The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, February 24, 1904, Image 1
The Abbeville Press and Banner. 1
BY HUGH WILSON. ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1904. ESTABLISHED 1844 |l
The Associate R
Pres
Pioneer in Chris
./ MANY INTERESTING H
REFERENCE TO THE
OF A PEOPLE IN BL
LEADING TO WONDE1
i Address Delivered at Winnsb
Centennial Exercises, Nove
Kennedy, of Bartow, Fla.
[Associate Reform e
I
The history of education in the f
Associate Reformed Church is a fa- c
miliar story. It has been told many 11
times. It has been told with a love t
that was blind to defects aod diffusive 1
in praise. It has been told with well t
intended criticism that magnified im- c
perfections and minified excellencies, t
It has beeo told by the statisticean c
who saw the small corps of teachers, t
the short roll of studeuts, the build- li
iDgs and endowments, but saw not &
the faith and love and hope that n
breathed and thrilled and throbbed s<
in the body of the words and acta of o:
ha fothoro and ?miB of the church. 8<
He is the wise man who knows his 1<
weakness as well as his strengh. Let i<
our history be faced with candor. Let ci
It be told with frankness. We love A
our institutions and point with just
pride to their successful sons, and say, C
"These are our products." But every G
country has produced its great men. ft
Every institution may point to its n
illustrious names. I can conceive of b
no study which, systematically and ?<
persistently pursued, will not result J
in an educated mind and a strengthen- ti
ed will. "Great men were trained in tl
the schools of the Greek sophists and tl
Arabian aetrologers, of the Jesuits and ?
Toifionnlofo
buu vauoouiowt
There were great men when nothing n
was taught but School Divinity on c
Canon Law; and there would still be tj
great men if nothing were taught but li
the fooleries of Spurzhem and tl
Swedenborg."
It has been justly observed that it is 0
the general course of those who
patronize an abuse to attribute to it ^
every good which exrets in spite of it, e
and to take it for granted that we are c
indebted to them for all the talent tl
which they have not been able to _
destroy. It does not comport iil with ?
love for our institutions to compare Q
them with others. Let the com- d
parison be made. Let us seek tbe v
truth. Let the pride we feel in a
reviewing our progress by tempered
with modesty. It has been remarked a
I that an individual should Dot be more
proud of his knowledge, because he
1 participate? in the universal improve- -j
ment, that, ne is vain of bis speed, be- {,
cause he is flying along with the earth ^
and everything upon it, at the rate of 3
seventy thousand miles an hour. It is 0
only when we are going forward in e
comparison with others that we have ((
ground for merited pnde. ,
1 But criticism, even that criticism
which would rouse from lethargy an(i c
stimulate to action, sometimes does e
scant justice, and ofteutimes much e
harm. Criticism is never creative 0
itself, nor ever conducive to the c
creative spirits in others. It is one
thing to fiud fault, it is another thing ,
to remeuy. ruumg uowu is uui j
building up. Some tbiDgs ought to be H
pulled down. But the destructive v
spirit is less noble, and is less in j
demand, than the spirit that is con- .
struct! ve.
An institution must not be charged ?
with the faults of the age or of cir- ^
cumstances not of its making. The r
collego may say to the church give ue fi
more members with as much justness t
as the church can say to the college ,
give us more students. The truth is, (
no college has been more ready to j.
serve its church, no church has been (
more loyal to its college, than Erskine
j College has been ready to serve the i
? 1-._ ?..? V,
| neiuruieu uuuivu, iuau mc s
Associate Reformed cburcb has beeD <
loyal to Erskine College. ,
Again, if tbe history of rulers and of ,
battles Is not tbe true history of a |
cation, no more is that the true his- {
lory of education in the Associate (
Reformed church which gives facts |
and dates, but makes no mention of
the discussions, debates and resolutions
of the synod relative to this work. 1
That is not an adequate history of '
Erskioe College, the centre of the
church's educational work, which
fails to give an account of tbe scholarship
and anecdotal side of the presidents
and professors, of the students'
troubles and festivals, of the junior
exhibitions, Society celebrations and
commencement days.
Obviously then, I do not purpose to
-? *.->1 u *?. ll
give S tun maiuijr, auu u mu uc evident
I have not given a justly proportioned
hiotory of the educational work
of our church.
before 1803.
One hundred years ago, scattered
[ over the Carolinas and Georgia for the
most part, were some nineteen hundred
Asfociate Reformed Presbyterians.
They bad inherited from
Scotland and Ireland a bigh standard
of requirement lor the Christian ministry.
A candidate for ordination to
this office must have received a
thorough classical training at some
college and have pursued a theological
A course of study either at college, or un
Ii der the direction of some minister.
I The Associate Reformed church, of
( which these nineteen hundred were
only a part, had established Dickinson
College, Carlisle, Pa., in 1783. Here
most of the candidates for tbe minr
istry In tbe Associate Reformed
church, for the first fifteen years after
its organization, received both their
literary and theological training.
