HILLSDALE COLLEGE, HILLSDALE, MICHIGAN.

Sketch prepared, December, 1889, by Prof. S. W. NORTON, Acting Alumni Professor Rhetoric, Belles-lettres and German, in Hillsdale College.

Hillsdale, the site of Hillsdale College, is a city of 4,000 inhabitants, in southern Michigan, 80 miles southwest of Detroit and 180 east of Chicago. It is situated on the main line of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and is the headquarters for the Ypsilanti, Lansing, and Fort Wayne and Jackson divisions of the same road. The college buildings are located on College Hill, and command a view of the city and surrounding country.'

The college had its beginnings in the Michigan Free Baptist yearly meeting, held at Franklin, Lenawee County, in June, 1844, and has since been under the auspices of that denomination. The history of its establishment and growth will indicate its educational influence within the denomination, and a review of its courses of study as they have been developed, together with the attitude which the college itself and its alumni have assumed in the world of letters, will show its influence in wider educational circles.

The Free Baptist denomination was founded by Benjamin Randall, who organized the first church therein on the 30th day of June, 1780, at New Durham, N. H. Freedom of the will, immersion as the only form of baptism, and open communion were the essential parts of its

Its ministry were composed of earnest, zealous, self-sacrificing, but uneducated men. Indeed, a strong prejudice against an educated ministry seemed to exist throughout the denomination. Owing to this reason no institution of learning was established during those days. However, on the 15th day of January, 1840, about 60 years after the founding of the denomination, an educational society was organized at Acton, Me., "to provide means for the intellectual and moral improvement of young ministers." The first Free Baptist church in the Territory of Michigan was organized near Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, March 14, 1831. During the years immediately succeding other churches were organized, notably in Oakland, Jackson, and Calhoun Counties.

The writer of this sketch is especially indebted to a paper written by Hon. J. C. Patterson, of Marshall, and read by him before the Pioneer Society of the State.

In these churches the movement began which led to the founding of Michigan Central College, afterwards Hillsdale College.

As early as 1835 Elders Samuel Whitcomb, Elijah Cook, and Henry S. Limbocker, the founders of the denomination within the Territory, took a stand in favor of an educated ministry, and began to agitate the need of an educational institution. Their efforts were ably seconded by Hon. Daniel Dunakin, Eli T. Chase, of Eckford; Thomas Dunton and Herman Cowles, of Battle Creek; Joseph Blaisdell, of Assyria; Rosevelt Davis, of Blackman; Jonathan Videto, Joseph Bailey, and William Smith, of Spring Arbor.

At the Michigan yearly meeting mentioned above a resolution, substantially as follows, was passed:

Resolved, That a denominational school be established within the Territorial limits of the yearly meeting; that a committee of three be appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws; and that a convention be called at the village of Jackson to consider and adopt such constitution and by-laws and to take such other measures as shall be necessary to establish the school.

Lewis J. Thompson, of Oakland County; Henry S. Limbocker and Rosevelt Davis, of Jackson County, constituted the committee. The convention, provided for in the resolution convened at the village of Jackson in July or August, 1844. The constitution and by-laws reported by the committee were adopted. Cyrus Coltrin, of Oberlin, Ohio, was authorized to solicit subscriptions and to collect means to establish the school. The convention determined to locate the institution at the place where the most liberal inducements were offered, having due regard for the healthfulness of the locality. Spring Arbor, having raised the largest subscription, secured the location. The churches throughout the State were vigorously canvassed and subscriptions were taken during the summer and fall of 1844. These subscriptions were of small amounts; the largest being that of Elder Chauncey Reynolds, who agreed to convey 80 acres of land to the institution as soon as it could be sold for $600.

The board of trustees met at Spring Arbor in October, 1844. The name of the institution was changed from Spring Arbor Seminary to Michigan Central College, and a committee was appointed to secure a charter from the legislature. Daniel M. Graham was elected president, and the 4th day of December following was appointed on which to open the institution. Accordingly, on the day designated Daniel M. Graham, president and sole member of the faculty, opened college in a small wooden story-and-a-half building, which had formerly been occupied as a store. Five students were enrolled. Other students came in during

the term. Two college buildings were commenced in 1845. These buildings were of wood, two stories in height, and plain in architecture. The plan was to connect them as wings to a main building to be erected

subsequently. They were alike, each being about 35 feet wide by 60 feet long. The first floors were used as recitation rooms; the second for dormitories. These buildings were occupied in the fall of 1845.

The trustees were unable to secure a charter for the granting of degrees from the legislature of 1845. It had been the settled policy of the State Government to give the State University the exclusive power of conferring collegiate degrees, and no college charter had as yet been granted. An act was passed, however, which was approved on the 19th of March, 1845, enacting

That Elijah Cook, Drusus Hodges, Jonathan L. Videto, Justus H. Cole, Joseph C. Bailey, Henry S. Limbocker, Lemuel W. Douglass, Lewis J. Thompson, and Enos W. Packard, and their successors in office, shall be, and they are hereby, constituted and deemed a body corporate, by the name and title of The Michigan Central College at Spring Arbor, and shall be trustees of said college, with the power to hold property to the amount of $30,000, to sue and be sued, to have a seal, with power to appoint and remove teachers, and to admit and dismiss students.

An act of the legislature was approved March 20, 1850, amending the above act, by granting the power "to confer such degrees and grant such diplomas as are usually conferred and granted by other colleges, providing the course of study pursued in said college shall be in all respects as comprehensive as that required, or shall be hereafter required, in the University of Michigan." This act also granted authority to hold property to the amount of $100,000. In accordance with the privilege granted by the act, the college conferred its first degree in 1851 upon Elizabeth D. Camp, who was graduated from the scientific course. Classes were graduated also in the years 1852 and 1853. Livonia E. Benedict, afterward wife of Rev. Wm. H. Perrine, D. D., of Albion, received the degree of A. B. in 1852, and was the first lady classical graduate from a Michigan college.

In the mean time the institution had been growing. An able faculty of active, progressive men had been secured whose presence and efforts brought increased numbers of students. Greater and better facilities were needed. To meet these demands the trustees appealed to the local community for a building fund, and to the denomination at large for an endowment fund. To this appeal the community made no response, and it soon became evident that to continue the operation of the institution at Spring Arbor would effectually check its progress. At the meeting of the trustees in January, 1853, the expediency of a removal was discussed, resulting in the appointment of a committee to confer with the citizens of different towns and ascertain what inducements would be offered the college by way of buildings and grounds. Of the places visited by this committee, Hillsdale offered the largest inducements and secured the site of what is now Hillsdale College.

Michigan Central College opened December 4, 1844, and closed July 6, 1853. During this time it graduated 13 students, 9 from the scientific and 4 from the classical course. It received under its instruction about