
 made a majority. His report and recommendations 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 71 
 
 were to be presented to the board, which met on Monday 
 forenoon at ten o^clock. 
 
 It was not a day of telegraphs and telephones. It 
 was very desirable that some of the friends of Hanover 
 should be at the meeting of the board. Dr. Matthews, 
 of New Albany, was president of the board, and had 
 great influence with it. A special messenger was dis- 
 patched to secure his attendance. But the messenger 
 did not reach New Albany until after the Saturday 
 steamboat up the river had left, and Dr. Matthews could 
 not reach Hanover until after the meeting of the board 
 on Monday. 
 
 The board met on Monday, the 18th, and Dr. Mc- 
 Masters read the following report : 
 "To the Board of Trustees of Hanover College: 
 
 "The Committee on the State of the College respect- 
 fully present the following report : 
 
 "The committee have had the whole subject referred 
 to them under consideration, and have given to it the 
 best examination of which they are capable. 
 
 "It is known to the board that after a period of ex- 
 treme depression, arising from pecuniary embarrass- 
 ments and other causes, the College is in several re- 
 spects in a much improved condition. A heavy debt, 
 which had long embarrassed the institution, discourag- 
 ing its best friends, and producing a widely spread 
 expectation of its entire failure, had been recently liqui- 
 dated. The number of students in attendance at the 
 present time is larger by about one-third than at any 
 preceding period for the last six or seven years, and the 
 College, we have reason to believe, is looked to with a 
 
72 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 lively and favorable interest by a large and intelligent 
 portion of the community, not only of our own common- 
 wealth, but of the neighboring States. Your committee 
 believe that the prospects, if proper measures be taken 
 to accomplish the object of building up on a sound and 
 permanent foundation a large, flourishing and efficient 
 literary institution, to subserve the interests which this 
 College is intended to promote, are far better than at any 
 previous period. 
 
 "This very improvement in our condition and pros- 
 pects creates the necessity of corresponding efforts on 
 our part. We ought not to lose the advantage of what, 
 by much toil and patience and sacrifice, has been gained 
 through want of wisdom or activity to avail ourselves 
 of it. If we suffer the present tide of favorable regard,, 
 which appears to be beginning to set towards us, to flow 
 and ebb back without our promptly taking it at the 
 flood, it may be long before we shall have another oppor- 
 tunity. If we be competent to the position in which 
 Providence has placed us, we will arouse ourselves, seize 
 the opportunity offered, and strain every nerve to lay 
 upon perhaps one of the finest fields for such an enter- 
 prise that ever opened to the eye of man the foundations 
 of what shall become (if not in our day, after we shall 
 have ceased from our labors) a great and influential 
 institution, to be the handmaid of the kingdom of our 
 God and of his Christ. If all our hopes of this are not 
 to be disappointed, the public expectation directed to- 
 ward us must be met by the establishment of such an 
 institution as shall deserve, and by deserving, command 
 the public confidence and respect, and give to us our 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 73 
 
 share of the education of the young men of the country. 
 Measures vigorous^ decided and adequate to the accom- 
 plishment of this object must be taken. A corps of in- 
 structors sufficiently numerous and competent must be 
 maintained, and to retain such the means must be pro- 
 vided of affording to them a liberal pecuniary remuner- 
 ation. If instructors are expected to perform what be- 
 longs to their places, they must be adequately provided 
 with libraries, apparatus, and whatever else is needed to 
 the successful discharge of their duties. A suite of 
 plain but tasteful and commodious buildings, in view 
 of the great highway of steam navigation, near to which 
 we are placed, is of ver}^ great importance in further- 
 ance of this object at which we aim. 
 
 "Your committee, in view of all these things, have re- 
 volved with anxiety the subject of the present condition 
 of the College and of the provision of means to enable 
 it to accomplish the objects for which it has been estab- 
 lished. They have been particularly instructed to re- 
 port on two points: First, the practicability and the 
 expediency of selecting a new location and erecting new 
 edifices thereon, and the ways and means of effecting the 
 same; second, the ways and means of providing for the 
 current expenses of the College. Both these questions 
 in our present circumstances seem to be encompassed 
 with difficulties. 
 
 "In respect to the first question, they believe the erec- 
 tion of buildings more suitable than the present edifice 
 to the purposes of a literary institution to be exceed- 
 ingly important. No intelligent man, it is presumed, 
 with the subject fully before him, in seeking to found a 
 