I As early as 1796 the Associate Re
eformed
;byterian Church.
kiCVl X UVfV*VMMViA?
ISTORICAL FACTS IN
REMARKABLE SUCCESS
AZING THE WAY AND
RFUL RESULTS.
oro, S. C, as a Part of the
mber JO, J903, by Rev. E. B.
id Presbyterian.]
ormed church discussed the founding
if a theological seminary. In 1801
he Rev. John M. Mason was sent
o Great Britain and Ireland to soicit
donations for a seminary aDd auhorized
to purchase with the funds
ollected books for the library. After
ifteen months be returned having
ollected 8bout five thousand dollars,
he most of which was spent for the
ibrary. In 1804 the Rev. John Maon,
one of the ablest men and forelost
preachers of America, was chojn
Profe-sor of Divinity, and the city
f New York fixed as the place for the
- ?- ? ^V? in moo *Ko oonnnH t Koa_
5LU ILJai1UIO TW OrO iUV DV-WUV* kUUV
)gical seminary established in Amer;a:
Twelve years before the Assoiate
Presbytery had established the
rst in Beaver county, Pa.
After the Synods of Scioto and the
aroiinas had withdrawn from
feneral Synod of the Associate Reirmed
church, a portion of the retaining
part united with the Presyterian
church, and managed to con}iidate
the theological seminary at
few York with that at Princeton and
ansfer the library from the former to
tie latter place. At the suggestion of
tie Associate Reformed Synod of the
outh delegates from the Synods of
tie South, the West, and New York
let in convention to take steps to reover
this library and re-established
tie seminary. After vlong years of
tigation the library was restored to
tie Synod of New York.
BIGIN OF COLLEGE AND SEMINARY.
But while it i9 interesting to note
be active part our fathers took in the
arly educational work of the Assoiate
Reformed church, eur chief lnerest
lies in the work done among the
eople of our Synod since its organi*
ation in 1803. To meet the requireaentsfor
the miuistry in the early
ays of the Synod, our young men
rere dependent on the old field
chools, few, inefficient and of unertain
continuance, on the very few
cademieo, and on the still fewer col>ges.
In a paper read before the State
"eachera Association, at Spartanburg
1894, Prof. Morrison or Clemson
Jo liege quotes from various sources
howing that the educational condition
f the South in the last quarter of the
ijjbteenth century and the first quarer
of the nineteenth century was
>rimitive and pathetic.
General McUrady, who gave the
nost favorable account of colonial
ducation in South Carolina, could
numerate ouly twenty two scholars
>f all kinds in the entire State at the
loeeofthe Revolutionary war.
An eye witness of a scene on Sulli-an's
Island the day after the battle of
'ort Sumter writes: "And indeed to
ee tbe looks of our poor soldiers,
vhen those great ladies, all glittering
n silks and jewels, and powdered and
>erfumed so nice, would come up to
bem, in faces like angels, sparkling
ina sinning so awem, as 11 iaey wouiu
cissthem;! say to nee the looks of
>ur poor fellows, their awkward bows
ind broad grins, and other droll capers
hey cut, no human being could have
efrained from laughing." When
5ov. Rutledge presented his sword to
Sergeant Jasper and offered him a
commission, the gallant officer replied:
'I am greatly obliged toyou, Govenor,
3ut I had rather not have a commission.
As I am, I pass very well with
such company as a poor sergeant has
any right to keep. If I were to get a
jommiusion, I would be forced to keep
higher company; and then, as I don't
ft now how to read, I should only be
throwing myself in a way to be
I nf 9)
laugucu au
Ex-Govenor Perry in an address
delivered in 1878 said: "Thirty years
ago I rode all day through the counties
of Oconee, Pickens, Anderson,
Abbeville, and Greenville, taking the
testimony of very aged witnesses in a
great lawsuit then pending in the city
of Mobile, involving several hundred
thousand dollars and the legitimacy
of a highly respectable family of young
ladies. The witnesses who appeared
before me were mostly born before or
during the Revolutionary War. I
was greatly surprised and not a little
shocked to find that almost all of the
old ladies examined were unable to
write their names, and had to make
their marks, to their depositions.
TKoir tuarn in cpaaH nlrnnmofonnoa and
A Uv7jr t* vi v iu ^wu vix vumotMuvvu
mothers of prominent men in their
counties."
Prof. Morrison states that he has
frequently asked ex-Confederate offiofficers,
mainly from the upper counties
of South Carolina, "how many
men in their commands were unable
to write home, or read the letters received,
and the answers usually given
were one fourth or one fifth.
Such being the condition of education
among these masses, the ministei
as a "finished classical scholar and
thorough theologian" was not inap
*1
prupiiai^ij uaueu ILI? purtouu, uciu^
easily chief person.
