730 



VASSAR COLLEGE. 



republican institutions. Tlie tenants through lemg ' character eif the college in saying that all sectarian m- 

 ney had e-ome' to regard thi'inselves as piaclie-ally (indices should be' e-arcfully e'Xe-lnde-d. but the "train- 

 owners of the soil, and (he antique though slight ing of our students should ne-vcr !*_ intrusted to the 

 annual payments wen- te'lt as burdensome. In e-a-r skeptie;rl tlu> irreligious, or the- immoral" 

 of transfer, one-fourth eif the prie-e> was e-laime'd by the 

 patreH'ti ; tMeial oUeotioBVM maile teilhe'se' "i|uarler 

 and their ie'gality guettiooed The last pos 



KSSor of these feudal riirlits had IMVU cari 

 lenient in colleviiu:; his nuts. often allowing tliem to 

 run on from year to year, till a Mini ot'alxnit $4<K),(KH) 

 was due him. The tenants cxpivted these amounts to 

 be remitted, but he died at Alliany. Jan. _'('. 1839, 

 without making any sueh provision. Then the trouble 

 Ma meetings were held in the country, and 

 U MBOBUMOddaOB MNIgbl in vain: the heirs rooited 

 to writs <>!' eieetnicnl. which were ivsistrel. The 

 sheriff with a large- p< nl'ronted at Keidsville, 



_' ls.7.1, by a throng e.-limated at I.MM. (iuv. 

 i in a message of Jan. 7, 1X40. denounced the 

 tenures as "odious," and in May a bill was passed to 

 fettle the difficulties, but without result. 1 ho. agita- 

 tion continued ; anti-rent associations were forme-d. 

 and outrages committed by bauds uf pretended " In- 

 dians." The trouble spread to other parts of the 

 State, where the same system existed. Several lives 

 were lost, disorder prevailed, and Delaware county 

 was declared to be in insurrection ; many persons were 

 arrested and L'2 sentenced to terms of imprisonment 

 The anti-renters became a strong political parly, and 

 contributed to the election of (iov. Young, after 

 making Silas Wright's term a period of embarrassment 

 and alarm. The disturbance lasted for seven years. 

 and constitutional conventions, leguhtures, and courts 

 had much to do before the lease hold system was 

 finally abolished. Van liciis.-clacr's heirs modified their 

 claims, and parted with much of their laud. These 

 events supplied a motive to three of Cooper's novels, 

 Tlie C/Kiin-liritrrr. and Tlir KedJeini, and 



In ISiil Milo 1'. Jewell waseho.-e n as the' first pr.-si- 

 ilent. After his rcsiunalioti in |si4 Jediu II. Kay- 

 mond was e le'e te'd. I le' retained the' position until his 

 death in August. lN7s Samml L. Caldwell, who 



to a satiric poem, Ilililrnli<ir<n-i- (]:>.">.">): all these take 

 the side of conservatism and privilege. Sec K. P. 

 Cheyney's Anti-ri'iit A'/it'iti'im (ISS7). in the publica- 

 tions ol the I 'niversity of I'etinsylvania. Several of 

 the patroon's uncles and cousins rendered service and 

 won military distinction in or since the Revolution ; 

 one of his sons attained note as a Presbyterian 

 clergyman, and another as an officer in the civil war. 



J8AB COLLEGE the first well-e-niippcd in- 

 stitution for the higher education of women, is located 

 2 miles east of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. It was founded 

 by Matthew Vassar, an Englishman. who came to 

 America in 17%. Mr. Vassar's earnest desire to use 

 his wealth for the public good led him to consider 

 favorably the suggestion of his niece, .Miss Booth, 

 that a model school for young women should be cstab 

 lished. and the bolder proposition of his friend, Milo 

 I'. Ji-wett. that he should found and endow a college 

 for young women which should rank with the leading 

 colleges tor men. After about two years of prelimin- 

 ary work the college was incorporated Jan. is, i si; i. 



under the name of " Vassar Female College," which 

 title was, in 1807, chamred by the legislature, in ac- 

 cordance with the request of the founder, to " Vassar 

 College." Tin' charter empowered the 2'.' trustec> to 

 have control of the property, to appoint the mben 

 of the faculty, and to confer decrees. At the first 

 meeting of the board of tin-tees. |Vb. lii'i, ]ST,]. Mr. 

 Vassar transferred to that l>ody projicrty valued at 

 $4iM).<HX), including a farm of L'IMI acres, on which the 

 college was to be built. This gift was afterwards in- 

 creased bv large sums for various purposes during Mr. 

