The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1899-07-05
UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI.
A Brilliant Commencement-Cei celebration
of Its SEMI Centennial Annivsrsary.

The completion of half century il
an event to be commemorated. and es
| pecially where that institution is the
great university of a great State. The
semi-centennial anniversary of the Uni
versity of Mississippi was to have beer
observed last fall, at the opening of the
session just closed, but yellow fever
and quarantine troubles smash all pro
| grams, and the university and all other
schools in the State had all they could
do to get moved off on the regula,
routine of school work.
The University of Mississippi was in
corporated Feb. "a, 1s44 Its first
trustees were: j. Alexander VentreSs
John A. Quitman, William l.. Sharkey
Alexander NJ. Clayton, William Y.
Gholson, Jacob Thompson, Pryor Lea,
Edward Carey Wilkinson, James NJ.
Howry, John J. McCaughan, Rev. Fran
| els Hawkes., John n. Waddel, A. II.
Pegues. There have been niuety-three
trustees to date, and of this number
fifty-six have passed over the river. In
the list are the names of one cabinet
minister, four United States senators,
four representatives in congress, three
representatives in the Confederate con
grcSs, three United States and Confed-
crate States judges, five chief justices
of the supreme court of Mississippi,
three associate justices of the supreme
court, ten circuit judges and chancel-
lors, one bishop, eight doctors of divin-
ity nine doctors of law. Judge J. a.
Orr, of Columbus. is the oldest trustee.
Forty-two of the ninety-three were APP
pointed prior to, and fifty since his APP
pointmcnt, in 1872. Of the ffty-siX
who have died, thirty seven died dur
ing his connection with the university.
The present distinguished and popu-
lar chancellor, Robert Fulton, was a
tutor in the university whcn Judge Orr
first became a trustee. He was the
6rst-honor man of the class OF 1869.
Among the other members of that class
were: Judge +. A. Critz, Rev. James A.
Mecklin, Robert II. Thompson. William
Calvin Wells. Mr. Fulton became chan
cellor in 1892, succeeding Chancellor
Mayes, who resigned.
The chancellors of the university
from lS4s to date: George F. Holmes,
A. r. Longstreet, f. A. p. Barnard,
John n. Waddel. A. p. Stewart, Ed
ward Mayes, Robert Fulton.
The war of 1876 suspended the
work of the university. On the 2sth of
February, 1861, one hundred and thirty
five of the students enrolled in the
university Greys," Company A, Flew
enth Mississippi. and of these thirty
were killed or died of wounds. 1t is
estimated that fully four-hfths of the
young men whose names appear on the
rolls of university from its organization
up to the beginning of the civil war,
enlisted in the Confederate service.
During the war the buildings We're oc-
cupied sometimes by Confederate and
sometimes by Federal soldiery. Soon
after the battle of Shiloh they were
used as a hospital, and gave shelter to
about fifteen hundred sick and wounded
Confederates. More than seven hun
dred sleep in unmarked graves in a
cemetery near the university campus.
Through the influence of Professors
Barnard, Boynton and others, with
General Grant, the buildings and APP
paratus were but very little damaged
by the Federal soldiery. a costly telc-
scope was removed and placed in a
Chicago observatory, and it has never
been returned.
Immediately after the war the stu
dents were of class never before seen
in any American college. They were
the sons of parents who had been pros
porous or wealthy, but whose means,
except their lands, had been swept
away by war. Many of these young
men had served in the Confederate
army. Some had empty sleeves, and
others wooden legs. With such prepar-
alton for college as these circumstances
suggest, they came with possibly as
little of scholastic attainments as those
students who entered in 1913; but they
came with determination born of ne
cessity. The efforts put forth and the
influence felt while in the university
resulted in the development of a type
of manly character and power which
cannot be equalled by the records of
any other American college. A study
of the life-work of this group of stu
dents verifies this strong statement.
Through all the vicissitudes of the
reconstruction period the university
experienced the same good fortune
which attended it during the civil war.
There was a decided disposition among
some who then ruled the State to open
the doors of the university to the black
race, as was done in some of the other
Southern States. Several of the old
trustees--Howry, Yerger and others
had been removed, and their places
filed by Ames from csrpetbag politi-
clans and native Republicans; but,
thanks to majority of these, and es-
pecially to Governor Acorn, the uni
versity was permitted to pursue the
even tenor of its way.
In 1880 the debt due the university
on account of the seminary fund was
stated, by legislative act, to be s544,-
O61.22. On this the State pays an an
nual interest of & per cent-S32, 643. CO..
In addition to this the State has made
occasional appropriations for improve
ments; but it is evident that other
buildings are much needed. The law
department, for instance, has no room
for library, to the great disadvantage
of the students.
The total number of individual stu
dents enrolled in the university from
1s4s to 1898, inclusive, is 1891. OF these
$50 took the Bachelor of Arts degree;
AL the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
The honorary degree of Doctor of Laws
has been conferred on SO; of Doctor of
Divinity on "a The total number of
alumni 1884,
The first student enrolled in the uni
versity, and the first to receive a dlplo-