Tag Archives: Endowment

Infirmary Wing of Hamilton Hospital opens (p. 322)

Posted on June 21, 2012 by | Comments Off on Infirmary Wing of Hamilton Hospital opens (p. 322)
WILLIAM (BILL) A. REID, ’18
WILLIAM (BILL) A. REID, ’18
CARLTON O. MILLER, ’14
CARLTON O. MILLER, ’14
JAMES A. STORING
JAMES A. STORING

University for the three-year period of the drive. Under the leadership of Clarence J. Myers, ’20, and “Vellington Powell, ’21, co-chairmen, and Howard L. Jones, ’39, Director of Development since 1952, the sum was raised but due to rising building costs the effort was extended from three years to five and the total of more than $4,300,000 contributed made it possible to undertake the construction as planned. A notable donation was the Ford Foundation Grant of $765,000, Colgate’s portion of the half-billion-dollar fund given in 1955 by the Foundation to 126 independent liberal arts colleges and counted toward the Development Campaign objective. Herman Wendt, Jr., ’27, gave Colgate a million dollars in 1961, the largest single gift in the Case period. By 1962 Colgate’s endowment had a book value of over$11,500,000; its buildings, grounds and equipment were worth more than $9,200,000; annual income and expenditures exceeded $4,300,000.

The second of Mr. Case’s two decades as president saw the construction of six major buildings. The first, the Infirmary Wing of the new Hamilton Community Memorial Hospital, was opened with the hospital in 1952; they were the realization of dreams of town and gown since 1926. A residence hall, designed by McKim, Mead, and “White, was erected on the site of Eaton Hall which had been razed to make way for it. Opened in 1957, the building comprised three houses, named for Presidents Kendrick, Eaton, and Dodge. (The dormitories,

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Posted in Chapter 15, p. 322, The Case Administration 1942-1962, timeline

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p. 267 – The Bryan Period, 1908-1922

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Dr. William M. Lawrence, '70, Bio File, p267Prof. William H. Hoerner, Bio File, p267Dr. Joseph F. McGregory, Bio File, p267

 

 

endowment, including the Dodge Fund, grew from $1,765,000 in 1909 to nearly $3,000,000 in 1922.

The most notable acquisition to endowment came from a massive fund raising drive, the first of its kind Colgate had experienced since that for raising an endowment in 1850 as part of the Removal Controversy. Launched in 1920 under the direction of professional fundraisers, the campaign had originated with alumni leaders and was integrated with a current Northern Baptist Convention fund drive. Its objective, $1,000,000 for endowment and a new gymnasium, won student as well as alumni support and within ten days of its start pledges of approximately $900,000 were on the books, of which the undergraduates had been responsible for giving or getting $153,000 for the gymnasium. By June 1922 the grand total reached was over $1,000,000 of which $150,000 came from the Rockefeller General Education Board in the form of a matching grant conditioned on the University’s raising $350,000. Approximately $517,000 was added to endowment. A new pattern for financing the University was emerging: no longer would it look to the Colgate family for its major support but would turn to alumni, friends, and foundations and soon there would

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Posted in Chapter 13, p. 267, The Bryan Period 1908-1922

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p. 151 – Recovery and expansion, 1850-1869

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seem to appeal to them but in 1863 these gentlemen and their brother, Robert, proposed that the University and the Education Society attempt to raise $70,000 and offered to match any sum collected up to $30,000. Of the total amount secured, about $15,000 was used to cancel the Society’s debt, $5,000 invested for the use of the library, and the balance, some $43,000 added to the endowment.

The largest single donation was received in 1865 when James B. Colgate and John B. Trevor gave $70,000. They provided that $40,000 be designated the Trevor Education Fund, the income to be used for scholarships for Civil War veterans or their sons, and the remainder to be set aside as a fund for the expenses of the Presidency. The next year they made another gift of $10,000 to constitute an investment fund for campus improvements. Mr. Colgate and Mr. Trevor were partners in James B. Colgate and Company, a large brokerage firm with offices in New York, Baltimore, and Washington. They dealt also in precious metals, and during the Civil War Mr. Colgate assisted the Federal government in maintaining its gold reserve. In addition to contributing to Madison University, Mr. Trevor was a generous benefactor to the University of Rochester.

By 1869 the University had an endowment of more than $180,000 and no indebtedness. Contributions from the churches for current expenses of the Education Society increased from less than $1,000 in 1865 to nearly $13,000, some four years later. To augment the existing University funds and to provide for repairs and new equipment, Treasurer Spear and others, in 1868, launched a successful campaign for a $100,000 “Jubilee Offering.” There were now ample resources for future expansion.

