Page:Kansas A Cyclopedia of State History vol 1.djvu/33

 which city was founded in 1855 by the coöperation of two colonies, one from New England and the other from Cincinnati. In the New England party were several college graduates who were active in the promotion of education. In 1857 an association was formed to build a college in or near Manhattan to be under the control of the Methodist Episcopal church of Kansas and to be called Bluemont Central College. The charter secured in Feb., 1858, provided for the establishment of a classical college but contained the following section “The said association shall have power to establish, in addition to the literary department of arts and sciences, an agricultural department, with separate professors, to test soils, experiment in the raising of crops, the cultivation of trees, etc., upon a farm set apart for the purpose, so as to bring out to the utmost practical results the agricultural advantages of prairie lands.”

By a special act of Congress, title was secured to 100 acres of land, about one mile west of Manhattan, on which the institution was located. The growth of the college was slow and unsteady, because both money and students were scarce. In 1861 when locations for a state university were discussed, the trustees of Bluemont Central College offered their site and building to the state but their offer was refused. In 1863 when Kansas accepted the act of Congress giving land for an agricultural college, said college was established in Riley county, provided that the trustees of Bluemont College cede its land to the state in fee simple. The Agricultural College was organized that same year with a board of trustees consisting of the governor, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction, the president of the college ex officio, and nine others to be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate. Later the board of regents was reduced to seven members. Four departments were named, to-wit: Agriculture; Mechanic Arts; Military Science and Tactics; Literature and Science.

From 1863 to 1873 the development of the college was much as it would have been, had the trustees of Bluemont College remained in control. The department of literature and science was fostered while the departments for which the school was especially founded were practically ignored. The first faculty consisted of Rev. Joseph Denison, president and professor of ancient languages and mental and moral science; J. G. Schnebly, professor of natural science; Rev. N. O. Preston, professor of mathematics and English literature; Jeremiah E. Platt, principal of the preparatory department; Miss Bell Haines, assistant teacher in preparatory department, and Mrs. Eliza C. Beckwith teacher of instrumental music. The first catalogue gives the names of 94 students in the preparatory department and 15 in the college. Fifteen students graduated in the period from 1863 to 1873. In 1867 a large boarding hall for students was erected by parties in Manhattan. It was a failure financially. The college was urged to buy it and did at a cost of $10,000. In 1868 about 200 varieties of forest and fruit trees were planted. In 1871 a new farm of 155 acres was purchased for $29,832.71 in