168 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



BURR SEMINARY. 



NORWICH UNIVERSITY. 



W. R. Ranney, James Tinker, Noadiah 

 Swift, Curators ; and one or more Coun- 

 cillors in each county. A Board of Ex- 

 aminers was also appointed. The annual 

 meeting of the society is to be hereafter 

 held at the state house, in Montpelier, on 

 the Wednesday next following the second 

 Thursday in October, at 10 o'clock in 

 the morning. 



Section VIII. 



Biirr Seminary. 



This institution is in Manchester, and 

 was incorporated October 28, 1821). It 

 owes its existence to the munificence of 

 Joseph Burr, E^q., who resided many 

 years at Manchester, and, by patient in- 

 dustry and an upright course of business, 

 accumulated proj)erty estimated, at the 

 time of his death, which took place April 

 14, 1823, to amount to .$150,000. A large 

 portion of this })roperty was distributed 

 by will to public institutions. Tlie fol- 

 lowing is a list ol" t])e principal legacies : 

 Am. Board of Foreign Missions, 1^17,000 

 " Home Missionary Society, 10,000 

 » Tract Society, 10,000 



" Colonization Society, 7,000 



" Bible Society, 15,000 



Vt Domestic Missionar}' Society, 5,000 

 Manchester Congregational Soc, 5,000 

 " Literary Seminary, 10,000 



Middlebury College, 12,000 



Williams College, 1,000 



Dartmouth College, 1,000 



N. W. branch of Am. Educa. Soc, 3,000 

 The i$10,000, mentioned above, for a 

 literary seminary at Manchester, laid the 

 foundation of the Burr Seminary. The 

 condition of the above grant was that 

 within the period of five years from the 

 decease of the legator, " suitable build- 



ings should be erected, apparatus and 

 other things provided for the furtherance 

 and accomplishment of the object, the 

 expense of which should be at least equal 

 to the further sum of $10,000." 



A board of fifteen trustees was estab- 

 lished by the act of incorporation. They 

 held their first meeting Dec. 16, 1829, 

 and proceeded with energy to carry out 

 the benevolent intentions of Mr. Burr. 

 On the 15th of May, 1833, the necessary 

 accommodations having been provided, 

 the school was opened with appropriate 

 public exercises in the chapel of tlie insti- 

 tution. Addresses were delivered by the 

 Rev. John Proudfit, D. D., president of 

 the board of trustees, and by the Rev. 

 Lyman Coleman, who had been appoint- 

 ed principal. With the latter was asso- 

 ciated John Aiken, Esq., in the immedi- 

 ate management of the school, and under 

 tlieir direction it soon assumed a high 

 place among the literary institutions of 

 New England. The number of students 

 the first term amounted to 14G, of whom 

 a large proportion were professors of reli- 

 gion, and had in view the preparation for 

 the gospel ministry. In consequence of 

 the endowment by Mr. Burr, the tuition 

 of tiiose students, whose circumstances 

 require it, may be remitted to the number 

 of 30. The self-supporting system was 

 adopted in the beirinnlng, with a manual 

 labor dcpnrtment ; but it proved here, as 

 it has almost every where else, unsuc- 

 cessful, Jind was soon abandoned. The 

 present instructors of the seminar)' are, 

 the Rev. Joseph D. Wickham, A. M., 

 Pincipal ; William A. Burnham, A.M., 

 Pricipal of the English Department., and 

 S. J. M. Merwin, A. B., Classical Jlssist- 

 nnt. Board is furnished by the steward 

 at cost, varying with the price of provis- 

 ions, but averaging about $1,50 per week. 

 Tuition, to those who are not beneficia- 

 ries, from $3 to .$5 a quarter. The build- 

 ing is of stone, 102 feet long and four 

 stories high including the basement. To 

 the building is attached a kitchen and 

 wood house 70 feet long, and about 30 

 acres of land, with a valuable house for 

 the Principal. Its situation among the 

 Green Mountains is pleasant, retired and 

 Iiealthful, and where there are few temp- 

 tations to extravao-ance and vice. 



Section IX. 

 Korwich University.* 

 In 1?20, an institution was established 

 at Norwich, in this state, under the name 



* The materials for this section were not received 

 in season, or U would have hfcfn inserted next allBf 

 Middleluiry Collpgc!. 



