The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-11-10
BIRTH
Yale's Action Caused the
establishment Of the
College Of New
Jersey.
STARTED IN NEWARK.
But the Niggardness of That City
Drove the Institution to the
Mercer Village.
STARTED IN NEWARK.


Readers OF the Public Opinion" col
umn In last Sundays Newark Cali
says that paper may have wondered at
the statement in the William r. Weeks
communication. anent a new High
School. that ''Newark's lack of hber-
atty caused it to lose in 1756 the Col
egs Of New Jersey AS may have been
inferred, there was much more behind
the statement than appears upon It's
surface. 1t was not made at random,
but represents much painstaking re-
search, much patient rummagins among
the archives, the brushing Of the dust
of decades from many time-stained
and crumbling volumes by the gentle
man who made the assertion. 1t is the
purpose of this article to inform those
who never knew it before that the Col
lege of New Jersey was once located in
this city. and also to set forth how
the city suffered the college to fold its
tents and steal silently away to the
more congenial community at Prince
ton, where it has grown to be one of
the greatest and grandest educational
Institutions throughout the length and
VA Se4 "a AAA1
Mr.. Weeks, while gathering data for
a history of Newark Academy, a oc-
casion to investigate the records kept at
Trenton. He found there a collection of
reports submitted by the public chool
superintendent to the State Board OF
Education in 1875. purporting to give
a histor y of the early schools in the sew
eral counties. He secured the loan of
these documents, and On invitation of
the State Board mas agreed to prepare
8 report in which he will collate and
arrange all the material he has been
able to gather both from county super
~intendents' reports and from other sourc-
es concerning the rise and growth OF
school instruction in colonial New jersey
When finished the document Will be a
contribution of genuine value to the
States historical literature. From what
the writer has been able to learn OF 1t,
the report will be a sort of revelation
to many, and will to the thoughtful
mind prove more interesting than the
as it will present a wealth Of facts
most of which have been buried under
the dust OF a hundred years. tn re-
and Sehoolmasters of New Jersey"
PRINCETON A SURPRISE.
But now for Princeton. She takes up
but e portion of the report, but. that
portion is a series of surprises. Scores
OF young Newarkers have In the last
half century gone to the classic halls
of old Nassau there to acquire learn
ing, and have taken high honors, passed
out into real life and risen to eminenee.
Most of them may have been aware
that their alma mater once had her
abiding place here, but beyond this fact
little seems to have been known. In
difference on the part of the people OF
Newark seems to ave been the only
reason. for the colleges removal. AT
all events, 1t is quite certain that II
IT, Il fA-r.-qn11rL bod ~ n~nrtnd fhaTaGalunG
with any degree of energy they could
have made the college trustees glad
to keep the institution where it was.
If the town had erected for the college
a single building the institution would
beyond much doubt have been Newarks
forever, for at the time the college had
40 property to speak of, SO that TO re-
move to Princeton practically meant the
transportation of students and instruct
orS.
If there had been a building to leave
behind, the college in it's weak state
would scarcely have been stirred. Then
it would have been Newark instead of
Princeton College, and the students OF
today would have ended their college cry
with the former rather than the latter.
Think Of it, Princeton College in New
ark How much it would mean to the
city today, as well as to the college.
Princeton College made the town of
Princeton what it is, and Newark and
other. Newark has become great and
prosperous without the college; what
would Newark have become with 1t! The
dream to what grand heights the college
was to attain, but neither did the PEG
pie of Princeton nor the trustees who
advocated the change. eva has had
and has grasped many of them, but the
town let it's golden opportunity slip
through its fingers when it allowed the
college to take itself hence
Rcv. Jonathan Dickinson graduated at
Yale in 1706, and became the pastor of a
church at Elizabeth In 1903. He estab-
lished also a classical school In his house
for the university. 1t would seem that
like q loyal son of his alma mater the
good dominic sent youngsters to Yale
whenever he could. and now comes one
of the oldest features connected with the
founding of the College of New Jersey.
MIR. Dickinson" says the old narrative,
had long felt the necessity Of a eoE
legiate institution more accessible than
Harvard or Yale. for the colonies this
side of New England: and the course
pursued by the authorities of Yale Col
David Brainerd. his degree on account
of q slight irregularity, and for whom
ne and Burr had both interceded In vain,
determined him to establish, If possible,
a college in New Jersey"
Thus we see that Princeton College,
in O. way, owes it's existence today to the
fact that a Yale man was dropped
When the august dignitaries of old Eli
refused to tolerate Master Brainerd's
Irregularities further. and sent him
forth from among them, they hadn't the
smallest conception of what was to be
the inal outcome of their action. In q
word:-Princeton, as Princeton, would
never have had the chance to give Yale
the drubbing at football that she Gid last
Thanksgiving Day if a certain Yale man
hadn't received his walking papers nearly
$50 years ago.
PRINCETON'S FIRST CHARTER.
According to one account the first
charter of the college of New Jersey
was obtained on October %, 1916, just las
years ago. A notice appeared in the
New York Gazette" on February 2,
1747, setting forth the establishment of
the new college, and On April 20, 1747,
the Gazette" stated that Mr.. Dickinson
had been appointed President and that
the college would be opened at Eliza
beth in May. 1747. Mr.. Dickinson's house
(the first college of New Jersey was on
Che soI1th side of th6 old Railway road