74 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE, 
 
 great institution that is to stand for many ages, would 
 deem the present site eligible in preference to one in 
 view of the river. Yet if a site near the river be selected 
 it will render necessary not only the erection of the 
 buildings requisite for immediate college purposes, but 
 of houses and other appurtenances for the professors 
 and for the boarding and lodging of students. All this 
 would involve an expenditure of not less than fifty 
 thousand dollars. Your committee know not where or 
 by what means such a sum can be raised to be expended 
 for this purpose in this place, or even the amount requi- 
 site to the erection on the present site of buildings on 
 the most restricted plan which any may have contem- 
 plated. The other question referred to them presents, 
 if possible, a still more serious aspect. It appears from 
 the treasurer's report, presented to the board at their 
 last meeting, that the income is not equal to one-half of 
 the current expenses of the College, and that within six- 
 teen or seventeen months there had been incurred a debt 
 of about twenty-three hundred dollars. Thus, after 
 having by great efforts and sacrifices freed ourselves 
 from a similar onerous burden, we are plunging head- 
 long into another ruinous debt. This sane and honest 
 men can not allow. The case is one of pressing urgency. 
 The employment of an agent to secure contributions for 
 this purpose has been suggested. But your committee, 
 upon the best information which they have been able to 
 obtain, believe that, though some small sums might be 
 thus collected, the expectation of providing in this man- 
 ner for so great a deficit as exists in the means of de- 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOYER COLLEGE. 75 
 
 fraying the expenses of the institution would be delusive 
 and end in disappointment. 
 
 "Under the pressure of these difficulties^, an overture 
 has been made by the citizens of Madison, proposing an 
 incorporation of the interests hitherto concerned in sus- 
 taining this College with a larger institution, possessing 
 the powers of a University, to be located in that city, 
 and promising on these conditions, in subscriptions and 
 property (exclusive of the Seminary lot and building), 
 a sum estimated at twenty thousand dollars, with verbal 
 assurance from prominent and influential citizens that 
 the whole expense of the requisite buildings will be con- 
 tributed b}" citizens of that place. It has also been sug- 
 gested that by a removal to that town a much larger 
 number of pupils can be brought into the preparatory^ 
 school than can be at this place, thus increasing the 
 number of students in the higher departments, and so 
 increasing the amount of income, so that it shall be 
 equal to the present annual expenditure. 
 
 "It would seem to be well worthy of reflection whether 
 this proposal does not offer important advantages that 
 ought to be embraced. Certainly, if we attempt at all 
 to promote the great interests of truth and godliness 
 through the establishment of a literary institution, we 
 ought to make it the largest and most influential which 
 it is in our power to make it, and the opportunity of 
 establishing, under such a control as we approve, an in- 
 stitution such as it is hoped by the blessing of God the 
 foundation of may be laid, is not to be lightly rejected. 
 If we do so, and draw ourselves up in our narrow shell, 
 others wiser in their generation will not be slow to seize 
 
76 HISTOKY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 the advantages which we thus refuse. It is, moreover, 
 worthy of consideration whether it is not necessary to 
 enlist some local interest by which the necessary build- 
 ings may be obtained from the place where this institu- 
 tion shall be established. This will still leave the li- 
 braries, apparatus and endowment, without which no 
 such institution can be well established or be expected 
 to take a high rank, to be provided for from other quar- 
 ters. Can we afford to reject the proposal made to us? 
 The opportunity of adding a large number (probably 
 from sixty to one hundred) of students to the prepara- 
 tory school, and a corresponding amount to the income 
 of the institution, is perhaps not to be rejected in our 
 present pecuniary circumstances without thought. How 
 else is the support of the institution to be provided for ? 
 It is vain to think that it is to be by pecuniary sacrifices 
 on the part of the instructors, such as they have made 
 during the last five years, ^^^e have the assurance from 
 the best authority that these can be continued no longer. 
 It may be said that we have the prospect of a large in- 
 crease of students, and of income from that source. 
 Xot unless we can at once put the College in such condi- 
 tion as to meet and satisfy the reasonable expectations of 
 intelligent and thinking young men and of their par- 
 ents. It is idle to expect it. The instructors may, by 
 their personal exertions and influence abroad, bring stu- 
 dents to the College, but they can not keep them. The 
 decided indications from the last two months have been 
 that, continuing in our present condition, we will have a 
 less number the next session than we have the present. 
 "Your committee, unable to propose any other meas- 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 77 
 
 Tires that seem to them to promise success, and not know- 
 ing how otherwise the pressing necessities of the College 
 are to be provided for or it sustained, submit the pro- 
 posal to you for your consideration/' 
 
 The report was received. 
 
 Following this report was a series of resolutions pro- 
 viding for the abandonment of the College at Hanover, 
 the surrender of its charter to the Legislature of the 
 State, the securing of a charter for Madison University, 
 and the acceptance by the board of a Seminary building 
 at Madison and gifts aggregating, with the value of the 
 Seminar}^, twenty thousand dollars, supplemented by 
 verbal promises of other gifts, which, assurance was 
 given, would be contributed. 
 
 In vain did the members of the board residing at 
 Hanover plead for delay in voting upon the report until 
 there should be a full meeting of the board. Dr. Mc- 
 Masters said he had conferred privately with a number 
 of members of the board enough to make a msLJovitj. 
 And while he had not hinted of the matter to members 
 of the board residing at Hanover, he had consulted with 
 all, he afterwards declared, whom he thought competent 
 to give a good and sound judgment upon the matter. 
 Among those whom he trusted as confidential advisers 
 were new members, little conversant with the affairs of 
 the College, and who had met but once before with the 
 board. 
 