The campus in the 1850’s and ’60’s was still as rural as it had always been. Except for paths flanked by beautiful shade trees, every acre was either “plowed, mowed, or pastured.” An ugly unpainted board fence enclosed the grounds and broad stretches of meadow land which extended in almost every direction over the hills invited youths, disgusted with dull textbooks, for long walks on bright afternoons. In 1851 the students voluntarily laid a mile of hemlock plank walk from the foot of the hill to Broad Street and from the Boarding Hall to the Baptist meeting house and lined each side with maples. Their efforts, coming at a time when every gesture of confidence in the University strengthened morale, gained them the Trustees’ sincere appreciation.

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p. 149 – Recovery and expansion, 1850-1869

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Old President’s House
Picture of house

experience. Knowing, however, that he already had the nod from the New York City Trustees and the sanction of dominant local sentiment, Dr. Eaton accepted the Board’s selection. The President-elect magnanimously sought him out, the morning after his public statement, to tell Eaton that he admired his frankness and was confident they could cooperate for the best interest of the University.

Finances from 1850 to 1869 are perhaps a more graphic index of the University’s recovery and progress than its administration. With the settlement of the Removal issue there were liabilities of over $30,000 and no funds. Professors Eaton and Spear and Treasurer Alvah Pierce of the Education Society at once set to work trying to raise the $60,000 endowment decided on in May 1850. They began in Hamilton where the residents subscribed approximately $21,000 with Professor Spear and his father jointly heading the list with $2,200 and Deacons Pierce and William Cobb with $2,000 each. Before classes resumed in the fall, Eaton and Spear conducted a two-and-a-half-week campaign among New York City Baptists. Starting with Deacon William Colgate, at whose gracious home they were “nicely domiciled,” they interviewed other friends and addressed public meetings, often encountering Professor Raymond, John N. Wilder and others who were competing with

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Removal controversy resolved (p. 133)

Posted on May 3, 2012 by | Comments Off on Removal controversy resolved (p. 133)

was contingent, failed to discharge their trust properly in that they had not met together to examine the legal difficulties. Judge Gridley by permanent injunction, issued April 23, 1850, therefore decreed that Madison University should remain in Hamilton and that the compact of 1847 between the Education Society and the University Trustees should be binding. A milestone had been reached.

The Removalists charged that the Gridley decision was based on technicalities and that it thwarted the wishes of a large proportion of Baptists of New York State. Professor Eaton reminded them that a judicial opinion does not “ordinarily take within its scope the great principles involved in a contested case when technicalities present themselves at the threshold which wholly invalidate the legality of the project proposed and resisted.” In Eaton’s opinion the judge, though avoiding a discussion of principles, had shown his knowledge of them.

Meanwhile, the Removalists had set about drafting plans for a new institution to be named the “University of Rochester” and appointed committees to obtain funds and a charter. Especially active were Ira Harris, Friend Humphrey, John N. Wilder, and David R. Barton. On January 31, 1850, the Regents of the University of the State of New York issued a provisional charter. The next May, the Removalists held an educational convention in Rochester to found the New York Baptist Union for Ministerial Education, a counterpart to the Education Society, which was soon to establish a seminary in connection with the University.

The friends of Hamilton, believing that Judge Gridley’s decision would not be reversed even if the Rochester supporters saw fit to appeal it, now set about to secure the financial resources which Madison University so desperately needed. Many prospective donors had withheld their contributions pending settlement of the question of location. The Education Society’s Treasurer, Alvah Pierce, confronted by a diminishing annual income, had been forced to sell some of the organization’s real estate and use bequests to reduce the heavy floating debt. The University, dependent entirely on income from tuition, contributions, and some state aid, had a deficit also. Under the leadership of Eaton, Hascall, Spear, and others, the Baptists of the village and fellow citizens, meeting on May 2, 1850, decided to raise an endowment of $60,000.

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Posted in Chapter 7, p. 133, The Removal Controversy, 1847-1850, timeline

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p. 123 – The removal controversy, 1847-1850

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The issue of location now apparently settled, the Trustees two days later empowered their Provisional Committee, i.e. executive committee, to take necessary steps to effect the transfer and appointed a special committee on a site and buildings in Rochester. At the last session Jacob Knapp, James B. Eldredge, and Lewis Wickwire, representing Hamilton citizens, appeared to present a new bond of $50,000 as a guarantee for obtaining the endowment. The Trustees, countering that they regretted their inability to accept the proposal, instructed the Provisional Committee “to converse with them upon the subject of retaining here an Institution of Learning, or of such arrangements as may conduce to the removal of all difficulties.”

The Education Society’s Board, many of whose members had been sitting with the University Trustees as regular members or by invitation, met hastily on the morning of Wednesday, August 15, to consider the latter’s resolutions. Formal action was necessary since the Society would assemble for its annual meeting within a few hours. The Education Society Trustees voted unanimously:

 

That we adopt the Resolution lately passed by the Board of Madison
University, respecting a removal to Rochester. That upon the consid-
erations therein contained, the Education Society release the Board of
Madison University, whenever said University shall be prepared to
quit Hamilton from the obligations of any contract between said So-
ciety and the University Board, so far as the same would obstruct that
removal.

