The history of Carleton college, its origin and growth, environment and builders

Front matter

C. M. GOODSELL

The History

of

Preface

The genesis of this volume was on this wise: It had occurred tliat in 1859-62 President Strong and myself were classmates in Union Theological Seminary, New York City, and that through him in 1875 ^ ^^^ been introduced to the Northfield Congregational church, of which I soon after became pastor, remaining seven years, being also a trustee of the college, a member of the executive committee, and serving for three years as teacher of rhetoric and English literature. During this period I was brought into closest connection with the institution, became well acquainted with the faculty, the community and the commonwealth; making also the acquaintance of not a few of the founders and early builders. Moreover, in one way and another it fell to my lot to read and write not a little concerning Carleton, its history, character, work, etc. Taking my departure in 1881, I carried with me a high esteem and a warm affection, which ever since have continued and steadily increased. By several visits my acquaintance has been maintained. More than two decades have now passed, during which I have gazed upon the college from a distance, possessed thus of opportunities for intelligent observation and calm reflection, playing the part of a disinterested looker-on, viewing things

VI

PREFACE from the outside, in their relations and their relative proportions to other things.

But what is much more to the point, it is fortunate that President Strong, while unsparing and unwearied in making history, was also endowed with the historic spirit in such a way and to such an extent that, from the first, he has carefully collected and preserved a mass of invaluable material in the form of letters, reports, circulars, clippings from the public press, including a complete set of Catalogues and Minutes of the Congregational State Association; and at an early date, when memory was accurate, solicited from some of the most intelligent and trustworthy of the early actors, detailed statements concerning the most important events. Of all this material large and grateful use has been made in these pages, thereby adding much to their value. In addition to such rich resources, to the author the freest and fullest access has been granted to the records of the board of trustees and of the executive committee, and to whatever other official papers are kept among the archives. All this wealth of information has been supplemented by conversation and correspondence with members of the faculty, old residents of Northfield, and ministers who shared in the task of laying foundations. Finally, files of newspapers have been consulted, thanks especially to the officers of the State Historical Library at St. Paul.

It is not common to put in print the story of an

PREFACE vii

institution of learning so young as this, and hence the undertaking may appear over-ambitious, uncalled-for and out of place. Moreover, in such a case there can be found none of the element of the hallowed or romantic which belongs to great length of days and hoary age. But on the contrary, the fact is to be recalled that in this age more changes with far greater progress are often witnessed within the space of a few years than used to occur during the lapse of a generation or a ^century. Advance is now frequently made with the speed of steam or electricity, so that institutions like nations are born in a day. But more, in the case of Carleton, it will scarcely fail to appear that enough has actually transpired within the limits of the half-century covered, to supply abundance of worthy matter for a volume. Elements not a few are found which are novel and striking, and hence are well worth setting forth. There is besides a great and obvious advantage in gathering the material and putting it in shape for preservation w^hile so many witnesses are living who will not long survive, and when they are gone much will be lost beyond recovery. And further yet, this particular time is eminently fitting for the appearance of a history of the college. The first president has held his office for a period phenomenally long, a full generation, his connection with the institution extending back to the very beginning. As he retires, the first epoch closes and a new regime begins.

viii PREFACE

Nevertheless, there is an embarrassment connected with the performance of this task, which all along has been deeply felt, and found in the fact that so many of the most prominent of the early actors in the scenes presented still survive. How difficult and how next to impossible to speak adequately, and yet becomingly, of them and the part they played. For the most part no attempt will be made in this direction. To avoid the perplexity somewhat, especial emphasis will be laid upon the earlier decades, the first things, the beginnings, with the purpose of speaking so fully of these that no need will arise for doing this work over again, leaving it to some future historian to continue the story.

