The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-18
TEN YEARS OF ALABAMA
No. 45-The University of Alabama
18651874
fConcluded.)

1 presidency. There Is no record of his ser
 vice or even of his arrival at his post
 after January, 1S70
 A former union leader was elected in
 July of that year to fill the presidency i from the institution, n representative in | Congress before the war. delegate in the 1 secession convention colonel of an Ala 1 bama infantry regiment in the Confeder- i ate army, defeated candidate for gov
 ernor in the Parsons regime, and withal
 a man of decided literary ability. Along l with Smith. Gen. John H. Forney of Ala l bama was chosen to a chair in the fac
 ulty. a graduate of West Point, who re-
 signed from the old army to enter the l Confederate service, where he won dls- 1 tinction. General Forney took q seat in
 the two horse mail stage from Selma to
 enter upon his duties. As he alighted at the postoffice, Ryland Randolph, who had served under him in the war. with a
 nersonal acquaintance, invited him 10 dir-
 ner at the nearby hotel Randolph at
 dinner explained to the general the con ditions at the university, the dlsreputable administration, personal character of the | faculty, paucity of students and improb-
 ability of payment of salary. The gen eral ordered his trunk placed upon the
 stage and returned whence he had come MlAllpul tNti d NlSll lO lilt fHIDDuS.
 Prof. J. de r. Richards, also president
 pro tenn, sheriff of Wilcox, contractor
 10 feed prisoners, carpet bagger legislator
 had some personal experience while set
 ting out to take his seat in the capitol. A
 citizen of Tuscaloosa had engaged two seats, the rear seats of the stage. and l paid the fare, one for young lady he had been requested to escort to Montgomery, the other for himself The l Ff1Rp called q residence of the lady, where she en-
 tered the hour before dawn. The driver stopped for be Richards He took the
 seat next her Arrived at the designated
 point, where the escort would be taken up, he, on finding his seat occupied ex- plained to Richards. the contractor with the request that he should change to
 the front seat. The professor declined. Thereupon the rightful claimant seized his collar, dragged him 10 the ground and entered upon possession. Richards im- mediatelY took the vacant front seat and the party went forward 10 catch the steamboat at Selma for their destination. The Ku Klux Klan became actively interested in the university. In full sym
 pathy with the citizens of Tuscaloosa and of the state at large. KuKlux no- tces were posted on the doors to certain students to leave the institution without delay, accompanied by declaration of pur- pose to close it until decent conditions could be established.
 The things that were done, and the
 doers and their relations to the life of the state make up our claim to recognition. Ryland Randolph was a son of Commander Randolph of the United States navy, Commodore Ran dolph of the Confederate states He
 was born near Eutaw. His home had always been in Alabama, but having
 lost his mother, in infancy, hls father
 kept him aboard ship and thus he had sailed many seas and seen many lands before he entered his teens. He was proud Of his ancient and famous lin-
 cage and his pride made of him ready antagonist, a fearless champion of the right a partisan devotee to his cause
 and his family He had before the war
 matriculated at the University of Ala
 bama and came to defense now with | YiZor down.
 The Monitor made continuous, Vehe-
 ment and eXasperating attacks on the
 faculty The members were taken up one by one. and eXcoriated relentless ] iy Professor Vaughan was denounced
 as a wife-beater, a drunken Incubus
 and incompetent one smith. q stu- i ldent. son ot one of the regents and nephew Of President William K smith was burdened by suspicion Of grand larceny in his position as steward of
 the students mess hall. Randolph had
 notice to keep watch on Vaughn. On certain forenoon Vaughan and smith drove a light wagon with load led guns into Tuscaloosa. Randolph.