The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1904-09-08
SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE.

SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE.
Centennial Celebration, January 10, io05.-liis. I
tory Before the War.
The centennial Of the opening of the
South Carolina college will be celebrated
on the 10th Of January, 1905. The CEN
tennial Of the chartering of the College
was celebrated December 10, 1901, In
Charleston, during the Exposition. The :
chief object of this celebration, as empha-
sized at the time, was to lead up to a.
worthy celebration of the true centennial
Of the life of the college in January, 1901,
when it is expected that hundreds OF
alumni from all parts Of the country will
be present in Columbia to signalize one {,
of the most notable events in the history
of the State
The establishment of State College, q
conceived by John Rutledge, was recon-
mended to the legislature by Gov. John
Drayton, in November, 1901, and was
carried successfully through that body by &
81. W. DeSaussure, afterwards Chance1-
lor, and until his death, in 1889, q bulwark
of strength to the South Carolina college,
The Governor, in his message, referred TO !.
the advantage of an institution supported
by public funds: ''the means could not be-
wanting of inviting and providing for
learned and respectable professors in the
various branches Of science" and the
need of common center of education In J
the State: "The friendships of young mem
would thence be promoted and strengths.
ened throughout the State, and our polit-s
ical union be much advanced thereby."s
The character" of the college, ratified
December 19, 1901, bears the SIM
pie title, AN act to establish college az
Columbia" and is signed, "John Ward
president of the Senate, Theodore Call.
lard, speaker of the House Of Represents
tives." The object was thus set forth fn
the preamble: Whereas, the proper edu.:
cation of youth contributes to the pros
perity of society, and ought always to be-
an object of legislative attention; and:
whereas, the establishment Of college In
the central part of the State, where all its
youth may be educated, will highly pro-
mote the instruction, the good order and
the harmony of the whole community.y
The chief provisions of the act were the
following: "That his excellency the Gov
I'ernor, his honor the Lieutenant-G Governors
the honorable the president of the Senate
and the speaker Of the House of Repre-
sentatives, the honorable the. Associate
Judges of the Court of Equity, shall be,
ex-of1cio, together with Gen. Charles c.
Pinckaey, n. W. DeSaussure, Thomas
Taylor, the Rev. d. E. Dunlap, the Rev. 4
Mr.. John Brown of Lancaster, Wade
Hampton, John Chestnut, James B. Rich
ardson, DR.. Isaac Alexander, Henry Dams
Ward, the Rev. Samuel W. Yongue, VIII.
liam Falconer, and Bartlee Smyth." The
trustees of the South Carolina Colleges "a 81
and shall draw "out of the treasury Of
this State the sum of fifty thousand del-S
lars, to be appropriated to the purpose Of {
erecting building of brick or stone, and
covered with tile or slate, suitable to the
accommodation of the students of the said
College, and suitable for fully carryingon
the education of the said students, and for
the erection of such other buildings as
may be necessary for the use of the said
college" The comptroller is authorized
Ito pay over to said trustees the sum of
six thousand dollars, yearly and every
year, to be appropriated to the purpose Of
paying the salaries OF the faculty of the
said college, and for the further support
of the same" That the said trustees,
with the concurrence Of the commi@ion-
ers of Columbia, shall be empowered to-
make choice of any square or squares, yet
unsold, in the town of Columbia, for the
purpose of erecting said college, and the
buildings attached thereto, having strict
reference to every advantage of convent
ence necessary for such institution. !"
With these small beginnings but ex-
alted aims the college was opened Jam
uary 10, 1905, with the President and one
| other professor two more professors be-
ing secured during the SESSION., and with
a few students, numbering in six months
twenty.nine. The first student enrolled
was William Harper, afterwards the dis
tinguished Chancellor, and the first grad,
uated Tin 18O6) was Anderson Crenshaw,
of Newberry county, afterwards the dis
tinguished Chancellor of Alabama. The
President, from 1904 to his death, in 1820,
was Jonathan Maxcy, native of Msssa-
chusetts, who, at "a, was President Of
Brown University, and later succeeded
Jonathan Edwards as President of Union
cOlleSe, ulliuS eaCu piesiusuCy Will otdSs
liant success, and still ranked by each in-
stitution as one of its greatest presidents.
he was Baptist preacher, and already
"at the North he was regarded as unriv-g
aled in the pulpit His students, Petit
CRU and O'Neal, in after years, pronounc-
ed him the greatest of orators. Themon-
ument standing in the center of the COLI
lege campus was erected to his memory
by the Clariosophic society.
Up to the war the history of the college
and the history of the State were one;
during that brilliant half-century almost
all the distinguished. men of the State and
many of the leaders of the Southwest
were graduates of the South Carolina COL
lege, Congressman, Senators, Judges,
Governors. When the war came, students
and alumni rushed to the defense oftheir