No doubt defects will be discovered upon these pages by whoever may examine them with the critic's eye. Omissions which seem serious to some will be noted, as well as matters introduced which in the judgment of some might better have been omitted. Very likely also certain of the conclusions reached and the convictions expressed will be deemed mistaken, with over-praise bestowed here, and lack of appreciation manifested there. But whatever defects, whether real or only apparent, are perceived, let them be charged, one and all, where they wholly belong, to the author. For in every sentence of every paragraph of every chapter, nothing stands which does not represent his apprehension of the well established facts in the case.

The performance of the task now brought to a

PREFACE ix

close has been a pleasure and a privilege, in deed and in truth a labor of love. The work was begun with the belief that the theme was a worthy and noble one, that it contained divers passages which were both unique and thrilling; and this conviction has steadily increased until at length this closing word is written.

D. L. Leonard.

Oberlin, Ohio.

Introduction

Two facts in the history of Carleton College seem to me especially worthy of mention : its religious origin and aim, and the divine guidance made apparent in all its development. No true history could be written without such a recognition of these facts as Dr. Leonard has given.

Carleton's founders were men of faith, of self-denying consecration ; men of noble ideals who, like their Pilgrim ancestors, believed that they were divinely called to lay foundations broad and deep, upon which others coming after them might build better than could they, for the honor of the one common Lord and Master. Being educated men, they knew the value of intellectual discipline as well as moral culture or spiritual quickening; and they esteemed a right combination of the two absolutely essential to the formation of right character, and hence essential to the well-being of society. They believed that an education having the tone and tonic of an earnest religious life, — such an education as the church must ever demand, — could not be furnished by the state. Therefore, even though it should cost the labors and sacrifices of many years, a christian college must be founded and built up.

Naturally the leaders in all educational movements were clergymen. With these pioneer ministers, whom we lovingly call Father Shedd, Father

12 INTRODUCTION

Seccombe, Father Barnes, Father Brown and Father Hall, and whose names ought to be gratefully preserved in our records, it was my good fortune, on coming to the state in 1865, to be associated. I could not but admire their spirit and approve their aims. Being elected, in 1866, one of the first trustees of the proposed college, it was a privilege to give time and thought to the educational plans which led to the establishment of the institution at Northfield; though it is needless to say I had not, at that time, entertained the slightest thought of any additional personal responsibility for the realization of those plans. My heart was in the pastorate, and to remain a pastor was my earnest hope and expectation. When, years later, the responsibility of administration was accepted, it was only because of the conviction, which never for one moment, during all the years following, was shaken, that this was the divine will concerning me. The impression was Irresistible that God's hand was in the enterprise and hence it must succeed.

From the first I felt that some permanent record should be made of the genesis and growth of an institution so needed, so desired and of which so much was expected. As years passed on the trustees expressed again and again the hope that I would prepare a history of the college ; but so great was the pressure of executive duties, especially in securing the funds needed to carry on the work, that this was absolutely impossible. The most that

INTRODUCTION 1J5

could be done was to make brief memoranda and carefully preserve documents for some other historian. In 1879 Rev. Dr. M. M. G. Dana, then a trustee, prepared "The Story of Carleton College," which passed through two large editions and was made, in various wayS, exceedingly helpful; but as valuable as it was, so rapidly was history being made, that soon it became out of date. For a long time Carleton's constituency has been desiring a much more extended history of the institution, and one which should include something of the history of Congregationalism in the state. Fortunately I knew of a writer especially fitted by his tastes, his training and his personal experiences, for this undertaking, — Rev. Dr. D. L. Leonard of Oberlin. He was my esteemed friend and classmate in the Union Theological Seminary, was for seven years pastor of the Northfield Congregational church, was a teacher in the college and a member of the board of trustees, and therefore, perfectly conversant with all the affairs of the institution. For years he had been one of the editors of "The Missionary Review of the World," had written "The Story of Oberlin," had prepared many historical papers and addresses both in Minnesota and Ohio, and in all matters of religious and educational research, had shown a profound interest. When the subject was suggested he promptly responded that he was both ready and willing to undertake the proposed task, and it should be done at once.

