Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 6.djvu/134

128 128 JAMES R. ROBERTSON. secure about $20,000. The coming of the civil war in- terrupted the work for several years, but as soon as the war was over he was back in the East again soliciting money. In spite of conditions following the war he was able to secure about $25,000. Another trip in 1870 brought about $20,000, and a fourth trip in 1878, promised equal results. He was obliged, however, to return, broken in health, with the work incomplete. A list of the donors found in the records of the trustees is an excellent indica- tion of the patronage which was back of this pioneer in- stitution in the West. The list is too long to give in full, but the following names are representative of the givers : William E. Dodge, Henry Ward Beecher, Dr. E. M. Kirk, Edward Everett Hale, Nehemiah Adams, Amos Lawrence, Frederick Billings, C. P. Huntington, Dr. A. D. Smith, Richard S. Storrs, James P. Thompson, Rufus Choate, R. C. Winthrop, Edward Everett, Sidney E. Morse, and his brother S. F. B. Morse, Professors Phelps and Shedd of the Andover Theological Seminary, and Professors Hitchcocks, Robinson, Skinner, and Smith of the Union Theological Seminary. To a college in its initial stages the indorsement of such men was worth even more than the money they gave. Many of these men also were con- tributors at several different times, thus signifying their confidence in the undertaking and in the management. With the increase of means the business management became of greater importance. Upon the trustees added responsibilities fell. The original board had been thinned by death, removal, and resignation, and new men were selected to take the places. In 1851 Prof. Horace Lyman and Thomas Naylor were elected ; in 1853 W. P. Abrams, Alanson Hinrnan, and Israel Mitchell ; in 1857 Rev. P. B. Chamberlain ; in 1858 Rev. 0. Dickinson and H. W. Cor- bett ; in 1866 Rev. Elkanah Walker and George Shindler ; in 1873 Prof. Thomas Condon ; in 1876 R. P. Boise ; in