to agony of spirit in devising means for life.” In 1840 he wondered why the Baptists of the State of New York couldn’t raise $20,000 for the Institution if those of Maine and Massachusetts provided $50,000 for Waterville College. Two years later Dr. Kendrick wrote that the claims of ministerial education were “but faintly perceived and more feebly felt by the great body of the churches throughout the State” while the Board and faculty were carrying a burden which was “greater than they can long endure.”
Two of the Board’s most effective agents for collecting funds were James Edmunds, Jr., the steward, and Zenas Freeman. Both were on intimate terms with Dr. Kendrick and possessed remarkable energy and keen judgment. As they traveled up and down New York State presenting the claims of the Institution on the generosity of the churches and individuals, they constantly met competition from agents of other denominational interests, notably the American and Foreign Bible Society, and home and foreign missions. Adverse economic conditions, such as the Panic of 1837 and low crop prices, also reduced collections.
Auxiliary societies continued to be an important reservoir of funds. Those in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan sent contributions and students to Hamilton. There were also several women’s organizations, particularly the New York City Baptist Female Education Society, which channeled large sums to the treasury. Between 1836 and 1841 these groups contributed $10,000. The Young Men’s Education Society of New York and Brooklyn likewise deserves mention for its generous patronage.
Among the individuals who made sizable gifts were: Deacon Olmstead with two $1,000 scholarships; Deacon Colgate with one; Mrs. Hulda E. Thompson of Troy, New York, with one (the largest donation by a woman); and Stephen B. Munn of New York City, $1,500. John Rathbone, also of New York City, gave the Education Society 13,000 acres of mountain land in western Virginia, estimated to be worth between three and five thousand dollars. Justus H. Vipton, Class of 1833, missionary to the Karens in Burma, endowed out of his meager salary a $1,000 scholarship for the exclusive use of students preparing to become missionaries in the Far East. An even more exceptional gift was $100 from Mrs. Jane G. E. Reed, a missionary to Siam and window of Alanson Reed, Class of 1835, who had died in