The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1886-06-11
WAKE FOREST COLLEGE.
ruI. IL IT'S FIFTY-SECOND YEAR
OF ESS.
slefchc, of Its Presidents--Its Buildings
and Ground>--This Weeks Commence
u,,ut Exercises.

WAKE FOREST, n. c., June 10, 1886. =
r lrrst 1892 the Baptist State Con
,ertr.l met at kicves's Chapel in the
,gnty Of Chatham. 1t had been previ-
.lJy determined to establish an institu-
... upon the Manual Labor plan and the
State convention of '32 was charged with
,an duty Of selecting site. Many places
uere commended. The present location
'grrn were 600 acres was purchased
from br. Calvin Jones for the sum Of two
Noa-And dollars Fifteen hundred dollars
Nj Tins amount was raised during the scs-
.ot ~ the Convention and the remainder
sh8~IS hereafter
I'll tbs connection it is 4 noteworthy
,.rsdence that the 1st of November / 192
tAs Trustees Of the University met in
lAett,am county, III Pittsboro to receive
sr,posd, for the location of the Unver
>ty Forty years later the Baptists of the
State met III Chatham county and agreed
rpoa = location of their denomnational
corsc. Chatham county. therefore, while
neither of the G institutions are located in
t- porderS is the birth place of both.
In November 1888 the Baptist Conven-
tion met at Dockerys Meeting House in
Richmond county and appointed forty
Trustees of Wake Forest Manual Labor
Institute, as it was called. 1t is said that
ia the part of Wake county bounded by
Nrusc River on the South, the Fran Kiln
line 0u the West, and Smiths Greek on the
East, the original oak forest was unusually
fine. On this account the section was
called The Forest of Wake, or Wake Forest.
Hence was derived the name of the college.
lu December following the meeting of
the Baptist Convention at Rives's Chapel
committee consisting of William Hooper,
Thomas Meredith, John Armstrong, and
samuel Wait met III Raleigh to secure a
master for tho school. Three of this com
mjttec recommended Samuel Wait for this
position. lie accepted, but as the school
buildings We're not yet erected he spent
the year in circulating information about
the school and in securing students and fur
liture for the new establishment On the
first Monday IN February in 1894 the school
opened with "a students and one nstruc-
tor During the first session seventy We're
enrolled
Iu recounting the disadvantages under
which the school opened, DR.. Wait tells US
That he had seven good log cabins made
mu,,Iy of white oak, with hewn logs, good
floors, etc. These houses We're originally
lullt tar the servants of Dir. Jones. The
uulY place in which he could convene the
Students for morning and evening prayers
or lectures was the building erected by
lr Jones for a carriage house, 16 feet
by "A.
The session of the Legislature of 1898 4
granted a charter for the Wake Eorest In
,Jltutc by close vote, there being a tie in
the Senate. Mr.. Vim. ID. Mosely, Chairs
man voted for the charter, thus securing
it, The charter allowed the Institute to
hold but fifty thousand dollars worth of
property and refused Il, eXampt it from
taxation. hrof /. X. Mills has charac-
,eri ed this policy as marrow minded and
uigoted Acting under this charter the
Trustees appointed Elder John Armstrong
to solicit aid for the erection of suitable
buildings. Within one year Elder Arm
strong had secured Tl3, 400 payable in five
anAAal nstallmepts. During the year
53l the prospects became gloomy the
young Institute was in debt, seven Of the
Trustees resigned, and there was not a
IJlIe dissatisfaction At meeting of the
Board in 1886 Messrs. Hooper, Skinner
and Dockery were appointed ito adopt
thc best means Of raising $40, ,667.6 for
the purpose OF endowing professorshlp.
Tins is the first me4tiun made of e1dow-
naut in connection with the school.
IN 1887 the first building, costing $l4,
5o1 was finished. In 1888 the charter OF
he Institute was amended, the manual
labor system discontinued, and the name
ehansel to Wake Ioresr~Callege In 1915
Rev VIM. Hooper, II. D.,Sesigned the
Presidency of the College and\Mr. W. II.
Jordan, the Presidency of the\9oard OF
Trustees. The college was in debt with nc
funds TO discharge the debt. 1t wasf
time of extremity. But-as they always
are North Carolina Baptists We're equa
to the emergency and in 1S49 the entire
debt was paid In this year, after the
-bl-gay-on9 against .he college had beer
settled, Mr.. Barclay Bowers, of Warrer
county, gave to Rev, j. $. Purefoy, the
college agent, ten dOlars-the first money
ever given for the endowment. From thai
day forward there were brighter days fo1
the college and in its halls no less thar
two thousand young men have been edrl
| Gated
an 4:;esideHrs OF the Csliese.
lhe first President of Wake Forest wa
Rev samuel Wait, i. d. He was horn il
Washington county. New York, Dec. nth
1su. lie graduated at Columbian Col
egf Washington, D. c., and was for
while tutor in that college He first cam
q North Carolina in 1927 on a collectin:
tour for that college. He SO favorabl,
impressed the New Berne Raptiats that h
e.-l-u tnefe as pastor in November 1927
so sooner had he made North Carolina hi
home than he began to labor for the ac
c0mpllshment of two Objects-the organi
IdtlOn OF a convention ana the establish
ment of a Baptist organ. He became tn
first corresponding secretary of the Stat
convention which was organized at Green
vile IN March, 1882. For four years b
Ia elled Though the State enlightenin
he people on the subject of missions. II
also set on foot plans to secure a Baptis
organ In 1882 he was appointed Maste
Of Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute.
Until June 1916, period of fourtee
years, he was President OF the institution
liz aa5 aftarWaFds fr9sidenl Of ienla1
school in Oxford, then pastor of churcht
.I Caawell county. He died in July la6
at the residence Of his daughter, Mrs.
i. Brewer, honored and respected by al
and loved with surprising devotion by tt
Baptists of North Carolina
I pom the resignation of Dir. Wait, wi
lam Hooper, y. D., IL. d., one OF tt
F.pesl scholars the State has produced, WI
elected President The financial emba
rassnent of the college at this time di
outraged him and he did not long RENAL
~ this position. He was elected Presidel
70 October o45 and resigned IN dune 4S4
~ Hooper had been one of the first Tru
tees Of the college, and had always man
+eated an interest in its welfare. he W;
grand son Of Vim. Hooper, who signt
tA6 declaration of independence, and w
09rn near Wilmington in 1899; graduate
Al Chapel Hill in 1912 read theology