deductions made by Prof. George W. Hough,' the Director then in charge.

HAMILTON COLLEGE.

The first step toward the organization of this College was the incorporation of an Academy, which was procured upon the following petition:

To the Regents of the University of the State of New York:

WHEREAS a plan for establishing a School or Seminary of Learning in Whitestown, in the county of Herkimer, contiguous to the Oneida Nation of Indians, for the benefit of the young and flourishing settlement of emigrants to said county, and the various tribes of Confederate Indians, has been proposed by the Rev. Samuel Kirkland, and received the approbation and patronage of many of the most respectable characters of the United States, and is also enconraged and patronized by the Society in Scotland for propagating Christian Knowledge;

AND, WHEREAS, very considerable contributions have already been made, and there are strong assurances of further very liberal donations toward the funds of said institution, provided a charter of incorporation can be obtained;

AND, WHEREAS, the great distance from any well-regulated Seminary of Learning clearly evinces the propriety and importance of having one established at the place above proposed, as the youth of that part of the country must grow up in a state of gloomy ignorance, or their education must be attended with very great expense; we, the subscribers, being so many of the benefactors of the aforesaid institution as have contributed more than one-half in value of the real and personal estate collected or appropriated for the use and benefit thereof, do hereby respectfully pray that the said School or Seminary of Learning may be incorporated and be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University of the State, and that the Honble Alexander Hamilton, Esquire, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, the Honble John Lansing, Esquire, the Honble Egbert Benson, Esquire, the Rev. Dan. Bradley, Eli Bristol, Erastus Clark, James Dean, Moses Foot, Thomas R. Gold, Sewall Hopkins, Michael Myers, Jonas Platt, Jedediah Sanger, Rev. John Sergeant, Timothy Tuttle and Samuel Wells be appointed the first Trustees of said Seminary, with power to increase the number of Trustees to twenty-one, whenever a majority of the persons above named, shall upon due notice think proper to elect suitable persons to compleat the said number of twenty-one Trustees; and that they and their successors in office may be known and distinguished by the name and stile of The Trustees of Hamilton Oneida Academy.

'Prof. Hough is now Director of the Dearborn Observatory in Chicago.

In witness whereof, we have hereto Set our Hands and Seals, the twelfth day of November, 1792.

SAM'L KIRKLAND,

JONAS PLATT,
ELI BRISTOL,
ERASTUS CLARK,

JOEL BRISTOL,

SEWALL HOPKINS,

JAMES DEAN,

MICHAEL MYERS.

The Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the first named of these petitioners, had spent the best portion of his life as a missionary to the Oneida Indians, and in the treaty held with this tribe in 1788, he received with his two eldest sons valuable lands, amounting to 4,750 acres. Of this he gave several hundred acres for the endowment of an institution of learning, and in the preamble of this conveyance he set forth his motives as follows:

"A serious consideration of the importance of education and an early improvement and cultivation of the human mind, together with the situation of the frontier settlement of this part of the State, though extensive and flourishing, yet destitute of any wellregulated Seminary of learning, has induced and determined me to contribute of the ability wherewith my Heavenly Benefactor hath blessed me, toward laying the foundation and support of a school, or academy, in the town of Whitestown, county of Herkimer,' contiguous to the Oneida Nation of Indians, for the mutual benefit of the young and flourishing settlements in said county, and the various tribes of confederated Indians, earnestly wishing the institution may grow and flourish, that the advantages of it may be extensive and lasting, and that, under the smiles of the God of Wisdom and Goodness, it may prove an eminent means of diffusing useful knowledge, enlarging the bounds of human happiness, aiding the reign of virtue, and the kingdom of the blessed Redeemer."

The deed conveyed several parcels of land; one lot being declared inalienable, which has since been held as the site of Hamilton College; the remainder being left to be disposed of as the Trustees might deem proper. Mr. Kirkland died February 28, 1808, having witnessed the first stage of fulfilment of his hopes, in an Academy, and the first efforts toward its enlargement as a College.

The Academic charter was granted January 31, 1793, under the name, and with the Trustees that had been proposed in the petition.

Operations were commenced as soon as the means could be provided, and before enough had been raised to complete the academic building first erected. The resources of the country were feeble,

1 Now town of Kirkland, Oneida county.

the settlements new, and many of the settlers were poor. In 1795 the place was visited by a committee of the Regents, consisting of Andrew King and John McDonald, and on the 3d of November, 1795, they reported the Academy as in the following condition. They said:

"That there is a frame of an edifice designed for an Academy erected about a year ago, and it is partly inclosed. It is situated a mile and a half from the flourishing village of Clinton, on the Oriskany mountain. It appears difficult of access, and too distant from families where students might be accommodated with lodging and board. The frame is eighty-eight feet long, forty-two feet wide and three stories high; has cost the Trustees £1,000, and by estimation will require for its completion upwards of £2,000 more. The Trustees have been compelled to interrupt the work for want of

money.

That there is a small school-room at the foot of the mountain, half a mile from the Academy, in which scholars have been formerly taught, but no teachers have been employed, nor schools kept by the Trustees since September, 1794.