At the beginning of the last centu
ry the public school system bad no
been established in the territory of tb<
Associate Reformed church, and w<
may believe that the first educationa
work done by the fathers of thi
v . -it * '->?
church was done in maintaining
schools for elementary instruction.
Among the very few academies ol
that time were those of Rev. James
Rogers, at Monticello, Fairfield county,
8. C., and of Eleazer Harris in
York county, S. C. While the former
was not controlled by the church,
it was presided over for more than a
quarter of a century by an Associate
Reformed minister ana largely patronA
oaAntofa manannla
1<6CU UJ Aoouuiavo ivuiux luwu pwj^iv*
The latter, known as Ebeoezer Academy,
was taken under the care of the
Synod in 1825. Both of these were
established in the early part of the
century. Perhaps there were other
schools which are justly entitled to be
mentioned, but 1 have no record of
them.
OF DR. COOPER'S INFIDELITY AND
SECTIONAL HATRED ERSKINE
COLLEGE WAS BORN.
Out of the need of education among
all classes, and especially out of the
need of those who expected to enter
the ministry, was born the church's
desire and purpose to estaonsn educational
work of its own. This need,
already deeply felt, was emphasized
by two things, the growing political
animosity between the North and the
South, and the pronounced infidelity
of Dr. Cooper, President of the South
Carolina College. We had no college
of our own. Our young men having
the ministry in view had been attending
Northern institutions, principally
Jefferson College and Miami Uuiversity.
But bitterness had increased to
such degree between the two sections
of country that in 1834 the Synod declared
in a resolution, "that in their
opinion it is prejudicial to the Southern
church to send our young men to
the North or West, either to college or
to a theological seminary."
Thus shut off from the North many
of our people looked to the South
Carolina College. But here trouble of
another kind existed. Thomas Cooper,
whom Jefferson thought "the
greatest man in America in the powers
of his mind and in acquired information,
and that without a single exception,"
but whom John Adams regarded
as "a learned, ingenous, scientific
and talented madman," became Professor
of Chemistry in the South Carolina
College in 1819, and a year later
the President of this institution.
Born in London, for a short time a
resident of Paris and a congenial associate
of the Revolutionary spirits
there, Cooper came to America and
settled in Pennsylvania. For many
acts of petty tyranny, browbeating
counsel, witnesses, and parties to a
suit, he was impeached by the Senate
of Pennsylvania and removed from
the office of Judge. For a violent attack
made on President Adams in the
f>ress he was fined four hundred dolars
and imprisoned six months.
dr. cooper's charge.
This restless and disagreeable man, in
private conversation, classroom lecture
and pamphlet attacked the authenticity
and genuineness of the Scripture.
He hated the clergy venomously, and
in bis report to the legislature in 1822
charged that "the most powerful obstacle
to the prosperity of this institution
is the systematic hostiltty of the
clergy generally, to every seminary of
education which is not placed under
their government and control."
# synod's denial.
The Associate Reformed Synod of
the South at its next meeting prepared
And ordered to be nublished in one of
the papers of the State an address denying
the charge and appealing from
the "illiberal, unrighteous and sweeping
charge of the learned president
against the ministers of reconciliation,
to the candor and gpod sense of the
Christian commonwealth." President
Cooper continued covertly and openly
to attack the Bible, and the Christian
people did not cease to oppose Presidenrt
Cooper from the time of his installation.
ACTION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
In 1831 John S. Pressly. a graduate
of the South Carolina College, and afterwards
an A. B. P. minister, introduced
in the house of representatives
the following:
"Besolved, that in the opinion of
this house it is expedient that the
Board of Trustees of the South Carolina
College do forthwith investigate
the conduct of Dr. Cooper, as President
of the South Carolina College, and if
they find that his continuance in office
defeats the ends and aims of the institution,
that they be requested to remove
him."
The board found nothing against
the president. The historian of the
oollege says the board made the exculpating
report through sympathy for
the old gentleman. The cry of "reorganization
! revolu;ion!" which had
been raised from the mountains to the
seaboard wa9 uow heard louder than
ever. Dr. Cooper gave up the presidency,
but retained a position as teacher.
But even this did not satisfy the
- ?1 J i? inoj I U
people, auu iu1004 u? sevcicu uu wunection
with the college.
The college suffered seriously in the
loss of students aDd of public favor on
account of Dr. Cooper's infidelity.
Ever since, the college authorities
have been careful to avoid any irreligious
tendency, and have been
stricter than most State institutions
aDd maDy denominational ones in
having religious exercises and in requiring
attendance on public worship.
Dr. Lathan credits the Associate Reformed
people for being among the
first, if not the first, to raise the alarm
and start the oppostion to Dr. Cooper.
erskine's first charter.