 Vassar's lifetime. At his death he bequeathe'd more 

 than $_'.'><).< HK> for the establishing of four funds, viz. : 

 aHxiliary. library, art and cabinet, and general repair. 

 At hi< lir.-t interview with the board Mr. V 

 bowed keen foresight and great breadth of view in 



i'<l him. resigned in IsvV After one \ear, 

 during which James l!\land Keiulriik si rved as acting 

 president, James M. Taylor accepted tie position, 

 which he still holds (1889). 



The main building and observatory were completed 

 in June, and it was decided to opt n lie college on 

 Sept. lin. ]S<',">. More than three hiindnd si 

 presented themselves for admission, some of whom, 

 in anticipation of this opening, had bet 'i carefully pre- 

 pared for college Work. TI -tea of 

 the president, lady principal. S profissors. and 'Jo as- 

 sistant teachers. In accordance with the wii-h of the 

 founder, that men and women should co <>] crate in the 

 instruction and discipline of the college, tine of the 

 -ors and all of the assistants wi re v\. n n. In 

 the present faculty six professors and nil of the as- 

 sistant teachers are women. 



The college buildings are as follows : Main build- 

 ing (erected IM',:,). observatory (1805), museum (IMY.), 



laboratory (l.SSU). conservatory (|SM.). gale-lodge, gas- 

 woiks, Uiiler- and pnmp-honscs. and lanD-baildiofn. 

 The main edifice was originally :">oo fc 1 1 li.ng and 164 

 feet broad at the centre, but in 1872 this breadth was 

 increased to L'IKI feet. The building is construct! d of 

 red brick with trimmings of blue free stone. The 

 central part and the wings are five stories in height 

 ('.4 feet), while the connecting portions are four. 

 This building contains apartments (or the president 

 and other resident officers and for ,"(Kl students, rooms 

 for lectures and recitations, a chapel, library, reading- 

 room, offices, parlors, dining hall, ai.d kitchen. There 



is a steam-elevator in the centre of the building. As 

 protection against fire the partition walls are nil mnelo 

 of trick and extend from the ground to the top of the 

 house', and the lemg corridois may be eiuiekly elivided 

 into live' se'parate parts I y means of sliding iron doors 

 connected with fire-proof walls. Ample protection is 

 fur! he r afforded by means of a steam-fire-engine and 

 similar applian< 



The library contains alKiut Ifi.OOO volumes. It is a 

 lan.'c, we 11 lighte'd room, which is open to the students 

 during ten hours of e'ach day. The library fund pro- 

 vide.- ior an annual iue-reasc in the' number of beieiks. 

 The observatory is loe'atcd on a slight elevation, a short 

 elistanev from the' ceilh'ge building, and cemsists of a 

 baseme-nl. principal story, and dome 1 . The equatorial 

 ti lescope has an object glass 12i inches in diameter. 

 The obse'i vatory conlains also a me-rielian circle with 

 collimating tele'Se'opi'S. e-lock, an<l chronograph, port- 

 able- te'le-N-opes, aim apparatus for making solar ]iln't'i- 

 graphs. Tlic gymnasium e'ontained originally lemms 

 for I'alisthenics. the' riding-se'hoeil. and a bowling alley ; 

 also a socie'ty hall and music rooms. In 187'J tlie 

 riding-school was eliseontinned. and the gymnasium 

 wai remodelli'd so as te> afford suitable' ae-commeidatieiu 

 for the' ileiiartnientH eif natural history and of art. 



The rahubie collections In-leinging to tin se departtnenti 



were then transferred from the main building to the 

 largeT rooms in the building now known ns the museum. 

 The- gymnasium is well equipped with the apparatus 

 used in the Sargent svsteni.and the alumni have raised 

 n fund for the immediate en etion of a new building. 

 'I'he Yas<ar Brothe-rs' Laboratory of Chemistry ami 

 1 Musics w;is the gift of Matthew Vassar, Jr., and 

 John (!uy Vassar. nephews of the founeler. It was. 

 ineted in isso and supplied with all me>elern appli- 

 ances for the' study eif pliysie-s and che'inislry. In 



the remarkable s,,,.ee|, in which he se't firth his hope- I--.; t ] M . Kleanor ( 'onsei valory. n memorial gift, was 

 concerning the college and his ideas in regard to the addeej to the ceille'ge buildings (or the use of the 

 duration of women. He also stamped the religious . botanical department. 