That the Trustees have not yet framed a system for the Education and Government of the Institution, nor established rates of tuition. Board may be obtained in the village of Clinton at eight shillings per week.

That the funds of the institution consist of 425 acres of land in the neighborhood of the Academy, chiefly uncultivated, and of $400 on a subscription not collected. An incumbrance of $1,000 has been laid on the lands by the Trustees, for the purpose of enabling them to raise the frame of the Academy.

That your committee from the present state of the institution judged it inexpedient to employ any part of the donation appropriated to it by the Board in the purchase of Books or Apparatus, Mathematical or Philosophical, during the present year.

Your committee further beg leave to remark the necessity of strict attention to the accommodations which applicants possess, before they receive an act of incorporation. The impoverished and languishing state of the Academies, in general, which they visit, compel them to make this observation.

November 3, 1795.

ANDREW KING.

J. McDONALD."

The Trustees, after encountering many difficulties, were able to report on the 31st of December, 1799, that they had completed so much of their building as was sufficient for the accommodation of a large school, and that they had procured the services of Mr. John Niles,' from Greenfield Academy, Mass., as an instructor. He had

Graduated from Yale College in 1797; entered upon his duties here in 1798; withdrew in 1801. Became a minister and settled in Bath, Steuben county, where he engaged also in teaching. He died in 1812.

brought with him a letter of ample recommendation from President Dwight of Yale College, and had opened a school on the 26th of that month. There were nearly twenty scholars already admitted, and the number was increasing daily.

On the 27th of February, 1800, the Trustees described their house as covered and painted, and that five rooms were finished. It had cost about $5,000, for $2,000 of which they were indebted. It would require $3,000 to complete the unfinished rooms and erect the chimneys, which were not yet built. Their property consisted of two tracts of uncultivated land, worth about $600, but still unproductive. This did not include the Academy and seventeen acres of land adjoining, which was improved and fertile.

The following letter from Thomas R. Gold to James Cochran,' dated January 29, 1800, has interest in this connection:

"SIR In answer to the inquiry relative to the present state and condition of Hamilton-Oneida Academy, I have to communicate: That however unfavorable the condition of the Academy was on the last visit of the committee of the Regents, yet at this time the friends of Literature witness with pleasure the most flattering change in their prospects of this Academy. This change commenced about fifteen months ago.

This institution is mostly finished, several rooms being completed and occupied. About fifty students are taught the Greek, Latin and English Languages, under the direction of Messrs. Niles and Murdock, two able instructors, who came highly recommended by President Dwight. As one of the Trustees of this Academy, permit me to solicit, on behalf of this institution, a visit from the Regents."

The reports from year to year show increased attendance and brightening hopes, and on the 18th of March, 1805, the Trustees applied for incorporation as a College by the following petition : "To the Regents of the University of the State of New York:

The petition of the Trustees of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy humbly sheweth:

That they received with great satisfaction the sentiments of His Excellency the Governor, upon the subject of Literature in his late official address. To these enlightened and patriotic sentiments, we have no doubt your Honorable Body, who are the immediate guard

1 Mr. Cochran had a short time before this been a member of Congress. He was not one of the Board of Regents, but had been requested to inquire into the condition of some Academies that were convenient for him to visit.

ians of Literature, cordially assent. Encouraged by these favorable auspices, we beg leave to represent that a grant of a charter investing Hamilton-Oneida Academy with the privileges of a College, would greatly conduce to the promotion of science, morality and virtue in this Western country.

By great and persevering exertions a building has been erected, which will be amply sufficient for the accommodation of one hundred students. It is situated on an eminence, possessing the advantages of a pure and healthful air, and an extensive and pleasant rural prospect; in the midst of a moral, frugal and industrious people, contiguous to the Great Western Turnpike, and in the vicinity of several large and flourishing villages, where the business and wealth of the country will center. A single view of a map will show that its local situation is singularly and almost exclusively advantageous. To the North, to the South, and to the West, we have a wide spreading country, already settled, and increasing with unexampled rapidity in population and wealth.

For

Should it be thought that a more Western situation would be more preferable, a little consideration, it is believed, will convince your Honorable Body of the inexpediency of such a measure. although the country from East to West is extensive, yet from North to South it is greatly contracted, being pressed by the Allegheny Mountains on the one hand and by Lake Ontario on the other. And as we advance to the Westward for their accommodation, we recede from the people adjacent to Black River, who are equally entitled to your patronage and encouragement. A position more central, more advantageous, and which shall render the means. of knowledge accessible to a larger body of the good people of this State is conceived, cannot be chosen. The above petition is humbly submitted to your candid consideration, and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

THOMAS HART,

President of the Board of Trustees.

This application being denied from want of means to justify a collegiate charter, the subject rested until 1811, when the following petition was addressed to the Regents:

"To the Honorable Regents of the University of the State of New York:

The Trustees of Hamilton-Oneida Academy beg leave to represent that they are strongly impressed with the belief that your Honorable Body would greatly promote the interests of Literature by investing said Academy with the privileges of a College; in support of this opinion, we take the liberty to make the following statement of facts:

The Academy is situated in a healthy part of the country, among a sober, discreet and well-educated people, contiguous to a number