tion;” no record remains, however, to show that it was awarded. Dr. Joseph Penny, a native Irishman who seems to have had some flair for landscaping and who had recently become President of Hamilton College, inspected the Institution in the summer of 1836, in company with Deacon Olmstead; whether he hoped to win the premium is not known. The natural beauty of the campus surpassed, the visitor believed, that of the majority of public institutions in the United States. He liked especially the grounds west of the buildings because of their varying smooth green slopes and shaded groves and dells. Cutting a few trees, he thought, would open fine vistas through to the buildings, and suggested new paths, the removal of fences which broke up the north surface of the Hill, and the planting of a few clumps of trees in that area. “The buildings,” he wrote, “though plain, are in good keeping with the objects for which they are designed; and this is the first requisite of good taste.” Covering them with a coat of pure lime and sand, followed from time to time by pure whitewash, he believed, would both provide protection and give an effective contrast to the green lawns.
Trustees and faculty approved Dr. Penny’s recommendations, and several of them Steward Edmunds put into effect. His labor supply was students who took their exercise with shovel or axe in hand. The young men were especially active in building paths and lining them with maples transplanted from the nearby woods; many are still standing. Most of the work was done under the direction of the Students Association and was usually without pay.
Until 1833 the buildings consisted of the present West Hall and the Cottage Edifice. The student body, meanwhile, had grown so large as to overcrowd them and applicants for admission had to be turned away. At its annual meeting in 1832 the Society voted to erect another dormitory. Since none of the bids was satisfactory, the Board accepted Deacon Burchard’s offer to purchase the materials, hire the workmen, and superintend construction, himself. Work was started in the summer of 1833, and by December the whole edifice was completed except for plastering and installing furnaces. Students contributed much of the labor. The total cost was approximately $6,000, nearly $2,000 less than the original estimate. Dr. Kendrick, reporting for the Board in 1834, wrote: “It is worthy of grateful acknowledgement, that the lives and limbs of the builders were providentially protected, and