The Deed of education among oui
, people, and the few facilities for sup
plying the need, offered the invitation
, and imposed the necessity for some
. kind of educational work by tb<
l church. The sectional differences
made the churoh feel more than eve]
. thrown upon its! own resources. Th<
. trouble in the South Carolina Colleg*
I suggested the possibility and fear of i
. similar recurrence and impressed th<
P importance of a college which woulc
' provide helpful religious influences ai
. well aB guard agaiDSt harmful ones,
k 8uch were the causes which led t<
? the founding of Erskine College it
j 1839. It was the first denominationa
j college in the State, and perhaps th<
a first in the whole South. It is inter
eating to note that the charter wa
f at first refused by the legislature, an<
not granted until 1850, although active
f efforts were made to secure it. Th<
opposition to the granting, a chartei
came from the friends or:^he Bouth
Carolina College, who wished that the
latter institution might be patronized
by all parts of the State and thus be
come the means of uniting the different
sections. The1 friends of Erskine
believed that the way to get right with
men is to get right with God. The
synod believed then and the synod
believes now, that there is a vast difference
between universities in which
religion is offered as an optional study,
and colleges in which it is the chiel
cornerstone and crown.
SUCCESSIVE STEPS.
If we except the classical schoole
established in the early part of the
century, and James Rogers school in
Fairfield county, the first step taken
by the synod in educational work waa
at its meeting in 1825.
Then the synod established a theological
seminary by electing Rev.
John Hemphill professor of didactic
and polenaic theology, and Rev. John
T. Pressly professor of oriental languages,
Biblical criticism, and church
history.
Without buildings, without salary,
these men, living one hundred miles
apart and doing regular pastoral
work, performed the duties of teachers
assigned them until Mr. Hemphill,
I burdened with age and infirmity, resigned
in 1827, and Dr. Pressly removed
to Pittaburg in 1831'.
In the meantime efforts were made
to collect funds and a library for the
seminary.
MANTTAT, T.AROR SCHOOL.
While the seminary and the college
as now constituted have separate
funds, separate boards, and separate
faculties, the two are one, one in purpose
and one in history.
It is not a change to a different sub
- ' 1 i- AI . ?/ tUn
jecc wnen we note iub ucal otcp ui iuc
synod in 1834 sb an effort to eBtablisb
one or more schools on the manual
labor system.
At the next meeting of synod in 1835
this purpose was abandoned as impracticable
or undesirable. But in a
series of resolutions adopted at the
same time on the subjcct of education,
agents were appointed to collect and
treasurers to manage fuDds to assist in
the education of young men having
the ministry in view.
FIRST SCHOOL AT DUE WEST.
It was resolved to establish a school
at Due West Corner, Abbeville district,
8. C., with John 8. Pressly as
rV *1 J A ?u: ?
teaener. oeveu iuou?auu buu mmjfive
dollars were collected, a building
was erected, and the school opened
the first Monday in February, 1836,
with twenty classical scholars.
The school was called the Academy
at Due West Corner.
The next year it was incorporated
as Clark and Erekine Seminary. Rev.
Samuel P. McCracken of Miami University,
having declined to accept
the position of Professor of Divinity
to which he was elected in 1836, Dr.
E. E. Pressly was elected to fill the
place in 1887.
In 1839 John 8. Pressly resigned as
teacher of Clark and Erskine Seminary.
The synod in this year changed the
name to Erskine College and enlarged
the list of, faculty ana the course of
study.
THE FIRST FACULTY OF ERSKINE.
Rev. E. E. Pressly, President and
Profess&r of Moral Science;
, Neil M. Gordoh, Professor of Languages,
pro tem ;
John N. Young, Professor of Mathematics
and Natural Philosophy, pro
tem.
By 1843 a new building bad been
erected at a cost of seven thousand and
ninety dollars.
FINANCES.
For the first year of its history the
college was supported by tuition fees
and occasional gifts and bequests.
In 1853 a movement was begun to
raise an endowment. A fund of $50 000
was raised which was afterwards
increased to $70,000.
The flourishing college had closed
its doors early in the war, but resumed
*r? lfiAA All hnt thirfpon
YVUItk iu iwwi ai* mu? ??
or fifteen thousand dollars of its endowment
bad beed swept away. The
young men had been scattered, impoverished,
slain, the ooilege bad a
struggle to live.
In 1-807 a successful effort was made
to secure two hundred men whc
would give twenty dollars each foi
five years in return for a scholarship
for each twenty dollars. y
Again in 1871 the Synod resolved tc
raise an endowment of $100,000. Bj
the sale of scholarships, which wer<
to expire in 1895, donations and be
quests, about $80,000 were raised.
At the semi-centennial celebratior
of Erskine in 1886 an honored son o
the college arose in the alumni meet
Infr onH nrnnnaari that w? civfl oil]
r-"i ?? * - o
mother a new dress. She had wori
the old since 1843. The suggeBtioi
fell on an atmosphere already electric
The movement then started was ac
celerated by the burning of the oh
building in 1892.
