6 RECORD OF THE ALUMNI 



excellence of the administration of the College is shown by the 

 fact that, with the exception of short intervals, whenever the radi- 

 cal changes have taken place, the student body has for the most 

 part been loyal to the then existing order. 



The Kansas State Agricultural College was really founded in 

 the hearts of early settlers of Manhattan who, February 9, 1858, 

 obtained a charter for Bluemont Central College. This was estab- 

 lished under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and, 

 while of the standard classical type, provided for an agricultural 

 department, and experiments upon soils, trees, crops, etc. To the 

 presence of this compact body of forceful men, enthusiastic and 

 self-sacrificing in the cause of education, is probably due the loca- 

 tion of the Agricultural College at Manhattan. February 16, 1S63, 

 the State accepted the offer of the church to donate Bluemonc Col- 

 lege, its real estate, library, etc., to the State, for the purpose of 

 transforming it into an agricultural college such as was provided 

 for by the land-grant act of July 2, 1862, the conditions of which 

 were accepted by the State of Kansas, February 3, 1863. 



The College opened as the State Agricultural College Septem- 

 ber 2, 1863. The current year therefore completes the first half- 

 century of its history, and it is fitting that this register of its alumni 

 appear, and that it contain something in the nature of an histori- 

 cal summary. The latter must necessarily be brief and inadequate 

 for lack of space, and for reasons already set forth. It has been 

 the privilege of the author to see much of this history in the mak- 

 ing, and it will be his effort to treat matters in the spirit of kind- 

 ness and justice. Some things must be left out, of necessity, and 

 among these will be those that rankle and fan the embers of con- 

 tention. The College officers and the students have always been 

 intensely loyal to the institution and to its interests as related to 

 the State. Personal differences of judgment must always exist, and 

 personal feelings toward individuals cannot but have some influ- 

 ence upon the judgment. We are all but human, and personal 

 ambition, selfishness, and other human traits that do not always 

 work to the best interests of our fellows may be conceded to have 

 had some small part all through the half-century, and probably to 

 have had a greater part at some points than at others. To attempt 

 to fix these points would lead only to fruitless discussion. There 

 is much sound philosophy as well as charity in the thought cLat 

 "If we knew all, we would forgive all," and the only thing for 

 alumni to do is to rejoice in the manifest unquestionable continuity 

 of progress in the College, and, forgetting those things which are 

 behind, to press on toward a higher mark for our Alma Mater. 