14 INTRODUCTION

For two years and more, as other duties have permitted, Dr. Leonard has devoted himself to the work, with steadily growing interest. It has been my privilege to put into his hands all the historic material of various kinds which has been preserved, and to aid him in every way possible. His increasing enthusiasm, as more and more of the details of Carleton's history have come to his knowledge, has given me pleasing proof that the right historian was selected. He has not been content with simply setting forth the facts of our college history, but he has sought to find a philosophical basis for those facts, by connecting them closely all along with the history of Congregationalism in the state. This will make his book of permanent value and of interest to a much larger constituency than the students and alumni of Carleton alone could afford.

While approving most heartily the author's general plan, and admiring his skill in presenting effectively the details of the history, 1 have from the first been solicitous lest his personal friendship should lead him to attribute too much credit to the one first called to the work of collegiate administration. Against this I have strenuously protested, but in vain, — the author insisting upon his right to express his own matured judgment and conviction upon this as upon all other matters presented in this volume. Certainly the undersigned has claimed no special wisdom or ability, but only this, that so far as grace has been given him to discern his duty, he

INTRODUCTION 15

has tried to do it. He has felt that as a christian man he had no right to decline any service believed to be divinely appointed, simply because it was hard or unremunerative, or at variance with all his natural inclinations. Often he has been reminded that God chooses the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, — that a willingness to be used is the first requisite for effectiveness.

Very early it was made manifest that the gracious Father had designs of good concerning our college, and through all the years his blessing has continually rested upon it. To have been permitted to sustain any helpful relation to an enterprise so broad in its aim and so rich in its fruitage, is a cause for profound gratitude. With sincere thankfulness I record this fact that my own preferences and natural inclinations were in God's providence clearly overruled, and a work never desired, but to which the call seemed imperative, was so plainly, so unmistakably forced upon me. If the results teach any lesson, it is one that needs frequent reiteration, and is especially to be recommended to young men and young women; — that to bring one's life into harmony with the divine will is both the highest duty and the richest privilege. No other life can possibly bring, in the retrospect, such satisfaction.

James W. Strong.

Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota.

History of Carleton College.

Chapter I. : Minnesota

Physical Features, Exploration, Early Settlement.

It is eminently proper, is indeed quite necessary, in undertalcing to tell the story of Carleton College, its origin and development, to make some brief preliminary statements concerning the commonwealth within whose boundaries it stands, since Minnesota constitutes its environment, as well as supplies also a large proportion of its students and financial resources.

Location. — This state is possessed of proportions truly imperial, having an area of nearly 85,000 square miles, or upwards of 54,000,000 acres; is therefore the largest in the entire Mississippi valley, Texas alone excepted; is nearly twice the size of New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio ; is greater by one-fourth than the five New England states taken together. Moreover, its location is peculiar, even to the phenomenal, and is fortunate in well nigh every particular. To begin with, the exact geographical center of the continent is quite near, if not actually within, its limits. And further, as Robert

P. Porter reminds us (" The West, From the Census of 1880") : " Minnesota embraces the sources of three of the grandest river systems on the globe. Lying midway between the Arctic circle and the Tropic of Cancer, and midway between the Atlantic and the Pacific, it occupies a considerable portion of the central plateau of that immense interior basin between the Appalachians on the east and the Rocky mountains on the west, and stretches all the way from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic ocean. Here the Mississippi takes its rise within sight of springs that flow into the Great Lakes and issue at the Gulf of St. Lawrence; while further west in the same state, at the low divide between Lakes Big Stone and Traverse, the falling rain on this side descends into the sunny gulf, and on that into the upper urns of Hudson bay."

