Centre College Special Collections - Board of Trustees Minutes (1839)

Centre College Board of Trustees Minutes (Vol. 2 - 1839)

January 10, 1839

Present Bell, Cunningham, McDowell, Barbour, Rice, Hopkins.

Mr. Jacobs laid before the Board the correspondence between himself & Mr. Allen, the agent of the Asylum in Florida. The Board thereupon directed Mr. Jacobs to request the Rev. John Rice to obtain from Mr. Allen a detailed statement of the present condition of its business in his hands, to obtain also & forward all information which may assist the Board in the settlement of their Florida transactions. Mr. Jacobs was further directed to inform Mr. Rice that the Board would compensate him for any time & trouble which it may cost him to comply with the above request.

Messrs. Hopkins & Jacobs presented a report on the funds of the Asylum which was accepted & filed. Resolved that Mr. Jacobs be appointed accounting secretary to the Asylum & that he hereafter be authorized to check on the Treasurer of the Asylum for all moneys to be paid out by the Treasurer & to keep an account of all moneys checked for.

John C. Young, Secretary

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March 26, 1839

Board met. Present Messrs. Bell, Hopkins, McDowell, Barbour, Tod, Breckinridge.

The Treasurer of the Asylum was directed to pay to the Treasurer of the College the amount of money collected by Mr. Harlan on his agency for the Asylum, from Mr. Lapsley on his College note.

The Treasurer of the Asylum tendered his resignation to the Board to take effect on the 1st of July. Messrs. Barbour, Hopkins, & McDowell were appointed a committee to procure a Treasurer in the room of Major Barbour.

Messrs. Bell, Barbour, McDowell, & Cunningham were appointed a committee to examine the accounts of David Cowan with the College & Asylum & take such legal steps to secure the balance due to the Institution as maybe necessary.

The Board directed Mr. Bell to collect, forthwith, the money due on the note of Knox, Harlan & others.

The Board directed the financial committee to invest to the amount of $5,000 of the College money in stock of the Bank of Kentucky.

Messrs. Young & Jacobs were appointed a committee to examine Mr. Harlan's account & report to the Board.

Messrs. McDowell & Hopkins were appointed a committee to superintend the building of wings to the College.

Messrs. Hopkins & Barbour were appointed a committee to settle an account of Mr. Williams in Refectory stock.

Mr. Graham's salary was raised to $700.

The Board determined (see 5th page in advance for the balance of the minutes for this meeting [i.e. page 108])

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June 20, 1839

Board met. Present McDowell, Cunningham, Tod, Barbour, Hopkins, Rice.

Mr. Jacobs was directed to obtain assistance from Mr. Harlan in corresponding with Mr. Allen & procuring from him a statement of his agency & a final settlement.

September 26, 1839

Board met. Present McDowell, Price, Tod, Hopkins, Breckinridge, Rice, Bell, Cunningham, Barbour.

A memorial from the president of the College touching his salary was received & ordered to be filed.

The degree of A. B. was, on recommendation of the Faculty, conferred on the following young gentlemen of the present senior class, viz. Adam Beatty, Levi Carr, Septimis R. Caldwell, Joseph Cogswell, Joshua Green, Francis Lee, Henry Thompson, James Lapsley, Jacob Parsons, William Venable, William H. Wood, Samuel Williams

It was then moved & seconded that the salary of the Rev. John C. Young as President of Centre College for the ensuing year be $1,500, with the use of the house he now occupies. Upon this question the yeas & nays were required, which having been taken, stand as follows, viz., yeas - Tod, McDowell, Price, Barbour, Bell, Hopkins & Cunningham; nays - Breckinridge & Rice. And so the resolution was adopted.

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Resolved that the Board decline permitting Mr. Young to withdraw the portion of salary relinquished by him at the meeting of March 26th 1839 & mentioned in the minutes.

On motion of Mr. Breckinridge it was resolved that Lewis Green be appointed Vice-President of Centre College & Professor of Belles Lettres, Political Economy & Rhetoric, and that he receive for his services a salary of $1,200 per annum, commencing at the end of one year from the termination of his former salary in College.

Resolved that the dispersion of the students of College before the regular close of the session, including the Commencement exercises, is, in the opinion of the Board, improper & disorderly, & that the Faculty be directed to take the proper steps for the due observance of this resolution.*

Resolved that the students be required to attend the examination of the classes & the exercises of the commencement.

Resolved that Hopkins & McDowell be a committee to rent the house now occupied by Prof. Dod - & that they be instructed to give preference to a renter connected with the College or Asylum.

Resolved that Mr. Green be requested to regulate the order of exercises for tomorrow, & to

*In the sickness of the President & his congruent absence, as well as that of one other Professor, many of the students had left College without permission.

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(this is the conclusion of a minute commenced five pages back [i.e. page 105]) that the salary of the President of Centre College should be from this time at the rate of $1,500 per annum, house rent inclusive, Mr. Young expressing his consent to this arrangement & voluntarily relinquishing his claim to the amount due to him from last session above what would have been received had the present resolution been passed at the last full meeting of the Board.

John C. Young

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preside over them in the absence of Mr. Young.

Resolved that in the opinion of this Board, the Bible Class ought to be kept up among the students of College, including the Grammar School, and that said class ought to be under the immediate supervision of the President & Vice-President.

Resolved that hereafter no compensation shall be allowed to any assistant in the Grammar School.

Resolved as the sense of the Board, that the President of the College should hear two recitations each day, & devote also a portion of his time to the supervision of the Grammar School - and that each of the professors of College ought to hear four recitations each day - and the number of recitations in College not being sufficient to allot they ought to devote a degree of service equal to it to teaching in the Grammar School.

Resolved that hereafter the salary of Prof. Beatty be $800 per annum, payable as heretofore.

Resolved that the President & Vice-President be a committee to take the necessary steps to procure contributions to the funds of Centre College, either by the employment of a suitable agent for that purpose, or by devoting themselves such portions of their own time to that service as

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they may be able to spare from their other duties.

Resolved that the Secretary of the Board be instructed to prepare & forward to Synod, at its approaching session, a report of the condition of Centre College, including the state of its finances, and that Mr. Breckinridge be charged with the duty of presenting said report to Synod.

Charles Cunningham, Secretary pro tem, by John C. Young, Secretary