Attblstime (1892) some advocate<
the removal of the college to anothe
place, on the ground of better adver
1 tisement and larger patronage. Die
cussion and debate waxed warm
When it was settled that the institu
tion should remain at Due West, ad
vocates and opponents united heart
> and hands to build a bigger and bet
i ter college. The present spaciou
college building, the College Horn
for bovs. and Wvlie Home for srirh
stand as monuments to the zeal an
liberality of some who were untirin
in their efforts and of those who wer
generous in their gifts.
TWENTIETH CENTURY FUND.
At its meeting in 1902 the By no
resolved to raise a Twentieth Centur
educational fund of $50,000 in tb
next five years, one half for Erskiu
College, one fourth for edueatiom
work in connnection with foreig
1 missions, and one fourth for the Du
' ? T* 1- ?-11 1 J ?V.,
west rcujaio v^uuegc, piuviucu iuc
this institution was placed under tfa
5 control and become the property <
j the Synod. The canvase is bein
1 successfully prosecuted, and about on
e half of the amount has been raisec
At various times gifts have bee
B made to the college and to the sera
l nary oy persons wnose names ar
i household words in the Synod.
; With the college endowment o
p $88,803.13, the Theological Seminar:
i endowments of ?55,756.88, collegi
i buildings of not less value than $73,
t 000, the Synod has for educationa
work a plant of about $220,000, be
sides adequate libraries and a flni
i laboratory.
t INNER GROWTH.
The inner growth of the college ha?
ke?t pace with its outer development,
The improved exterior appearance if
au index of a new spirit infused intc
it. In 1893 the Chair of English Lit
erature and Language was added tc
the curriculum. This was a tardj
recognition of the value of the stud}
i of a literature "wider in its scope,
, sounder in its philosophy, purer ir
its morals, and immeasurably ricbei
a^d more extensive than the frag,
ments of all the dead tongues that
remain in the world," of a language,
in force and copiousness, second tc
that of Greece alone. My partiality
for this department of study and my
ponsequent familiarity with the efficiency
with which it is couducted in
Ersbine will permit me to say of it,
without seeming to fail in the least to
give due credit to the thoroughness ol
the work done in the other departments,
that I would rather have the
instructions given in the English
course in Erekine than that given in
the same course in any other college
in (he State.
The establishment of the Chair of
English was followed by an enlarged
course In the natural sciences and the
arrangement of studies leading to the
B. S. degree. Education which had
so long Men hellenized and romanized
was invigorated with new life.
Some apprehended a loss of patrician
flavor in the plebeian touch 'of the
laboratory. It was the old and oft debated
question of the classics as
against science. The question has
been wisely and satisfactory settled
by leaving it to each student to settle
for himself. Tbe studies' ebanged
were less significant than the spirit of
tbe change. It was the triumph of
a protest older than Milton, who two
centuries ago contended for an education
which should be natural in
method and useful and noble in results.
He advocated beginning with
things concrete and nepr and proceeding
to those abstract and remote.
He protested against debasing noble
literatures to the making of grammarians
and philologians. "Though a
linguist should pride himself to have
all the tongues that Babel cleft the
world into, yet, if he have not studied
the solid things in thenj as well as the
words and lexicons, he were nothing
so much to be esteemed a learned man
as any yeoman or tradesman competently
wise in bis motner-dialect
only." While Milton's first two ideas
of education condemned in a manner
the study of the classics, his third idea
of nobleness condemns no less what
seems to have come in with tbe study
of tbe sciences. In the opinion of
Philips Brooks, there "is a decay of
nobleness, a certain prosaical minuteness.
a certain sordidness, a certain
dry economy in our day, when the
highest culture is distrustful of enthusiasm,
when eloquence is not in
favor in our schools, when the average
teacher is more afraid of exuberance
than of dryness in his pupil."
The classics have a higher value in
ministering to this nobleness than
science has. But higher than the
classics and science together is the
value of what is called Christian education.
Among the marked changes
of recent years is the increased attention
given to the study of the Englisb
Bible in both the College and the
Seminary. The Scriptures either witt
regard to tbe principles iney leacn,
lives they record, the spirit thej
breathe, or the language in which al
is clothed, stand alone amidst al
literatures, sacred or profane, ancien
or modern, for instruction in nobl<
principles and inspiration to nobl<
life*
CHANCELLOR MCCRACKEN ON CHKIS
TIAN EDUCATION.
Chancellor MacCracken, of Nev
York University, said recently: "j
wish we could require from everj
freshman a Sabbath school diplomi
tbat would certify he knew by hear
the Ten Commandments, tbe Sermor
i on the Mount, a church catechism o
some kind, and a score oftbeScripturi
n rirl hoot filangin humnfl. Thil
t JT HttiULIO OfUU wvov viMuvaw M.*..
university will join auy association o
i universities and colleges that will de
i mand this as an entrance requirement
So much as in us lies, we will mak<
> the college a place for preserving an<
strengthening reverence for things di
? vine.''
r
> THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.
