Centre College Special Collections - Board of Trustees Minutes (1850)

Centre College Board of Trustees Minutes (Vol. 2 - 1850)

Danville March 28, 1850

The Board met at the President's study. Present, Ford, Breckinridge, Berryman, Dunn. Messrs. James Barbour & James S. Hopkins, appointed by Synod at its late meeting, appeared, were qualified, & took their seats as members of the Board. Mr. Hopkins was appointed Chairman pro tem. The committee on the Treasurer's report reported its examination & approval. The committee on the transfer & reinvestment of the funds reported that they had, as yet, taken no action on the subject.

The committee on the Grammar School reported - & their report having been considered & amended, was adopted, & is as follows.

1st. That the Grammar School is necessary under present circumstances & should be continued.

2nd. That it should be so connected with the College as to give the Trustees & Faculty authority to direct its studies & superintend its management.

3d. That, though it is in the general admitted that the school should support itself & that all it makes should be expended on it for its efficiency & advancement, still, the principle of a fixed salary for the teacher ought to be adopted - the salary to be fixed by the Board from time to time according to the success of the school.

4th. That a teacher should be employed by the Faculty to take charge of the school, & that the Faculty be empowered to appoint such assistants, from time to time, as they may find necessary

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& fix the rates of remuneration for all such assistants.

The following persons were appointed a committee to examine into the propriety of erecting a building for the use of the Grammar School, & ascertain its cost, so as to report to the Board at its next meeting - Young, Barbour, & Ford.

Dr. Craig appeared & took his seat.

Mr. Kenney, Trustee & Executor of the will of Mrs. Nancy Markee, appeared before the Board together with his counsel Mr. Troutman, & made a statement in relation to a contingent interest in certain Negroes, which may rest in the Board under the wills of Jonas Markee & Nancy Markee; & it appearing evident to the Board that their relinquishment of any right that might rest in them to the ownership in part of these Negroes would be in accordance with what would have been the wish of Mrs. Markee, if she could have anticipated that such an interest might arise under her will, & would also secure to the Board a certain amount of money to be given to said Negroes on condition of their removing to Liberia, it was resolved that Robert J. Breckinridge & John S. Berryman be appointed a committee with full power in conjunction with Mr. Kenney, to make any such arrangements as may be deemed necessary to release to the said Negroes any right to them which might rest in the Trustees of Centre College, in case they should not remove to Liberia. The Financial Agent read to the Board a detailed report of his

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doings, which was approved. The Treasurer was authorized to purchase a fire-proof safe for the security of the College notes & papers.

The Board directed the Financial Agent not to bring suit on the Theological notes, & that the Agent, Mr. Berryman, be requested to take these notes, & collect them as far as practicable, or make any such arrangements with the givers of these notes as he may deem most advisable.

The Board adjourned to meet on the Wednesday preceding the Commencement at the College at 9 o'clock.

John C. Young, Secretary

Danville June 26, 1850

The Board met at the President's study. Present, Robert J. Breckinridge, Hopkins, Barbour, Ford, Dunn, Montgomery, Berryman, Humphrey. Mr. Humphrey was appointed Chairman pro tem.

The Faculty recommended to the Board for the degree of A.B. the following members of the present Senior class, viz William B. Allen, Charles B. Brooks, Thomas R. Brown, Thomas C. Clark, James T. Crow, William M. Duncan, De Witt C. Fort, Thomas H. Fox, James H. Fulton, John H. Gaines, John C. Graham, William M. Hadden, Archibald A. Harbison, James R. Harlan, Jr., John M. Harlan, Andrew J. Hays, John H. Kinnaird, William M. Matheny, John H. McDannold, Thomas A. McDannold, William T. McElroy, Henry C. Merwitter, Anthony Rootes Thornton, Robert S. Voorhis. The Board conferred the degree of

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A.B. on the before named young gentlemen; also at the recommendation of the Faculty on Salvador D. Soto, who had been a member of the class, but engaged during the year in teaching the Grammar School & on Lapsley McKee, member of the class that had graduated in [date not shown, but Class of 1849] until within 5 months of the period of graduating when he had withdrawn from ill health, & engaged in teaching.

