Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/736

 724 GEORGIA agriculture and the mechanic arts, endowed with the congressional land grant of 270,000 acres, which has been sold for $243,000, was organized as a fourth department in 1872 ; it embraces instruction in agriculture, engineer- ing, and chemistry. Students intending to en- ter the Christian ministry are relieved from payment of tuition when in need of aid, and other poor students, residents of the state, to the number of 50 annually, have their tuition remitted, in return for which they are ex- pected to teach in some school in Georgia as many years as they have resided at the uni- versity. The number of professors and in- structors in 1872 was 15, including 2 in the law and 3 in the preparatory department ; num- ber of students, 317, viz. : 7 resident gradu- ates, 255 undergraduates (including 15 law stu- dents), and 55 in the preparatory department ; number of volumes in the college and society libraries, 20,000. The North Georgia agricul- tural college, at Dahlonega, became toward the close of that year a branch of the state col- lege and a department of the university. At- lanta university, in the city of that name, was established in 1867 by the freedmen's bureau and the American missionary association. It is not restricted as to color or sex, but is de- signed especially for the higher education of colored youth. Preparatory, normal, collegi- ate, agricultural, and theological departments have been organized, and in 1872 there were 7 instructors and 178 students. Oglethorpe university (Presbyterian), also at Atlanta, had 6 professors, 48 collegiate and 62 preparato- ry students ; but it has since been suspended for want of funds. Mercer university (Bap- tist), at Macon, in 1871 had 5 professors and instructors, 82 students, and a library of 5,000 volumes. It has a theological department. Emory college (Methodist Episcopal church south), at Oxford, in 1872 had 12 professors and instructors, 50 preparatory and 189 col- legiate students, and a library of 3,000 vol- umes. Bowdon college, at Bowdon, Carroll co., had 4 professors and instructors and 22 students. The other institutions classed as colleges are chiefly for the superior instruction of females. The principal are Furlow Masonic female college at Amencus, Griffin female col- lege at Griffin, Hamilton female college at Hamilton, the Southern female college at La Grange, the Wesleyan female college at Macon, the Georgia female college at Madison, Marietta female college at Marietta, La Yert female col- lege at Talbotton, West Point female college at West Point, and Monroe female college at For- syth. The Atlanta medical college in 1872 had 14 professors and instructors and 52 stu- dents. The medical college of Georgia, at Augusta, had 10 professors and instructors, 103 students, and a library of 5,000 volumes. The Savannah medical college in 1872 had 14 professors and instructors, 36 students, and a library of 3,000 volumes. The census of 1870 returns 1,735 libraries, containing 467,232 vol- umes, of which 545, having 162,851 volumes, were not private, classified as follows: state, 1, with 16,000 volumes; town, city, &c., 4, with 3,730; court and law, 63, with 8,610; school, college, &c., 15, with 41,100; Sabbath school, 369, with 63,114; church, 82, with 16,002 ; historical, literary, and scientific socie- ties, 2, with 2,000 ; benevolent and secret as- sociations, 1, with 400; circulating, 8, with 11,895. Besides the college libraries, the prin- cipal are those of the young men's library as- sociation at Atlanta (3,000 volumes), of the mechanics' and scientific association at Co- lumbus (8,000), and of the Georgia historical society at Savannah (7,000). There were 110 newspapers and periodicals, issuing 15,539,724 copies annually, and having an average circu- lation of 150,987, viz. : 15 daily, circulation 30,800; 5 tri-weekly, 3,600; 9 semi-weekly, 5,100; 73 weekly, 88,837; 2 semi-monthly, 700 ; and 6 monthly, 21,950. They were classi- fied as follows : agricultural and horticultural, 6 ; illustrated, literary, and miscellaneous, 5 ; political, 93 ; religious, 4 ; technical and pro- fessional, 2. The number of church organiza- tions was 2,873. The number of edifices and sittings, and the value of church property, are shown in the following table : DENOMINATIONS. Edifices. Sittings. Property. Baptist 1812 389 165 $1 125 650 Christian 33 10,285 60,050 Congregational. . 10 2800 16550 Episcopal 27 10080 807 200 Jewish 5 1,400 52,700 Lutheran 10 3,000 57100 Methodist 1 158 327 848 ] 073 030 Presbyterian 123 49,575 553,525 Eoman Catholic 11 5500 294550 Universalist 3 900 900 Union 6 1,100 20,700 Total 2,698 801,148 $3,561,955 Of the thirteen provinces which declared themselves independent in 1776, Georgia was the latest settled. The country lying within its present boundaries was a wilderness previ- ous to 1733, and, though comprehended within the charter of Carolina, had been claimed by Spain as well as England. By patent dated June 9, 1732, George II., in honor of whom it received its name, granted the territory to a corporation entitled the " Trustees for settling the Colony of Georgia." The double purpose proposed in the settlement of this region was, on the one hand, to afford a retreat for the destitute at home, and on the other, to secure the frontiers of the Carolinas from the incur- sions of the Indians and the Spaniards of Flo- rida. In November of the same year 116 per- sons were embarked at Gravesend under the direction of Gen. James Oglethorpe, and ar- rived at Charleston in January, 1733. From this place Oglethorpe explored the country, and soon after purchased a large tract of land from the Creeks. On a high bluff" overlooking a river the foundation of a town was laid,