Dr. Oilman, for twenty-fiv
years President of John Hopkins Uni
1 versity, now says, that for literary
* A?' ?1 /?o 1 ?n/1 rv-?nro 1 roc
" msumcai, lueiunwi, ouvj u,v,u.
' sods the Bible ought to be useful ii
schools of every grade, public and pr
vate. Greece had her temples, Rom
1 had her tables, but Christian Btate*
* partly through unwarranted a^sumf
tions of students' previous familiarity
neglect the study of Christian litert
. ture and Christian institutions. Y<
the church has its names as prominer
J! and potent in shaping the destinies <
nations and individuals, it9 martyrs, s
numerous and true, its councils f
' eventful, its thought as original, ii
[" feelings as deep and and pure, as an
l" nation or any literature on earth. ]
s rears its structure in every community
It permeates all society and lepislatioi
8 I believe its study is more profitab
6 than knowledge of the details of a d
!| funct and mummified civilisation, tc
remote tor idiosyncrasies !to be distil
? guished from essentials. Rufus Choa
^ * ?8 L*" 1 ?otn/lonfa tn ohlH
" BQVlStS Ll is iavr oiuuvuio wr b?mv
theology for the mental discipline an
those who have threaded the wa
through theological subtleties will n<
d dispute the wisdom of the learnt
y jurist's advice.
e OTHER SCHOOLS.
e
il With the addition of another fu
n professorship in the seminary, the r
ie organization of the Preparatory D
it partment, the establishment of Presb,
,e terian schools at White Oak, Ga., Trc
>f and Bethany, S. C., Mission schools i
g Mexico and a school at the orphanag
ie the church is more actively and larg
J. ly engaged in educational work tha
n ever before in its history. The pu
i- pose of the mission schools reminds i
0 of the purpose of tbe rounders or jsrskine
College.
' If it is proper to make a record of
7 James Rogers' school in the early part
s of the past century, it is proper to
- mention the Huntersville High School
1 which for a number of years was in a
* flourishing condition under Rdv. W.
3 W. Orr, and gave to the college and
tbe church some of our best men. Perhaps
there are still other schools, as
Jones Seminary for young ladies at
i All Healing, N. C., which ought to be
mentioned.
5
) DUE WEST FEMALE COLLEGE.
[From a recent issue of the catalogue
> of the Due , West Female College,
' Queen of the Church institutions, the
r printer would add "historical facts."
i Beginning with its foundation in 1859,
1 and continuing to the present time, it
r has ranked for the education of
- women amoDg the very best of the
& Colleges in the State. Its abundant
> success is the best proof of the good
' judgment and the earnest work of
' those who have been in charge of the
' InofltiiH/in Tta noofnlnmaa in hfflt evi
denced by tbe multitude of cultuied
Christian women that may be found
in every 8tatein the Union:]
t
Rev. J. I. Bonner, D. D., President,
i December 30th, 1859, to April 29, 1881.
Died April 29th 1881.
Prof. J. P. Kennedy, President.
Died January, 21st, 1897.
Mrs. K. P. Ke'nnedy, Vice President.
Mrs. L. M. Bonner, Vice-Principal.
June 19th, 1881, to July 1st, 1887.
Miu. L. M. Bonner, Principal.
H. E. Bonner, Vice-Principal,
July 1st, 1887, to July 1st, 1895.
Rev. C. E. Todd, President,
July Jet,-1895, to July 1st, 1899.
. Rev. James Boyce, President,
July 1st, 1899.
One other school must be mentioned.
It has stood for nearly half a century,
side by sid? with Erskine College,
under the shadow of one of the
principal churches of the denomination,
singing the church's songs, teaching
the church's daughters. It does
not receive the church's money; It Is
not controlled by the ohurch's boards,
it is called nodenominational, but
however labeled, in warp and woof, in
fibre and in dye, it 1* Associate Reformed
Presbyterian if Erskine Col
lege 1b Associate Reformed Presbyterian.
Its presidents have been servants
of tbe church, loyal and faithful,
and the church would be poorer
by far today if the Due West Female
College had never existed.
Tbe Synod now has under consideration
the purchase of the property and
control of the institution. The reason
the church has never aided this college
is not because of the Salic law which
so long denied or ignored woman's
right to knowlege, but because the crllege
has prospered so well without the
PRINCIPLES OP EDUCATION.