 There was a majority in favor of the report and the 
 action provided for in the resolutions accompanying it, 
 and the report, with its resolutions, was adopted. Com- 
 mittees were appointed to apply to the Legislature, then 
 
78 IIISTOKY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 in session^ for all necessary legislation for the changes 
 contemplated^ and so that Madison University might be 
 opened in the second week of January, 1844, at the 
 regular time of the opening of the second session of the 
 college year. 
 
 The State Legislature enacted all the legal measures 
 necessary, and Hanover College reached what seemed to 
 be the end of its life. It was a tragic event for Han- 
 over. The College was dear to its people. They had 
 loved it and cherished it and made great sacrifices for 
 it, and devotion to its interests had entered very 
 largely into their religious life. The College had in 
 turn become inwrought with their business interests, and 
 the industry of numbers had been so shaped that their 
 support was dependent upon the supplies necessary for 
 the College population. The removal of the College 
 was not only as the death of one beloved, but one who 
 also was a stay and support. The mourning was like 
 that of Eachel weeping for her children, and would not 
 be comforted because they were not. Dr. Crowe, in his 
 manuscript history, speaks of the tears of widows who 
 saw in the removal of the College the loss of their 
 earthly all. He also speaks of his own agony of heart 
 in seeing thus ruthlessly swept away, without any pre- 
 vious warning or expectation, the College for which he 
 had so labored and had made so great sacrifices, and 
 which had accomplished so much good and seemed to be 
 just entering upon a bright era of prosperity. 
 
 If Madison University could in its beginning have 
 realized the ideal of President McMasters, and, as- 
 Minerva from the brain of Jove, in full stature and 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 79 
 
 complete panoply, could at once have entered into a 
 complete equipment of buildings and libraries and en- 
 dowments, doubtless every friend and supporter of Han- 
 over would have rejoiced in the new University and in 
 the transfer to it of the reputation and honor of Han- 
 over and whatever of material possessions it held. But 
 to destroy that which had been built up in faith and 
 prayer and with self-sacrifice, and which had survived 
 threatening perils, had accomplished untold good and 
 was full of promise, and to attempt to realize a high 
 ideal upon a foundation more inadequate than that 
 which was abandoned, and to build up with iridescent 
 verbal promises an institution whose fame should go 
 through all the Central West, seemed not only unwise, 
 but heart-rending and ruinous. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The charter of Hanover College was surrendered to 
 the State Legislature just at the commencement of the 
 two weeks^ recess at Christmas, and, the charter for the 
 Madison University having been secured, arrangements 
 were made for opening the following term at Madison. 
 Professors Hynes and Sturgus and Eckstein, a new Pro- 
 fessor of Modern Languages, knew nothing whatever of 
 the proposed change of location until the astounding 
 report of it was brought to Hanover. Though against 
 their will and wishes, there seemed nothing else for 
 them to do but to go into the new locality to which their 
 chairs had been carried. 
 
 The College building at Hanover was, by the enact- 
 ment of the Legislature, sold at public sale. Dr. Crowe 
 bidding ten dollars, and no one bidding against him, it 
 was sold to him at that price, subject to the lien of the 
 church upon it. At the same time that the session of 
 the Madison University was opened, he, with his eldest 
 son, who was a graduate of the College, opened a class- 
 ical and mathematical academy in the old College build- 
 ing. This was done at the very urgent solicitation of 
 the session of the church and of the citizens of Hanover 
 and vicinity, in hope that in some way this might lead to 
 the restoration of the College. In a short time forty 
 students were in attendance in the academy, a number 
 of them students who had been in the College classes. 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 81 
 
 Difficulties arose in the way of the institution at Mad- 
 ison. The surronndings of the students in the city, 
 with its restaurants, saloons and enticements to evil, 
 were not so favorable to study and good order as the 
 quiet and moral and religious influences of a secluded 
 village. Those who wished to improve their time and 
 opportunities could not accomplish their work, and those 
 who could be led astray were enticed into ways of evil 
 that were prepared for them. The Professors became 
 dissatisfied, the surroundings and the baleful influences 
 blighting their work and the lives of the students com- 
 mitted to their care. Professor Anderson soon resigned 
 and withdrew. Professors Hynes and Sturgus and S. 
 Harrison Thompson, who was elected at the opening of 
 the term, resigned before the end of the spring term of 
 three months, and gave notice that they would withdraw 
 at the end of the term. Two weeks before the close of 
 the session of the University, at a regular session of one 
 of the literary societies, the Philalathean, the subject of 
 a return to Hanover was brought up, and so general was 
 the feeling of dissatisfaction with their circumstances 
 and prospects that a resolution was proposed and passed 
 unanimously to return forthwith to Hanover. And next 
 day they loaded their furniture and library of sixteen 
 hundred volumes into wagons, and the society in a body 
 went to Hanover. Their arrival in Hanover was a gTeat 
 surprise. Their coming was hailed with delight, and 
 they were received with the greatest cordiality. They 
 expressed their determination to have nothing more to 
 do with Madison X^niversity, and requested permission 
 to occupy their old hall in the College building and to 
 
82 HISTORY OF HAA^OVER COLLEGE. 
 
 hold their spring exhibition in the College chapel. Their 
 request was granted, and with their presence it seemed 
 as if the College might come to life again. 
 