The same striking fact, together with its tremendous importance as touching the future of the state, was noticed as far back as 1867 by a writer in the "New York Evening Post" (quoted in the "Home Missionary" of that year, p. 173 et sup.), which displays a prescience well nigh startling. He says: "There is a remarkable peculiarity in the local position of Minnesota with reference to the future commerce of the world. The steam navigation of the two great internal channels of the continent, the Mississippi, and the St. Lawrence with the Great Lakes, terminates in Minnesota and there meets the Northern Pacific railroad from Puget Sound, the shortest thoroughfare between Europe and Asia. When that road is completed the whole trade of the water lines will break bulk in this neighborhood and make the state the entrepot and the point of distribution for a commerce whose extent cannot now be calculated. To be, as a missionary, Rev. Mr. Wheelock, has expressed it, *the toll-gate of this vast trade, the focus of distribution through all her radiating lines of railroad and navigation, to the east and west, to the north and south, for the incalculable commerce which a Pacific railway will pour into her lap; to enthrone her at the great Parting of the Waters as the central market of exchange for the confluent treasures of Europe and Asia and America,' — such is the sublime destiny which develops itself for the future of this young state, as the crowning consequence and logical consummation of existing facts and tendencies in the physical and commercial world. Such a trade centering in a state so productive by nature, and so admirably constituted by its population to improve its advantages and to appropriate its results, cannot but make it the abode of the highest civilization that can be produced by the combined influence of health, wealth, intelligence, enterprise, and the Christian religion. It is of no small importance in estimating the advantages of Minnesota to look at it as the stepping stone to the great 'Fertile Belt,' now British territory, the valley of the Saskatchewan. We naturally look at Minnesota as an outside state, but in the future it is to be the center of a vast population spreading out to the northwest for hundreds of miles, whose chief avenue of communication with the rest of the world leads through this state. Professor Hind tells us that the mean breadth of the basin of the Winnipeg is about 380 miles, and its mean length about 920, giving thus an area approximating to 360,000 square miles. The belt of the Saskatchewan is a remarkable stretch of rich soil and pasturage of about 40,000,- 000 acres, capable, says Lord Selkirk, of affording means of sustenance to more than 30,000,000 British subjects. The ingress and egress of this region are through Minnesota, its trade will center in Minnesota, and Minnesota is now filling up with a population peculiarly fitted to make it a mother of nations for the great New World."

More than thirty years ago J. T. Trowbridge wrote in the "Atlantic Monthly" (Vol. 25, p. 605, et sup.) : "The head of Lake Superior is equidistant from Boston, New Orleans, and the sources of the Saskatchewan towards which the course of empire is fast taking its way. Not far from this geographical center we may look, with Mr. Seward, for the 'ultimate political center of America,' and it will not be many years before the frontier state of Minnesota will wake up and find herself in the heart of the Union." And the year preceding, Burdett Hart had written in the "New Englander" : "Nature with infallible finger points to this [Northern Pacific] railroad as the one highway across the continent. Note the belt of lakes projected half way across, the natural and inevitable path of commerce and trade, inviting fleets from every part of Europe, and from the hither Atlantic, to carry the products of all industry into the heart of a vast and populous region. The Northern Pacific starts at the very western outpush of all the lakes, at the point where Superior, like a wedge, drives farthest into the continental mass. Passing inward we come to a peculiar water system : the Mississippi, the Red River of the North, the Columbia, and the Missouri. The Mississippi to the south, the Red, starting at the same point, directly north 575 miles to Lake Winnipeg, which is 250 miles long, and at its foot at right angles the Assiniboine, 200 miles, and at its head the Sasketchewan navigable its whole length. By this route it is nearly 1,000 miles less between New York and Shanghai."

To-day, after fifty years of development, almost every word of all these glowing prophecies and anticipations has actually come to pass, while much also can be repeated with substantial enlargement. These writers never dreamed of what Minnesota's ore product was destined to become, the abundance and variety of her cereals, or the extent of her railway development. And, certainly, an institution of learning planted in such a highly favored region, constituting a worthy factor in the fashioning of the best things, cannot but have an important mission.