Let me recur to the principles in
education for which tbe church has
niwul Wfl havfl all axnerienced the
purpose and enthusiasm with which
i we nave begun a day, or task or pro!
fession; As we have all felt that pur.
pose weaken and that enthusiasm subi
side In the progress of our work, as we
. have felt the throb of the engine when
i the ship starts but have not felt it
? when the ship was well under way at
i sea,i Erekine has stood for a liberal
i and a Christian education. There
r never was more need than today for
! the church to stand forsuch education,
1 and to stand firm. We pride ourt
selves on having never asaed what
? was popular and expedient, but what
? is true and right. The spirit that
animated the six hundred ministers in
the crddle of our history to lose their
" living rather than their principles, that'
spirit that strengthened twenty thous7
and Presbyterians to lose their liveB
r rather than violate their conscience,
the spirit that fired the hearts of the
Scottish soldiers to raise the bonny
t blue flag, bearing the legend, "For
Christ's Crown and Covenant," the
* spirit that has prompted the Reform.
ers, the Associates and the Associate
? Reformed people, to stand for the
f right even if they have to stand alone,
is the spirit that has prevailed in all
the history of education in our church.
' Today it combats the error that a
j liberal education is impractical, and
disproves the contention that a Christian
education is narrow.
Thwing in the North American
Review is quoted assaying that while
the college man will find himself bee
hind the boy with whom he parted
i- company on leaving the high school,
he will in a few years over take aud
t- pass the latter, through keener peril
ception and more comprehensive
i- grasp. But the main end or education
e is not to become rich. It may justly
i- ho iipmanried of education that it add
>- to the material worth and happiness
r, of the world, but education is an end
i* in itself. The ability to read has a
?t commercial value, but who would sell
it his power to read for money ? Man>f
hooa, not money, is the Motto of
19 Erskine. The college has been
is modernized, and, with an unchanging
ts purpose must have constantly changy
ing methods to adjust itself to the
(t changing conditions.
r. Erskine has stood for a thorough
3. education.
Ie But a university does not multiply
e- one's faculties or increase his ca>o
pacities.
Q- In the college the various departte
menta are better correlated, ana the
y studies in the same department are
d more closely and logically related,
ty than can well be the case in the
3t university.
id But above all else Erskine stands
for Christian education. Engraved
in a marble slab above the college
door was written in Hebrew: "The
ill fpar of the Lord is the beginning
e- of wisdom." Below was inscribed in
e- Latin: "Soientiacum moribus cony
juncta."
>y The Associate Reformed Presbyn
terians have completed a century ol
e, educational work. This work has nol
e- been without errors. The results are
m not imposing. But of Erskine College
r- and the Theological Seminary, the
is main products or the church's efforts,
we are proaa. me uonege nas oeen fa
true to the purpose of its founders in /:,
(riving a thorough, a liberal, and a
Gbriatian education and in serviDg as ^
an ally to the church. Siuce its ee- ' ^
tablishment in 1839, Erskine has given
to the world 674 graduates, of whom
174, or thirty-six per cent, have
entered th? (Ihrintian minietrv.
HISTORICAL FACTS.
1. In 1839 Dr. E. E. Pressly was 33
elected President and Rev. N. M. Gor- 7'T%j
don and Rev. J. N. Yonng were elect- g
cd professors, pro tem. Iu 1840 Rev. >; rj
J. N. Young and Rev. J. P. Pressly : ^3
were elected permanent profesbore.
The college baa bad'the following gen- "'Vj
tlemen as Presidents:
Rev. E. E. Pressly, D.D., 1839.
R. C. Grier, D.D.. (two terms, 1847 ;<$
to 1858 and 1865 to 1871.)
Rev. E. L. Patton, LL. D.
Rev. W. M. Grier, LL. D., D.D. . m
Rev. F. Y. Pressly, D.D.
FIRST GRADUATES.
2. The first class graduated in 1842. ' ^
3. There were seven in the first grad- &
naflnep nlaoa
Enoch Agnew. Due West, 8. C.
Samuel P. Davis, Mecklenburg, N. C. ' '<fa
David F. Haddon, Due West, 8# C. /%
John O. Lindsay .Due West. 8. C. -a
James A. Sloan, Farfleld, 8. C. . .
John C. Williams, Abbeville Coun- ' v";iS
ty, s. c. ' : iim
R. A. Fair, Abbeville County, 8. C. 'i ; |
FIBST TRUSTEES.
7. The flrat Trustees were Abram %
Haddon, James Fair, JohnL. Ellis,
James Lindsay, A. C. Hawthorn, Dr.
Enoch Agnew, Bev. B. E. Pressly. V' il
They all lived in and about Due West. , '/fi
TRUSTEES IN 1855. i ^
8. In 1855 the Trustees and their
homes were as follows:
Dr. E. E. Presslv, Due West.
Enooh Agnew, M. D., Mississippi. m
Dr. Geo. W. Pressly, Cedar Springs. <$3
T nr TT--if rv jm_ . <
?i. VY. xaearu', m. JL?., teuar optJUKe. - ?
Wo. Atfderson, M. D.f Cartersvme, j; J
Ga. j r .v
Dr. A. W. Chalmers, Newberry.
