The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-04-30
PHILANTHROPIsT PEARSONS.
ChicagOan Who Has Quietly Given
S3,OOO,OOO to Colleges.

ST. Louis Post Dispatch.
DR.. d. X. Pearsons has given nearly S.
100000 TO American colleges. Directly or IN
directly, he has Deen, the cause of raising
nearly so, 900 0OJ for the cause of American
education during the last ten years. For
each dollar that he gave he required that
two be raised by the college receiving the
Until ten years ego DR.. Pearsons confined
himself TO making money. He made lot
of IL. Now he is giving it away 1t all came
about in an extraordinary manner
He was born in Vermont in $50. In 1871
he and his wife came West on a visit 10
Elgin, H., the terminus of the railroad
they drove through the deep mud, forded the
at little wooden tavern to rest. or mat
trip DR.. Pearsons, who now lives in Chi
cago, has said:
the doctor, lone of those big, burly fellows
who always get into new country. climbed
along we saw sG brick G building going up, and
| asked the man, What are they doing
here Why. there are some Yankee cranks
rather hit me. When they call me Yankee
L take off my hat and bow, and when they
cal me me an old Puritan make ib6 three bows
everything that was good and stood up for
Christian education the best I knew how
Nnen we got 10 GAINESVILLE | shook my list
in his face and said: old fellow am going
West and in few years / am going to be
rich, and when do ! am going to help lift
are building up L had my eye on Beloit
at that time
And so it came to pass that when the
doctors. SEVENTEEN birthday arrived he took
stock of his goods and decided that it was
time for him to DO something for American
Beloit, and there his first donation was
placed. Prior to that time he had aided
nearly every charity in Chicago. His last
Ky. On an average he has aided two col
Ieges a year since he commenced, but he has
never helped college that did not show
II never give to a rich college," he says.
/ never will. Most of our great men have
menced my work of specially aiding strug-
Cling institutions l had divided about $780,
e. Go b between TIVE n, the Chicago Theological Sem
The list OF schools have endowed or found
ed up to date is as follows: Chicago The;
SSlogicai Seminary; Mccormick Theological
seminary, Beoit, Wis; Yankton.. S. D.; Col
Cal; Pacific University, Oregon; Whitman,
Kentucky; Marietta. Ohio: Olivet, Michigan;
Lawrence University, Wisconsin: Mount
Holyoke Massachusetts Sheridan, Wyom-
ing: Fargo. North Dakota; Anatole Turkey:
Salt Lake, Utah. mount AanS'S'
lege at Sheridan. Wyo.. and afterwards sent
the trustees check for So, 1000 Whatever
l do is done on business principles After
working hard for seventy years and prac-
ticing right economy to lay up money,
said to myself: What am l going to do with
TINS? can't carry it out of the world with
me. concluded to help the cause of edu-
cation. In this my wife heartily con-
Cured: eve have no children.) In fact,
there is only one point on which we differ.
She does not think L give money fast
enough.
Il never endow a college unless it has
a religious denomination back of it. / usu-
ally hitch my car on to the Congregational
train. They were the first people to begin
building colleges in this country. They
grown! to gigantic proportions under the
fostering care of their education society
But, then; any struggling Christian college,
Notwithstanding these facts, am not
member of any religious sect. 1 the
master OF ID. h: Pearsons and always have
been. L have had millions of dollars in
trusted to me. In my time / have known
great many people and handled great deal
OF money have made all the money 1
What we need is Character building. I
couldn't accomplish half as much without
the help of these denominations. Now, 1
doa't pose as a benevolent man. 1 haven't
a particle of benevolence in me. / am the
most economical, close-fsted man you ever
set your eyes on | don't think l ever fool
a theater but once in my life and then /
was ashamed of myself. never went to
a horse race a baseball game or to one
of these football games that students all
over the country are making consummate
fools of themselves about. No. L am
thrifty and frugal old man. I have labored
nearly eighty years to make money and
have made it, and honestly, too.
II started life poor-as poor as the devil.
STILL | managed to get fair education and
finally took degree in medicine at Dart
mouth College. But my wife got me out
of that. She told me to go to work
$50 we moved to Illinois and / went into
the real estate business. / sold millions
of acres of land in Illinois for the illinois
Central Railroad Michael Sullivan the
farmer king, and others. Then 1 began the
business OF loanlng money for other peO-
pie. / was often trusted with thousands of
dollars for which the owners had not a
scrap Of paper 10 show. / soon built up a
large business on my own account and am
still identified with many large enterprises
in Chicago"