unnecessary, I trust, to add that I did not appropriate any of this 

 applause to myself, 



I must say something of the unhappy controversies which distracted 

 Mr. Wilson's administration and robbed it of much of its usefulness. I 

 was a supporter of his policies, but I think I can appreciate and do 

 justice to the views of those who thought it their duty to oppose him. 

 There were two subjects of debate, the site of the Graduate College and 

 the clubs, which, though originally quite distinct, became inextricably 

 intermingled. In 1903 Dean West had published a book on The Pro- 

 posed Graduate College of Princeton University, illustrated by the 

 architects' drawings. The building, and this is a very important point, 

 was designed for the "Academy Lot," the large plot of ground along 

 Washington Road on v/hich McCosh and Dickinson Halls and the new 

 chapel now stand. At that time only the Marquand Chapel and the 

 Dean's house then stood on it. Mr. Wilson wrote a preface for West's 

 book, in which he gave his approval to the plan. 



The Class of '79, which had arranged to erect their dormitory, now 

 Seventy-nine Hall, for their twenty-fifth anniversary, in 1904 had 

 selected the Academy Lot for their site, but gave this up in favour of 

 the Graduate College. The history of the lot is a romantic one, more like 

 a sensational novel than sober fact. In my Mother's young days, there 

 had been an academy for boys on this site and Washington Road was 

 then called "Academy Lane." When the school was abandoned, it was 

 bought by Mr, Thomas Potter, who then lived in Prospect, and the 

 building was removed. From time to time, Mr. Potter bought other 

 lots along the Lane, until he had acquired all the land between William 

 Street and the present line of McCosh Walk. In his will, Mr. Potter 

 bequeathed to his son WilHam the "Academy Lot," without specifying 

 just what he meant by that term. Mr. William Potter wished to sell 

 this land to the College, which was equally anxious to buy it, but could 

 not, because of the lack of a clear title. Thus the matter remained in 

 abeyance for many years, until Mr. Leroy Anderson bought the James 

 Potter house, at the corner of Bayard Lane and Nassau Street, now 

 belonging to Mr. Edgar Palmer. In an old trunk in the attic of that 

 house, Mr. Anderson found all the deeds and other documents required 

 to clear the title of the "Academy Lot," which the College immediately 

 purchased. 



For several years, the experiment had been tried of making a little 

 residential college for graduate students at Merwick, in Bayard Lane, 

 where Bishop Matthews now lives, and the undoubted success of that 



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