Gen. P. H. Bradley, Cedar Springs. Jl
Col. Sam'l Donald, Donalds, S. C. jsS
Maj. W. K. Bradley, Long Cane. ,'M
Col. D. O. Hawthorne, Dae West.
Col. Wm. Wright, York.
James Hemphill, Chester.
Dr. W. R. Hemphill, Due West,
Rev. J. I. Bonner, Dae West.
Rev. J. C. Chalmers. Anderson. v^i
Rev. JJL. Young, Mississippi,
Dr. J. Boyce, Fairfield. . m
Rev. J. Galloway, Newberry. y!f
Judge J. B. O'Neal, Newberry.
Dr. R. C. Grier, Dae West.
J. ,L. Ellis, Due West. /?. vjpg
J. R. Wilson, Due West ' \
J. Pratt, Due West. ^ x#
John Walker, Meoklenburg, N. C. . 'M
H. A. Jones, Abbeville.
A. C. Hawthorne, Due West.
Rev. J. N. Yoang, Dae West.
\KP($
RE-ORGANIZATION OF BOABD OF p.
TRUSTEES. _
Synod reduced the number of trustees
to .15 in 1888. The previous nam- *
ber had been 89, so 24 were dropped.* wM,
In 1892 the number was again raised :;*j
to 25.
\ilila
DROPPED FROM THE BOLL.
9. The following were/ dropped lAM
from the board of trustees in 1888 :
Dr. Jag. Boyce, T. 8. Brioe,
Prof J P Kennedy.G. H. McMaster,
Dr. J. L. Miller, W. L. Miller,
Joseph F. Lee, J. A. Brioe,
J. C. Wilson, Dr. W. L. Pressly,
Robert Moorbead, M. A. Ren wick,
Dr. H. T. Sloan, Prof. J. G. Cook,
Gen P. H. Bradley,T. R. Magill,
RevD. F. Haddon.J. 8. Douglass.
Hon. W. A. Lee, Dr. J. E. Pressly. $?
Capt W. L. Roddy,Prof H. E. Bonner,
GenR R Hemphill, H. 8. Moseley,
Rev. J. C. Boyd, Rev. J. H. 8trong,
Dr. D. G. PhllllpSjHon C B Simonton
Galvln Bribe, Rev. A. 8. Sloan,
Rev B. F. Bradley,W. B. Robinson.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES IK 1903.
Rev. E. P. McClintock, D.D., President
of Board, Newberry, 8. C.
Rev. D. G. Phillips, Secretary of
Board, Atlanta, Ga. J
Geo. 8. Mower, Esq., Treasurer of -V'
a "VT u. ? n
Doaxu, newuerrjf, o. v.
Rev. R. G. Miller, D.D., Sardls.N.C
Rev. W. H. Miilen, Rosemark, Tenn
Rev. J. P. Knox, Columbia, 8. C.
Rev. W. M. Hunter, Monitor, W.Va
Rev. O. Y. Bonner, Due West, S. C.
J. K. Morrison, Statesville, N. C.
' J. C. Hemphill, Charleston, S. C.
Capt. F. Dilling, Kings Mountain,
N. C.
Rev. C. B. Betta, D.D., Lewisvllle,
8 C ' ^
Hon. D. E. Flnley, Yorkville, 8. C.
Hon. J. N. Miller, Camden, Ala.
W. A. Gri^r, Charlotte, N, C.
Rev. F. Y. Pressly, D.D., (member *
ex-offlcio) Due West, 8. C.
Hon. J. J. Darlington, LL.D.jWash-^
ington, D. C.
J. W. Kirkpatrlck, Charlotte, N. C.
A. 8. Kennedy, Due West, 8. C.
W. L. Phillips, Louisville, Ga.
J. H. Miller, Birmingham, Ala.
R. 8. Galloway. Due West, 8. C.
Rev. W. Y. Love, Taylorsville, N.C
Rev. J. P. Erwin, Rosemark, Tenn.
Rev. H. R. Rabb, Okete, Mo.
Rev. H. Rabh, Okete, Mo.
Rev. W. A. Blakely, Harrells, Ala.
Rev. J. R. McCormicb, Eureka,
TGX&S*
T. H. White, Chester, 8. C.
FACULTY IN 1903.
Frank Young Pressley, D.D President.
Wylie Professorship of Mental
and Moral Philosophy.
John Irenaeus McCain, Ph. D., (Princeton.)
Professor of English Liter
i ture and LaDguage.
Paul Livingston Grier, A. M,, Proi
feasor of Mathematics and Astronomy.
Rev. Dallas Grier Caldwell, A. B.,
s Professor of Latin and French.
; Ebenezer Leonidas Reid, A. M., Proi
fessor of Physical Science.
John Lowry Pressly, A. B., Professor
of Greek and (ierman.
; James Boyd Kennedy, A. B., Professor
> of Fitting School.
! ,
Continued on Eigth Page.
I