 Dr. Crowe had been strongly nrged to undertake the 
 work of re-establishing the College. Providential events 
 seemed to indicate to him that that was the way of duty. 
 Without any solicitation or knowledge of the friends of 
 Hanover, at the time when the charter of the College 
 was surrendered to the Legislature and a charter for the 
 Madison LTniversity was granted, by the action and in- 
 fluence of two members of the Legislature, John S. Si- 
 monson, of Clarke county, and Henry Lee, of Jefferson 
 count}?", an amendment was made to the bill that was 
 about to pass, reviving the original charter of 1829 for 
 Hanover Academy. The amendment was carried and 
 the charter of 1829 restored. Thus, without thought or 
 solicitation on the part of those specially interested, was 
 a legal foundation laid for the re-establishment of the 
 College if providential events favored it. A number of 
 ministers from different parts of the State had written 
 to Dr. Crowe, urging him to undertake the work. The 
 course of events at Madison, the resignation of the Pro- 
 fessors of the University, and the return of the Phila- 
 lathean Literary Society to Hanover, indicated that the 
 way was opening for the work of reorganizing the Col- 
 lege, not as a close corporation, but what it was orig- 
 inally intended to be — a college of the church. 
 
 Dr. Crowe began his work by soliciting in Hanover 
 and vicinity for the support of three Professors for two 
 years. He accomplished this without any difficulty. Two 
 of these subscriptions were for four hundred dollars each. 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 83 
 
 Overtures were made to Professors Hynes, Sturgus and 
 Thompson for their services. Professor Hynes declined 
 to accept a professorship, as he wished to devote himself 
 to the work of the ministry, but he favored the move- 
 ment, and would give daily instruction a portion of his 
 time. Professors SturgTis and Thompson agreed to ac- 
 cept. A meeting was then called for April 6 for organ- 
 ization as a corporate body under the charter for the 
 Hanover Academy approved January 6, 1829, and re- 
 vived and approved January 15, 1844. The organiza- 
 tion was effected, and the following persons became 
 trustees: John Finley Crowe, Tilly H. Brown, Wil- 
 liamson Dunn, George Logan, William Eeed, John M. 
 Young, Eobert Simonson, Jacob Haas and John D. 
 Smock. After organization Eev. James M. Henderson, 
 Eev. James A. McKee, Eev. David Lattimore and Eev. 
 Thomas W. Hynes were elected additional members. 
 Mr. Hynes, being present, took his seat. The following 
 appointments were made as Professors: Eev. John 
 Finley Crowe, D. D., Principal and Professor of History, 
 Logic, Ehetoric and Political Economy; Minard Stur- 
 gus, A. M., Professor of the Greek and Latin Languages ; 
 Samuel Harrison Thompson, A. M., Professor of Mathe- 
 matics and the Natural Sciences; Frederick Eckstein, 
 Professor of the French and German Languages and of 
 Drawing. The sessions were to open the first Mondays 
 of May, September and March. Thus was prepared the 
 opening again of Hanover Academy, with the expecta- 
 tion of its soon becoming once more Hanover College. 
 The next week Madison Presb3^tery met, and April 11 
 
84 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 adopted, with but one dissenting voice, the following 
 resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That this Presbytery deeply regrets the 
 surrender of the charter of Hanover College ; that we 
 heartily approve of the efforts of its worthy founder and 
 former friends to continue and build up again a school 
 of the prophets at Hanover, and that we cordially rec- 
 ommend said school to the prayers and sympathies of 
 our churches/' 
 
 About the same time a similar resolution was adopted 
 unanimously by the Presbytery of Crawfordsville, indi- 
 cating a widespread interest in behalf of Hanover. On 
 the first day of May, 1841, the institution was opened 
 with the most flattering prospects of success. At the 
 meeting of the board preceding the commencement, a 
 greater number of students was reported as in attend- 
 ance than had been for several 3^ears before, with one 
 exception. 
 
 At the meeting of the Synod of Indiana at New Al- 
 bany early in October, 1844, Dr. McMaster presented a 
 communication from the president of the board of trus- 
 4ees of Madison Universit}'', containing an authenticated 
 copy of the act of the Legislature creating that corpora- 
 tion, which act provided that the Synod of Indiana 
 should have power to appoint one-half of the trustees, 
 together with a summary statement of the organization 
 of the board, the establishment of a college for general 
 academical instruction in the University, and the con- 
 dition, design and prospects of the school. Dr. Mc- 
 Masters availed himself of the occasion in presenting 
 these papers to make a long and elaborate speech in 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 85 
 