The degree of A.M. was conferred on Joseph A. Humphreys & Thomas Brown & William Pauling; & the degree of D.D. on Rev. William C. Matthews, of Shelbyville [Kentucky].

Resolved that the Board will hereafter confer the degree of A.M. on all the graduates of three years standing who shall apply for it, unless in such cases as the Board shall know of some objections to granting the request of the applicants.

The degree of A.M. honorary was conferred on Rev. Ralph Harris, Professor in Macomb College, Illinois.

Resolved that all students, whether on scholarship or not, pay the extra dollar charged for fuel or incidental expenses.

Resolved that the amounts due from the College on account of salary Messrs. Young & Beatty be funded by giving to each of them a bond for the sums respectively due to them, bearing interest payable annually from the date, & the bond payable at the end of five years or earlier at the discretion of the College.

Resolved that Messrs. Barbour, Craig, Ford, Hopkins, Young, & Jacobs, or any two of them, be a committee with power to make such arrangements for the Grammar School, either on the College lot or on the Blackburn lot, as they shall deem best.

A letter was received from Mr. Nichols on behalf of Mr. Forsythe, in relation to the prospect of procuring a diploma for his daughter. The letter, after some consideration, was laid upon the table.

Resolved that if any student shall

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wear, or draw upon another, a pistol, club, sword-cane, or other deadly weapon, he shall be forthwith publicly dismissed & not restored without a vote of the Board of Trustees - & that the President publish this law to the students.

The Board having taken up the subject of appointing a new Professor, resolved on the following changes in the professorship heretofore existing. The Professorship of Belles Lettres & Political Economy, which has been for some time vacant, is abolished for the present - & the Professorship of Languages divided into a Professorship of Latin, Political Economy & History, & a Professorship of Greek, Architecture, & Rhetoric. The Faculty are charged, for the present, with making such a distribution of the other subjects that formerly fell to the vacant Professorship as they may deem most advisable.

The Board proceeded to appoint the Rev. Henry Snyder of Jefferson College, Professor of Latin, Political Economy & History.

Mr. Snyder was unanimously elected at the salary of $900 as Professor pro tem - the presence of 13 members of the Board being required to make a permanent appointment.

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The Board directed that in case the proceeds of the Grammar School should, during the coming College year, after deducting its proportionate share of the expenses of fuel, servant's hire, & interest on the money invested for its building, amount to a sum over $500, Mr. Soto should have his salary increased by the amount of this surplus, until he shall have received $700 per annum.

Mr. Humphrey, on the part of a Committee of the Synod, having presented to the Board an enquiry as to the possibility of obtaining the Theological Funds in the hands of the Board to be used as part of the endowment in which Synod now is engaged, & also as to the amount of these funds, the Board direct as to the latter point that the Financial Agent furnish the Synod with the information requested. As to the first point, the Board of Trustees is of opinion that the Theological Fund under its care should remain as it is. But if Synod should be of opinion that the great interests of religion would be promoted by a different disposition of it, this Board can have no other objection than such as may arise from legal difficulties connected with the subject. And as to any difficul-

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ties of this sort, it is taken for granted that the Synod will not act in disregard of them, without both carefully considering them, & also taking such action as effectually to protect this Board from any responsibility.

The agent of the Board, Mr. Berryman, was authorized to take scholarship notes of $100.00 each - each of these hundred dollar scholarships to entitle the holder to receive instruction for one pupil for five years from the time of the payment of the note - these scholarships to become valid & made payable as soon as enough of them have been secured to amount to the sum of $10,000.

Rev. Robert Stuart, & Rev. Joseph J. Bullock received each the degree of D.D. from the Board.

The Trustees located in Danville & the immediate vicinity were appointed a committee to transact any business which may demand attention in the intervals of the meetings of the Board.

The Board canceled its former order directing the Treasurer to pay interest on warrants from the time that they were due.

A report was received & approved from Robert J. Breckinridge & John S. Berryman in relation to the contingent interest of Centre College in certain slaves, stating that the claims of the College to the slaves is released, & on the other hand that the claim of the slaves on the residuary interest accruing to the Board from Mrs. Markee's estate is also released.

John C. Young, Secretary