 

 

The Education Society Board also resolved, Deacon Alvah Pierce and Archibald Campbell dissenting,

 

That this Board recommend to the Education Society under the
grave circumstances in which Divine Providence has placed them, and
considering the general wishes of the Churches throughout this State
as favoring a removal of this school of the Prophets to another location,
to take measures for the removal of their Institution to Rochester.

 

 

Adjournment followed at once to permit the members to attend the annual meeting which convened at ten o’clock at the Baptist Church.

Since several new Society members from Hamilton were present who only that day or shortly before had paid the annual fee of one dollar, the Removalists looked upon them as interlopers whose sole purpose was to thwart the University’s relocation. Later investigations revealed that a large proportion were Baptists in good standing and

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p. 120 – The removal controversy, 1847-1850

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showed great energy in collecting endowment subscriptions. Dr. Kendrick, now definitely aligned with them because he had been alienated by the bitterness of the Wyoming Address, wrote numerous letters soliciting support. His appeals had unique poignancy because they came from a bed of pain. He informed one graduate, “I find myself wasting away. I know not that I shall live to see the removal question settled. I trust God will order it right. Help me with your prayers.”

Professor Eaton, the most active of the collecting agents, traveled widely to speak in the churches. He had anticipated that the Removalists might try to confine the money-raising campaign to Central New York or to hamper it in other ways and his apprehensions proved well-grounded. He had scarcely expressed them when the Madison Observer, published at the neighboring village of Morrisville, printed a communication entitled “Shall Hamilton village be endowed?” The author, identified as John S. Holme, a member of the Senior Class, asserted that the people of Central New York had no obligation to contribute since the principal benefits would accrue to Hamilton. Professor Eaton made a heated reply and the editor of the Democratic Reflector flayed the student for being “forgetful of his proper place.”

Week after week the Reflector, the Baptist Register and the Recorder were filled with charges and counter-charges. Professors Raymond and A. C. Kendrick, writing under pseudonyms, urged against contributing to the endowment, while Professor Eaton, signing himself variously as “Christianus” or “an Agent,” undertook to meet their arguments. By August, when the Hamiltonians began to despair of raising the $50,000 within the time allowed, the editor of the Reflector pleaded with the villagers to cover the deficit with a bond. He asserted that, with the University gone, all business would be paralyzed.

The week of August 10-17, 1848, was the most turbulent period of the Removal Controversy. Excitement reached an intensity compara­ble to the temperature which prevailed on those hot summer days as clouds of dust, stirred by the carriages hurrying along dry roads, settled in the front parlors newly made ready for guests who had come to Hamilton for the Education Society’s annual meeting and the commencement. Foremost in the mind of everyone was the future location of the University, an issue overshadowing all else, even the orations of the graduating class.’

Attention focused first on the deliberations of the University Trus-

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p. 98 – Administrative problems and incorporation, 1833-1846

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Bangkok two years after his graduation. The money was in payment of his student loan even though his notes had been canceled when he sailed for the mission field.

Since collections and gifts failed to meet the needs of the Institution, the Trustees resorted to other measures. Charges for tuition and board were raised in the mid-’30’s. Special subscription campaigns were launched for salaries and debts, but it is not clear, however, what the cash returns actually were since it often happened that subscribers paid only part of their pledges. In 1837 the Trustees decided that it would be expedient to start a drive for a $50,000 endowment fund. Such a venture required caution because many Baptists, William Colgate among them, opposed an endowment on the ground that income from such a source would make the Institution independent of the churches whose agency it was and who had been its chief support. Dr. Kendrick, who was thoroughly familiar with this objection and also with the condition of the treasury, wrote with some asperity in the 1837 Annual Report “There is a happy medium between a state of penury, which paralyzes [sic] all the energies of the Society, and cripples the Institution in its faculty and students, and such a profusion of funds as allures to luxury, and induces to forgetfulness of a daily dependence on the Father of mercies.” Even the most sanguine Board members had no expectation of a “profusion of funds,” but they did hope that enough might be raised from a regular income to defray a part of the annual expenses. In 1839 the goal was raised to $100,000, but five years later not more than $10,000 had been collected. It was not until 1850 that efforts to establish an endowment succeeded.

The beauty of the campus and the village in their setting of rolling hills, broad valleys, woods, and farmland invariably drew appreciative comments from visitors and students. By the middle 1830’s the campus included about 170 acres. Most of it was given over to cultivated fields and pasture which supplied the Boarding Hall with dairy products, meat and vegetables; 50 acres were occupied by the Institution’s buildings and Samuel Payne’s home. Near the buildings were walks and groves often used by the students for retreat and meditation.

Landscaping did not seem to awaken the Trustees’ interest until 1836 when they appointed a committee for laying out the grounds. They also offered a prize of $70.00 for the best plan which united “the greatest beauty and simplicity with the least expense in consumma-

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Posted in Administrative Problems and Incorporation, 1833-1846, Chapter 6, p. 98

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