Chap. 8. 



EDUCATION AND LITERATURE. 



153 



MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE. 



SUPPORT, BUILDINGS, SOCIETIES. 



taining an act of incorporation dated No- 

 vember 1, 1800, with the title of the 

 «' President and Fellows of Middlebury 

 College," but all endowment by the state 

 was refused. The Rev. Jeremiah Atwa- 

 ter, who had been a tutor in Yale College, 

 and who was at that time principal of the 

 Addison County Grammar School, was 

 constituted President of the College by 

 the act of incorporation, and under his 

 superintendence, the institution was im- 

 mediately organized, and seven students 

 admitted. The first commencement was 

 held in 1802, when only one student re- 

 ceived the degree of A. B. ; but the stu- 

 dents increased so rapidly that in 1808 

 the graduating class numbered 23. In 

 180!), President Atwater gave in his re- 

 signation, and in Feb. 1810, Henry Davis, 

 professor of languages in Union College, 

 was appointed President. He resigned 

 in 1817, to accept the presidency of Ham- 

 ilton College, and was succeeded by the 

 Rev. Joshua Bates, who resigned in 1839, 

 and was succeeded, in 1810, by the Rev. 

 Benjamin Labaree. 



Support. — Having received no endow- 

 ment i'rom the state, this institution has, 

 from the beginning, depended entirely 

 upon the tuition and the liberality of in- 

 dividuals for support, and the zeal with 

 which it has been sustained is highly 

 creditable to the people of Middlebury 

 and vicinity. Among the long list of its 

 benefactors the names of Samuel Miller, 

 Arad Hunt, Gamaliel Painter, Joseph 

 Burr, and Isaac Warren deserve particu- 

 lar notice. The former of these gentle- 

 men made a donation to the college of 

 $1000, at an early period of its existence. 

 In 1813, Gen. Arad Hunt, of Hinsdale, 

 N. H., deeded to the college, lands in 

 Albany, Vt., amounting to more than 

 5000 acres, the rents of which make an 

 important part of the present income of 

 the institution. Gamaliel Painter, Esq , 

 who died at Middlebury, May 21, 1819, 

 made the college the residuary legatee of 

 his estate, and from that about $13,000 

 was realized. Joseph Burr, Esq., of Man- 

 chester, who died April 14, 1828, left a 

 legacy to the college of $12,200, as the 

 foundation of a professorship. And in 

 1834, Dea. Isaac Warren, of Charlestown, 

 Mass., left the college a legacy of $3000, 

 besides subscribing $1000 for the support 

 of an additional professor. In addition 

 to the subscription for the erection of the 

 first building in 1798, in 1810 several 

 thousand dollars were raised for building 

 what is called the nortii college. In 1816 

 a subscription of more than $50,000 was 

 filled out for the benefit of the college, 

 but on account of some irregularity in the 



Ft. II. 20 



proceedings it was declared invalid by the 

 courts, and only about $14,000 of it was 

 realized. In 183.5, another subscription 

 for the benefit of the college was com- 

 pleted, from which .$2.'),000 has been re- 

 alized, of which $15,000 was appropriated 

 for the erection of a new college edifice. 



Buildiyigs. — The college buildinirs con- 

 sist, at present, of three spacious edifices. 

 The oldest, which is of wood, and at pres- 

 ent known as the east college, was erect- 

 ed in 1798, as already mentioned. It is 

 now divided into convenient rooms for 

 students. The second building, called 

 the north college, was completed in 1815. 

 It is built in a substantial manner of light 

 colored limestone, is lOG feet long, 40 wide, 

 and 4 stories high, containing 48 rooms for 

 students. The third building, called ihe 

 chapel, was completed in 183G, at a 

 cost of $15,000. It is^ built of lime- 

 stone, is 75 feet in length by 50 in 

 breadth, and presents a handsome front 

 to the east. Besides a place for public 

 worship, it contains three lecture rooms, 

 three rooms for libraries, six recitation 

 rooms, and three private rooms for offi- 

 cers. 



Library. — A college library was com- 

 menced with the college in 1800, and 

 about $1000 was then subscribed by a few 

 spirited individuals for the purchase of 

 books, and the increase since has been 

 principally by donation of books. It now 

 amounts to about 3000 volumes. The 

 libraries belonging to the societies in col- 

 lege number, in addition, about 2500 vol- 

 umes. 



Jlpparatus. — The philosophical appara- 

 tus is sufficiently extensive for illustra- 

 tincr a full course of lectures, and contains 

 many excellent instruments. The prin- 

 cipal part of it was imported from Lon- 

 don in 1817. The chemical apparatus, 

 which is sufficient for ordinary purposes, 

 was procured in London in 1828. The 

 cabinet of minerals and other natural ob- 

 jects forms a prominent attraction to vis- 

 itors. It presents, in a very neat and 

 systematic arrangement, 1550 specimens 

 in mineralogy and geologj^, and 2500 in 

 zoology and botanj-. Of the latter a large 

 part are recent additions. 



Societies. — Soon after the estafbllshment 

 of the college, the Phitomat/iesian society 

 was formed for the general .improvement 

 of the students. It was incorporated in 

 1822, and has a library of about 2000 vol- 

 umes. Its meetings are held weekly 

 during term time, at which questions are 

 discussed and compositions read by mem- 

 bers previously appointed. It has an an- 

 nual exhibition, usually on the day pre- 



