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 164 BOWDOIN BOWDOIN COLLEGE BOWDOIN. I. James, governor of Massachu- setts, born in Boston, Aug. 8, 1727, died Nov. 6, 1790. He was a descendant of Pierre Baudonin, a French Huguenot who fled to America on the revocation of the edict of Nantes. He graduated at Harvard college in 1745, became in 1753 rep- resentative in the general court, and was sub- sequently senator and councillor. During the troubles which preceded the revolution, he was forward in opposition to the royal governor. In 1775 he was president of the council of gov- ernment; when the convention assembled in 1778, for the formation of a constitution, lie was chosen president ; and in 1785 he succeed- ed Hancock as governor. It was during his administration that the disturbances in the west- ern counties of Massachusetts, known as Shays's rebellion, occurred. He called out 4,000 mili- tia, and the speedy suppression of the insurrec- tion was due to his vigorous course ; yet he lost his election the next year. He was afterward a member of the convention for the adoption of the federal constitution. He was a friend and correspondent of Franklin, and one of the founders and first president of the academy of arts and sciences, to which he bequeathed his library. He left a legacy to Harvard college, and aided in the establishment of the Massa- chusetts humane society. II. James, son of the preceding, born Sept. 22, 1752, died on Nau- shon island, Mass., Oct. 11, 1811. He gradu- ated at Harvard college in 1771, afterward spent one year at Oxford, and commenced his travels on the continent, but returned to the United States after the battle of Lexington. He was minister to Spain from 1805 to 1808, and acquired hi Paris an extensive library, phi- losophical apparatus, and collection of paint- ings, all of which he left at his death to Bow- doin college, together with 6,000 acres of land, and the reversion of the island of Naushon, one of the Elizabeth islands in Buzzard's bay, which had been his favorite residence. BOWDOIN COLLEGE, the oldest and most prom- inent literary institution in the state of Maine, situated at Brunswick, on an elevated plain S. of the village, about 1 m. from the Androscog- gin river, and 4 m. from the shore of the At- lantic ocean. It was named in honor of Gov. James Bowdoin of Massachusetts. Prior to the revolution it had been proposed to establish a college in Maine, then a district of Massachu- setts; but it was not till 1788 that a petition for a charter was presented to the Massachusetts legislature, from the association of ministers and the court of sessions for Cumberland coun- ty. The charter was granted in 1794, together with five townships as a foundation for the col- lege, whose object, as stated in the act of in- corporation, should be to " promote virtue and piety, and the knowledge of the languages and of the useful and liberal arts and sciences." The government was vested in two boards, one of trustees and the other of overseers, which metin 1801, and elected Joseph McKeen, D. D., a graduate of Dartmouth, for president of the college, and John Abbott, a graduate of Harvard, for professor of languages. These officers were installed in 1802, when eight stu- dents were admitted, and in 1806 the first hon- ors bestowed by the new institution were con- ferred upon eight graduates. A single building at this time served all the college uses, and also as the residence of the family of the president. President McKeen, dying in 1807, was succeed- ed by Jesse Appleton, D. D., who during the 12 years of his presidency contributed largely to the prosperity of the college. James Bow- doin, son of the governor, had before made a donation to the college of 1,000 acres of land and more than 1,100 ; and at his death in 1811 he left to it another donation of land, 400 models in crystallography, more than 500 specimens of minerals which had been arranged by Hauy, an elegant private library, and a cost- ly collection of paintings. This gallery, since then much increased, is one of rare excellence, and the crystals and minerals were the nucleus of the large and valuable minernlogical and conchological cabinets which have been col- lected and arranged by Prof. Cleaveland. Upon the death of President Appleton in 1819, the Rev. William Allen, who had formerly been president of Dartmouth university, was elected his successor, and retained the office till 1839, with the exception of a short interval in 1831, when, being indirectly removed by an act of the legislature of Maine, which had now be- come a separate state, he contended against the authority of the state thus to control the col- lege, and the question was decided in his favor by adjudication in the circuit court of the Uni- ted States. President Allen was succeeded by Leonard Woods, D. D., who held the position till 1866. In 1867 the Eev. Samuel Harris, S. T. D., became president, and was succeeded in 1871 by Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL. D. There are now eight college buildings, all large brick structures, excepting the chapel, which is of light granite, in the Romanesque style, and " Memorial Hall," of the same material. It was begun in 1846 and completed in 1855, and has rooms also for the library and picture gallery. The government of the college is vested in a board of 13 trustees and 40 overseers. Among the trustees are the president and vice presi- dent of the college. There is a visiting com- mittee and an examining committee, each com- posed of two trustees and three overseers, and a finance committee of two trustees and two overseers. Besides the president, there are, including those in the medical school, 17 pro- fessors, 8 instructors, and 6 lecturers. During the year 1871-'2 the college had 163 under- graduates, 4 post-graduates, and 67 medical stu- dents; total, 234. The college year, divided into three terms, begins about the middle of September and ends on the second Wednesday of July, when the commencement exercises are held ; there is a vacation of six weeks, begin- ning the last week in November, between the first and second terms, and one 'of a week in