Physical Features. — Unhke most of its neighbor states, Minnesota is not chiefly an immense treeless expanse, but instead, to its 32,000 square miles of prairie are joined 52,000 square miles of timber. The vast pine forests which cover most of the northern half have been one of the chief sources of wealth. The Big Woods take rank among the most unique features, extending north and south through the south-central portion, originally some three hundred miles in length by twenty to thirty miles in width, or covering about 5,000 square miles. Besides, a charming park region stretches along the line of the Northern Pacific, while even the prairies are in many quarters dotted with multitudinous groves. For the most part the surface is diversified, alternating between rolling and hilly, and the soil is mainly of the very best. The whole world now knows that as a wheat-producer, whether for the number of bushels or the quality of the flour, this state stands at the very front, while Minneapolis outdoes all other cities in the number and size of its flouring mills. But as yet all ihe world does not know that oats, corn, flax, potatoes, as well as all the hardier vegetables, are produced in rich abundance. Although the season for growth is comparatively brief, yet such are the superb qualities of earth and air that vegetation advances toward maturity by leaps and bounds.

This portion of the Northwest is remarkably well watered, not only by rivers and smaller streams, but also to a phenomenal extent by lakes, frequent in well nigh every portion, though massed also in several counties of the north-central portion. The traditional number is a round 10,000, and the best authorities put the total as high as 7,000. In size they range from the Lake of the Woods with 612 square miles of surface, Red with 342, Rainy with 146, Winnibigoshish 78, to several hundreds which scarcely rise above the dignity of ponds. The areas of all combined form a total of 4,160 square miles. Their waters are pure and well stocked with fish. So abundant was water found to be wherever he went that the explorer Nicolet could hit upon no name so appropriate for the entire territory as Fouque's immortal water-spirit. Undine.*

The climate of Minnesota constitutes one of its most characteristic and most valuable features, though, on account of the high latitude, it is often thought of as approaching inconveniently near to the arctic quality. Abundant experience, however, proves this to be a gross misapprehension, an inference not at all justified by the facts in the case. It is true that the 46th parallel divides the state into nearly equal portions, which is about the latitude of Montreal; while in distance from the equator, St.

* Rev. Myron A. Munson, in a published historical sermor, gives the original Indian name of the region, as indicative of the great multitude of lakes, as Mi-ni-so-ta, The-land-of-skytinted-water.

Paul is not far from the same as Bangor, Me., or Montpelier, Vt. But, by a beneficent ordering of nature, to the west of the Great Lakes the isothermal lines make such a prodigious sweep to the north that St. Paul actually has the average temperature of Chicago, Cleveland, New York City, and Boston. The summer temperature is that of Philadelphia. The mercury may rise high during the day, though the nights are quite certain to be cool and refreshing. The spring temperature is that of northern Illinois, northern Ohio, or central Pennsylvania; while the average for the year is that of central Wisconsin, central New York, southern New Hampshire and southern Maine. And yet, as late as the thirties of the last century, the learned officers of the government exploring expedition gravely declared Minnesota to be "uninhabitable save for Indians and herds, and to be unproductive except for a few of the hardiest cereal crops!" And as late as the seventies, when a certain clergyman was about to exchange a Missouri pastorate for one in this hyperborean and utterly forlorn region, a sympathetic saint, saying good-bye with eyes full of tears, straining faitli well nigh beyond reason, exclaimed: "I trust that a kind Providence will protect your little ones from the cold !" Nor must another notable compensation be omitted. Its high latitude gives to Minnesota longer days in summer. During the growing season therefore, as the learned tell us, there are upwards of two hours more of sunlight here than in regions farther south, say in the latitude of Cincinnati. This fact, combined with the usually abundant rain-fall in the early summer, goes far to account for the surprisingly rapid growth and speedy ripening visible everywhere in the vegetable world. It is noticeable that frosts are no earlier nor more destructive in this state than in Iowa: And finally, a peculiar quality of the soil helps wondrously in the same direction. Seed time comes earlier than in many regions lying much further south, and because it is not at all necessary to wait until the frost is all out and the ground is settled before the seed may be sown. So soon as a few inches of the surface has thawed, that is, so soon as the harrow or drill can do their part, sowing may safely begin; and this though a foot or more of soil below is frozen solid. Let one in early June journey from the Twin Cities southward three hundred miles or more, and he will perceive no great difference in the stage of vegetable growth.*