 justification of himself and coadjutors in the destruc- 
 tion of Hanover College for the purpose of building up 
 a larger and more efficient institution. A motion was 
 made at the close of his speech that the Synod adopt 
 Madison University as their school and unite with the 
 board of trustees, according to the provisions of the 
 charter, in its superintendence and control. After a 
 protracted discussion the motion was lost. There was 
 then presented to the Synod a memorial paper, setting 
 forth the organization and history of Hanover Academy 
 and College and their relation to the Synod and of the 
 Synod to them, and also setting forth the facts in the 
 removal of the College to Madison, the surrender of its 
 charter, and the organization of Madison University, 
 the re-enactment by the Legislature of the charter of 
 Hanover Academy, what had been accomplished for the 
 rebuilding of Hanover College, the assurance they had 
 of obtaining a new charter for the College, and a de- 
 termination to rebuild the College, which had accom- 
 plished so much, for which so much of sacrifice had been 
 made, which had the sympathy and favor of so many 
 ardent friends, and for which the prospects were so 
 promising. And the Synod was asked again to adopt 
 the College as its own. The assurance was given that 
 its board of trustees would no longer be a close corpora- 
 tion, electing their own members, but that the Synod 
 should have a direct agency in its management b}^ their 
 own election of trustees of the board. Provision for 
 this would be made in the new charter which was to be 
 obtained from the Legislature of the State, soon to meet. 
 The S3mod, by an overwhelming majority, decided to 
 
86 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 resuscitate their College, adopting Hanover Academy in 
 the meanwhile as their Synodical school. And inas- 
 much as in the surrender of the charter of the College 
 Hanover had been declared to be an unsuitable place 
 for the College, a committee was appointed to examine 
 the whole field and report at the next meeting of the 
 Synod in favor of such place as they might judge most 
 favorable to the interests of the church and prosperity 
 of the College. At the next meeting of the Synod the 
 following year, at Vincennes, the committee reported in 
 favor of Hanover. Before this meeting of the Synod at 
 Vincennes tJie new charter had been obtained for the 
 College without any opposition, and much more liberal 
 and desirable than the one that had been surrendered. 
 
 After the Synod at 'New Albany had refused to accept 
 participation in the control of the Madison University 
 and to pledge it the patronage of the Synod, Dr. Mc- 
 Masters accepted the presidency of Miami University, 
 and the Madison enterprise was abandoned. Thus Han- 
 over had the field again as the college of the Old School 
 Presbyterian Church, with the sympathies of the Synod 
 and its patronage and help pledged to it. The work of 
 establishing the College had to be begun anew. There 
 was a good name, which was of great value, but no per- 
 manent funds, an essential factor in building up a col- 
 lege. There was a college building, but not an adequate 
 one. And the equipment of library and apparatus was 
 entirely wanting. What had previously belonged to the 
 College had, with everything else, been transferred to 
 Madison University. But with willing hands and glad 
 hearts the long and arduous work of re-establishing the 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 87 
 
 College was undertaken. The catalogue of 1845 was 
 one which, under the circumstances^, was luminous with 
 hope. There were eighty-one students. The great ma- 
 jority of them were from a distance. Sixteen were from 
 the village and neighborhood; the balance were from 
 nine different States. Forty-six were from Indiana, 
 sixteen from Kentucky, nine from Mississippi, and the 
 remainder from six other States. 
 
 The Eev. Dr. Sylvester Scovel, of IN'ew Albany, was, 
 in August, 1846, unanimously elected President. Dr. 
 Scovel had been for some years District Secretary of the 
 Board of Domestic Missions. He was a Christian gen- 
 tleman of vigor and energy, whose praise was in all the 
 churches. His executive and financial abilities fitted 
 him especially for the wants of the College at this 
 period. Under his administration the College paid its 
 way. He secured in a short time a very excellent though 
 comparatively small library, and began the work of 
 gathering a permanent endowment fund. The follow- 
 ing action of the Synod of Indiana, which met at Craw- 
 fordsville, October 14, 1847, throws light upon the 
 history of the College during the first year of Dr. 
 ScoveFs administration : 
 
 ''Resolved, First, that this Synod does rejoice in the 
 prosperity of Hanover College, in the increasing num- 
 ber of its students, in the success that has attended the 
 efforts that have been made to secure funds for its en- 
 dowment, but especially in the divine favor shown to it 
 in the conversion of more than forty of its pupils to God 
 during the past year. 
 
 ''Resolved, Second, that in the judgment of this Synod 
 
88 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 the success of the past year ought to be regarded, as a 
 call from God to take courage and go forward, assured 
 of success in time to come. 
 
 "Resolved, Third, that Synod respectfully suggests to 
 the board of trustees the importance of covering the 
 whole field just now with a vigorous and efficient agency, 
 and asks that the agents of the board be encouraged in 
 all our churches. 
 