*Nature has made the entrance from the Gulf more than the portal of a single basin. The south winds which are swept in from its tropical waters, uniting with other currents drawn thither from regions bordering on the Pacific, course northward together to be precipitated at the sources of the Mississippi, Saskatchewan, and Mackenzie rivers. Thence passing up those boreal valleys, reinforced by the ch'inooks from the North Pacific, they make the soil fairly tillable almost to the Arctic circle, and agriculture profitable as far north as the ,,'62° of latitude. There is another natural cause of the cultivable power of these high latitudes in the average altitude of the land, as shown in the 8,000 feet of elevation where the Union Pacific railroad runs, and the 4,000 on the line of the Canadian Pacific. It has been computed that the depression of altitude from Wyoming to the Mackenzie river would counteract

The strange absence of malaria and general salubrity of the climate were noticed early, when as yet the sanitary excellences of Colorado, California and Florida were altogether unknown. In particular, pulmonary diseases are not indigenous, and if consumption at an early stage is taken in hand by removal to this trans-Mississippi Northwest, the abundant sunshine and dry atmosphere are next to certain to bring healing. A large percentage of the early settlers were attracted to Minnesota by its fame as a health-restorer. Said a writer in the "New Englander" as early as 1859 : "That state is already an asylum for invalids from all parts of the land. The dry bracing air has proved peculiarly remedial. Many have found there the boon of health, from the Yankee who left the damp seaboard with a cough, to the Hoosier who came 'to git shet of the ager.' A speaker at a railroad meeting, who was exalting the climate of Minnesota, declared among other things, that it was 'a. triumphant vindication of all pulmonary diseases !' " After Carleton was planted. Rev. A. K. Packard, of Anoka, wrote in the "Home Missionary" : "The climate must draw many students from the East,

climatically a northing of thirteen degrees. Furthermore, the greater length of sunlight everywhere characteristic of high latitudes conduces at least to the rapidity of botanic development. All these causes put spring on the Peace river ahead of that season on the Minnesota, and the ice in the river at Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, is said to break up simultaneously with that at Fort Vermilion in Athabasca. — Winsor's " Mississippi Basin," pp. 7-8.

especially those with consumptive tendencies. Christian parents, who wish to secure most favorable moral and religious influences for their sons and daughters, together with the advantages of our climate, cannot do better than send them to this rising institution."

Exploration. — The honor of first making this favored region known to the civilized world is to be divided between two Frenchmen : Father Hennepin, a Franciscan missionary, who in 1680 ascended the Mississippi from the mouth of the Illinois as far as St. Anthony's Falls (to whom also this cataract owes its name), and later published an account of what he saw; and, after remaining for several months in these parts, was met by Du Luth, an adventurous courier des hois, who had just crossed the wilderness from the head of Lake Superior. These were followed in 1684 by Perrot, entering by way of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, and upon Lake Pepin establishing the first trading post; and by Le Sueur, who in 1695 established a second trading post between this lake and the mouth of the St. Croix, and a third, five years later, upon the Blue Earth, within the limits of the county which now bears his name. Other missionaries and traders came after these, but their achievements possess slight historical significance. The former presence of Frenchmen in Minnesota is abundantly recalled and perpetuated by scores of such proper names as these : Duluth, Faribault, Hennepin, Lac qui Parle,