 ''Resolved, Fourth, that inasmuch as the Synod has 
 heard with pleasure of the willingness of the Northern 
 Synod of Indiana to cooperate with this Synod in build- 
 ing up a Presbyterian College for the West, this Synod, 
 cordially invites said cooperation, and further requests 
 the trustees of the College to submit to said Synod such 
 terms of union as in their wisdom may appear just and 
 equal.^^ 
 
 The Synod of Northern Indiana had been organized 
 by the G-eneral Assembly of 1843. It held its first 
 meeting in October, 1843, at Fort Wayne. It at first 
 consisted of the Presbyteries of Logansport and Lake 
 Michigan, extending but little south of the Wabash, 
 although northward without bounds, embracing all of 
 the few Old School churches in Michigan. Later it ex- 
 tended as far south as Indianapolis, and its growth and 
 development was of the utmost importance to the Col- 
 lege. At the annual meeting of the trustees of the 
 College in August, 1848, a communication to the board 
 from the Northern Synod of Indiana was submitted to 
 them, asking the privilege of taking part in the work of 
 building up the College. This communication was re- 
 ferred to a special committee that reported as follows : 
 
'HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE, 89 
 
 "Your committee have had under consideration the 
 proposition of Northern Indiana to aid in rearing the 
 College, and to be allowed the privilege of appointing 
 one trustee of the board ; and finding from an examina- 
 tion of the charter of Hanover College that said charter 
 restricts the appointment of trustees to the Synod of 
 Indiana conjointly with this board exclusively; and 
 whereas this board is desirous to reciprocate the kind 
 regard of the Synod of N"orthern Indiana, and to give 
 her a share in the government of this institution, the 
 committee therefore recommends the adoption of the 
 following resolution: 
 
 ''Resolved, unanimously. That the Synod of Northern 
 Indiana be invited to nominate, at its next annual ses- 
 sion, one person as a trustee of Hanover College, and 
 that this board, at their annual meeting in August next, 
 will confirm such nomination/^ 
 
 With this action of the board was sent an explanatory 
 statement that by the action taken the Northern Synod 
 of Indiana had thereby accorded to it the privilege of 
 nominating, every fourth year, a person to be appointed 
 trustee, so that there should in all times be in office one 
 trustee appointed by said Synod. But at the next an- 
 nual meeting of the board, in August, 1849, further and 
 more liberal measures were taken for securing to the 
 Northern Synod a share in the work and management of 
 the College. Measures were adopted to petition the 
 Legislature at its coming session for such a change in 
 the charter of the College as would give the Northern 
 Synod an equal share with the Synod of Indiana on the 
 board of trustees. The Legislature made the change. 
 
90 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 and thereafter the !N"ortherii Synod of Indiana, as long 
 as it retained its separate existence as a Synod of the 
 Old School chnrch, elected annually two members of the 
 board of trustees of Hanover College. 
 
 Until near the close of the college year of 1848 and 
 1849 there was marked and general prosperity. The 
 College catalogue showed an attendance of one hundred 
 and eighty-three. Seventy-four of them were from In- 
 diana, thirty from Ohio and Kentucky each ; the balance 
 from ten other States. But before the college year 
 closed a great calamity befell the College. It was the 
 death of its President. The scourge of Asiatic cholera 
 swept through the Ohio valley, and the last of June 
 appeared at Madison. A student of the College was one 
 of its first victims at Hanover. The disease spread 
 rapidly. The College was disbanded and the students 
 permitted to return home. Dr. Scovel, who had been in 
 feeble health for some weeks, was attacked by the dread- 
 ful disease on the forenoon of the third day of July, and 
 expired at four o'clock in the morning of the fourth of 
 July. Three students died, and twenty-two of the citi- 
 zens of the village. The death of Dr. Scovel was a very 
 sore bereavement and a great loss to the College. But 
 though a master workman was taken away, the work was 
 not to stop. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the board in August, 1849, 
 the Rev. Thomas E. Thomas, of Rossville, Ohio, was 
 elected President. Under his administration the Col- 
 lege continued to prosper, but not without financial 
 difficulties. His administration was especially distin- 
 guished by the purchase of what has since been known as 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOVEE COLLEGE. 91 
 
 the college farm, and the erection of a new College 
 building on the high bluff of the farm, overlooking the 
 river. It was in October, 1849, that the board deter- 
 mined to purchase the farm for the erection of the new 
 building in the near future. The farm was half a mile 
 east of the old College building. It contained about two 
 hundred acres, half of it upon the hillsides, and covered 
 with forest trees. The other part of the farm was a 
 level plateau, and giving upon the very brow of the hill, 
 five hundred feet above the valley and the waters of the 
 Ohio, a choice place for buildings and commanding 
 views of natural scenery, yielding increasing pleasure 
 and delight. Although, however, the place for the new 
 College building was chosen, and the College was flour- 
 ishing, with a large number of students, yet its financial 
 condition was such, notwithstanding the diligent an4 
 faithful work of its agents, that not until the spring of 
 1852 was a plan for a new edifice adopted, and not until 
 a year later was the building committee directed to enter 
 into a contract for its erection. And, beginning with an 
 insufficiency of funds for the completion of the work, the 
 difficulties were greatly enhanced by the discrepancy be- 
 tween the estimated cost of the building by the architect 
 and the actual cost as the workmen proceeded. It was 
 estimated to cost eighteen thousand dollars. The actual 
 cost when at length the building was completed was 
 more than twice that amount. Before the work was 
 completed the contractors were asked to stop their work 
 because of the lack of funds. In 1854 Dr. Thomas re- 
 signed the Presidency of the College, in order to accept 
 the Professorship of Bibliology in the New Albany The- 
 
92 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 ological Seminary, to which he was at this time elected. 
 His resignation was greatly to the regret of the students 
 and of the board of trustees. In May, 1855, the Eev. 
 Dr. Jonathan Edwards, of Fort Wayne, was elected 
 President, and was inaugurated at the succeeding com- 
 mencement in August. The College was in financial 
 straits because of its new building, and because of ar- 
 rears accruing upon Professors' salaries; it had, how- 
 ever, the sympathies of the churches of the two Synods, 
 and its agents were busy throughout the State in gath- 
 ering funds and disposing of scholarships for five and 
 ten years of tuition in the College for subscriptions of 
 fifty and one hundred dollars to the building fund for 
 the new College building. But while these subscrip- 
 tions for scholarships helped the building fund, it took 
 away from the support of the Professors; for the pay- 
 ment of the salaries of the Professors had been mainly 
 dependent upon the tuition fees, which had been for 
 some years thirty dollars a year. Thus it was that while 
 the College was prospering, with a large attendance of 
 students, the income for the support of the Professors 
 was diminishing, and their salaries were left in arrears. 
 In this emergenc}^ the board of trustees and the friends 
 of the College determined to secure an endowment fund 
 of $100,000, the interest of which only should be used 
 for paying Professors' salaries and current expenses. 
 In April, 1855, this action of the board was determined 
 upon. It was indorsed by the Synods of the State in 
 their meetings in October. Agents had access to all the 
 churches. Subscriptions were to be taken, payable in 
 five or ten years. And these subscriptions were to be- 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 93 
 
 come binding only upon the condition that the whole 
 amount of one hundred thousand dollars was subscribed 
 in good and reliable obligations. These subscriptions, 
 when the}' became binding, gave the makers of them 
 scholarships in the College, upon which they could place 
 students, who should have their tuition in the College 
 free. Interest upon these subscriptions at six per cent, 
 per annum was due in advance from the time of the 
 announcement that the whole sum of one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars had been subscribed. At a meeting of the 
 board held at Indianapolis in November, 1856, it was 
 announced that one hundred and one thousand two hun- 
 dred and ninety eight dollars and fifty-six cents had 
 been raised in good and reliable notes and subscriptions. 
 It was a matter of great rejoicing that this success had 
 been achieved. It inspired new hope and new zeal. 
 Eelief was anticipated for the suffering faculty, in the 
 payment of whose meager salaries there had been such 
 accumulating arrearages. The board also took new 
 heart in their building enterprise, and it was determined 
 to push the building, if not to completion, to such a 
 stage of completion that it would do for occupancy at 
 the commencement of the next college year. The sub- 
 scriptions, however, that had been made for the College 
 were not like funds placed in productive investments; 
 nor were they like cash in hand, which could be readily 
 invested in productive funds. They were to be collected 
 from a wide region of country, and were liable to shrink- 
 age from the vicissitudes occurring in the lives of men ; 
 from migrations; from losses from disasters from dis- 
 eases and death. Likewise, another wave of financial 
 
94 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 disaster had swept over the whole land^ strewing it with 
 financial wrecks, and producing a general stringency in 
 money matters. And there was not in the management 
 of the affairs of the College that relief from financial 
 burdens that had been anticipated. But if there was 
 not immediate and full relief, the clouds of discourage- 
 ment had in large measure lifted, and there was light all 
 around the horizon. At the annual meeting of the 
 board in August, 1857, the following paper, presented 
 by James M. Ray, of Indianapolis, and seconded by 
 Jesse L. Williams, of Fort Wayne, two of the most able 
 and honorable elders of the church in the State, was 
 unanimously adopted: 
 
 "Whereas^ The trustees of Hanover College have at 
 length the pleasure of announcing that the next session 
 of the institution will be opened during the approaching 
 fall in the new and extensive building erected on the 
 beautiful grounds of the corporation, overlooking the 
 Ohio river, it appears to be an appropriate occasion for 
 the board to invite the renewed cooperation of all the 
 friends of the College to effect in the best manner pos- 
 sible the benevolent and valuable objects of this insti- 
 tution. 
 
 "The board reiterates their united conviction that, 
 vital as has been the existence and progress of the Col- 
 lege to the training and education of the young men of 
 the country, and especially in and from the families of 
 Presbyterian churches in Indiana in the past, still more 
 needful and valuable is the continuance and enlarge- 
 ment of Hanover College for the present and future 
 prospects of our youth, both for providing candidates 
 for the ministry and for other useful walks of life. 
 
HISTORY OF HAXOVER COLLEGE. 95 
 
 "The erection of the new and excellent building for 
 the College, which is nnequalled, at least in the West, in 
 its fitness for the object designed, has cost mnch more 
 than was expected, but it is fnllv worth all it will cost. 
 
 "To meet this excess and the accumulating claims to 
 the Professors during the raising of the endowment 
 fund, it is needful that all additional means necessary 
 be contributed for the aid of the College, as well as that 
 the subscriptions to the institution in every form be as 
 soon as practicable paid, or advanced if not due, that 
 the amount thus received may be so invested as to be 
 made productive and fully meet the needful current ex- 
 penditures for the successful conduct of the College. 
 It is the purpose of the board to limit the expenditures 
 of the institution to its income. 
 
 "The board therefore request of the two Synods of 
 Indiana, of all the members of the churches composing 
 these Synods, and of all the friends of sustaining a col- 
 lege for the Presbyterian churches in Indiana and in this 
 part of the West, the earnest and prompt aid to this 
 institution needful for its wants ; and for this purpose 
 we solicit the favorable action of the sessions, the Pres- 
 byteries and Synods of our church in this State. And 
 in connection with this request the board express their 
 unanimous and decided determination, on their own be- 
 half and that of all the friends of the College, that the 
 progress of Hanover College shall henceforth be onward, 
 and only onward, perpetually.^^ 
 
 The entrance into the new College building marked a 
 new era in the history of the College. Its course since 
 has been onward and continuously onward, though not 
 
96 HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 
 
 without difficulties and struggles because of poverty. 
 But through all its straits and distresses it has pressed 
 on steadily in the achievement of its noble work in 
 higher Christian education, attaining gradually better 
 equipment;, larger endowment and established perma- 
 nency. Its history subsequent to its occupancy of its 
 new building can only be briefly indicated here. Dr. 
 Edwards, after two years in the Presidency, was called 
 to the pastorate of the West Arch Street Church, Phila- 
 delphia, and accepted. The Rev. Dr. James Wood, 
 Associate Corresponding Secretary of the Board of Edu- 
 cation of the Presbyterian Church, was elected President 
 in April, 1859, and continued in office through the 
 troublous times of our great civil war and until ISTovem- 
 ber, 1866. Under him the College was strengthened 
 financially, and received its first large individual gifts 
 for equipment and endowment. Dr. Gr. W. Archibald 
 succeeded Dr. Woods. He had been pastor for a number 
 of years of the First Church of Madison, but had been 
 called from it to the pastorate of the Westminster 
 Church of New York City. He continued President for 
 two years, when, having been elected by the Presbyterian 
 General Assembly Professor of Theology in the Danville 
 Theological Seminary, he resigned the Presidency of the 
 College to enter upon the new duties to which the Gen- 
 eral Assembly of the church had called him. The Rev. 
 Dr. George C. Heckman, pastor of the State Street 
 Church, Albany, New York, was elected in July, 1870, 
 to succeed Dr. Archibald. He accepted, and continued 
 in the Presidency until July, 1879. He had been pastor 
 of the Third Church of Indianapolis before he went to 
 
HISTORY OF HANOVER COLLEGE. 97 
 
 Albany, and was familiar with the affairs and history of 
 Hanover College. Under his administration the larger 
 part of the gifts of Mrs. Lapsle}^, aggregating fifty thou- 
 sand dollars, came to the College, thongh a goodly por- 
 tion of this amount was given under the administration 
 of Dr. Woods. A bad investment of college funds by 
 the Treasurer, E. J. Whitney, a banker of Madison, be- 
 came the cause of the resignation of Dr. Heckman in 
 1879. The income of the College was so reduced that it 
 was necessary to reduce the salaries of President and 
 Professors, and Dr. Heckman resigned for want of ade- 
 quate support for his family. The income of the Col- 
 lege was reduced for some years, but the principal of the 
 funds invested unwisely for the College, though advan- 
 tageously for the Treasurer, was restored to the College 
 after long protracted litigation. Under Dr. Heckman^s 
 administration the President's house was built, a beauti- 
 ful and commodious mansion and ornament to the 
 grounds. The present President, the Eev. Dr. Daniel 
 W. Fisher, succeeded Dr. Heckman. He was elected in 
 July, 1879, and inaugurated September 2, 1880. With 
 his incumbency came co-education. The progress of 
 the College since can not be better indicated than by a 
 statement from the Hanover Journal of October, 1900, 
 prefacing the proposal of another forward movement for 
 securing a twentieth century fund of one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars for further endowment and equipment of 
 the College. The extract is : 
 
 "For these many years Hanover College has not failed 
 in any of her attempts to add to her outfit for her work. 
 Sometimes the goal has been reached quickly, and again 
 
98 HISTORY OF HANOVEE COLLEGE. 
 
 there has been long delay, but always it has been at- 
 tained. One after another the Y. M. C. A. Building, 
 College Point House, Music Hall, the Observatory, the 
 Gi-ymnasium, Science Hall, the repairs and improve- 
 ments of Classic Hall — the old main building — have 
 come. During the period covered by these additions to 
 the buildings, not less than one hundred thousand dol- 
 lars have also been added to the endowment funds, and 
 many minor improvements have been made.^^ 
 
 These brief statements respecting the history of the 
 College subsequent to 1857, give verification to the words 
 of the determined purpose and confident prediction of 
 the grand men and noble friends of the College of that 
 day, "the progress of Hanover College shall henceforth 
 be onward, and only onward, perpetually.^^