Unknown County GaArchives Church Records.....Georgia Baptists Mercer University Copyright Date 1874
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LITERARY INSTITUTIONS.
MERCER UNIVERSITY.

  THE Georgia Baptist Convention, at its annual session in the spring of 1831,
at Big Buckhead church, Burke county, adopted a resolution to establish a
classical and theological school, the main object of which was the improvement
of the rising ministry. If memory is not at fault, the resolution was offered by
Rev. Adiel Sherwood. That school was located in Greene county, at what is now
known as the village of Penfield, and was called Mercer Institute, in honor of
Rev. Jesse Mercer. The village was named Penfield, in honor of Mr. Josiah
Penfield, a deacon of the Baptist church in Savannah, who had bequeathed to the
Georgia Baptist Convention, for ministerial education, the sum of twenty-five
hundred dollars; this amount to be paid by his executors, when the Convention,
or its friends should have raised an equal amount for the same object. Mercer
Institute was opened as a Manual Labor School, the 2d Monday in January, 1833,
with thirty-nine pupils, (seven of whom had the ministry in view,) Rev. B. M.
Sanders, Principal, and one assistant. Its only buildings were "two double log
cabins," which served as dwelling, dining-room, dormitories, etc., for both
teachers and students. This unpretending Seminary subsequently became MERCER
UNIVERSITY—how, we proceed to show. (For a more full account of Mercer
Institute, see sketch of Rev. B. M. Sanders.)

  For the following facts, the author draws almost exclusively from reports
adopted by the Georgia Baptist Convention, which he uses freely without further
notice. In the year 1835, there was an effort made by a portion of the
Presbyterian denomination to establish a college under their auspices at
Washington, Wilkes county. A considerable subscription was made up for the
enterprise, but the Washington project failed, and their Institution was located
at Midway, near Milledgeville, and is now known as the Oglethorpe University.
(If any shall infer that the Presbyterians thus became the leaders of the
Baptists in the matter of a denominational school in Georgia, it is only
necessary to remind them that "Mercer Institute" had been in successful
operation more than two years. The Baptists were foremost in their educational
movements in this State.) In the meantime the inquiry was propounded, "why may
not the Baptists have a college at Washington?" To use the language of the
venerable Mercer, "the notion took like wild-fire." Large portions of the
subscription made for the Presbyterian project were transferred, and new ones
added. Rev. William H. Stokes and Dr. William H. Pope were particularly active
in forwarding the enterprise, the latter performing much voluntary service in
getting up the subscription.

  In October of the same year, the project was brought to the notice of the
Georgia Association, at its annual session in Augusta, and was favorable
entertained by that body.

  The next year the plan was submitted to the Convention at its session in
Talbotton, May, 1836. A subscription of some forty or fifty thousand dollars was
tendered to the denomination, on condition that they should establish a college
at Washington. The proposition was accepted, and it was agreed that the
institution should be known as "The Southern Baptist College." Agents were sent
out to increase the subscription; a charter was obtained from the Legislature;
and at the next annual session of the Convention, at Ruckersville, Elbert
county, a subscription of $100,000 was reported as having been made up, this
being the amount agreed on as essential to justify the commencement of the
enterprise. Of this amount about $40,000 were subscribed in Wilkes county, Rev.
Jesse Mercer having increased his first subscription of $3,000, to the liberal
amount of $10,000.

  About this time a terrible financial crisis had overtaken the country,
followed by a pecuniary pressure, well calculated to dampen the zeal of the most
ardent friends of the college. Many began to fear it could not be sustained, and
at the same time afford to Mercer Institute the support it so much needed, and
who finally urged the abandonment of the Washington location and concentration
on the Institute. This produced some warm discussions in the Board of Trustees,
(which, had been appointed by the Convention,) Sanders being in favor of
Penfield, Mark A. Cooper in favor of White Hall, near what is now the city of
Atlanta, and Mercer, with some others, strongly opposing any change. While this
subject was under discussion, on one occasion, the venerable Mercer became quite
impatient, if not indignant, and withdrew from his seat as chairman, refusing to
preside. As soon as this ebullition of feeling subsided, however, being urged to
resume the chair, he did so. Nothing definite, however, was done at that
meeting, which was held at Washington. But at a subsequent meeting of the board,
August, 1837, at Athens, the following resolutions were adoped by a large majority:

  "Resolved, That the important business of raising and endowing a Southern
Baptist College in Georgia, intrusted to the care of this Board, has been
maturely examined and inquired into. They have duly considered the means and
resources required therefor, and are of opinion that it is inexpedient to
undertake the building of a college under present circumstances. The reasons
that have brought the Board to this conclusion are, in part, the following:
First, the embarrassment of the times; second, the differing views of brethren
in regard to the plan proposed; lastly, the inadequacy of the means in hand.

  "Be it therefore resolved further, That the whole subject be referred to the
executive committee of the Baptist Convention for the State of Georgia, with the
recommendation of this Board that they surrender the present charter and abandon
the enterprise, or seek to set on a footing a plan that will command the
resources demanded for the accomplishment of the great undertaking."

  By virtue of this movement, the Washington project was virtually dead, though
the Board of Trustees went through the formality of surrendering up, by
resolution, the charter and project to the Convention.

  (The friends at Talbotton had made a vigorous effort to have the Southern
Baptist College located at that place, and Rev. Robert Fleming attended the
Convention at Ruckersville, in 1837, with a subscription of about $50,000 00;
but this overture seems to have met with but little encouragement.)

  The question then arose, shall the important design of establishing a Baptist
College in Georgia be abandoned? The executive committee, with many others, felt
that it must not be given up, and at once resolved to carry out the main design,
or make a serious attempt to do so, by connecting a collegiate department with
the Mercer Institute, still continuing the academic feature of the seminary.
This they believed they had the power to do, inasmuch as "the ultimate and
conclusive direction of all the interests and operations of the institution" had
been vested by the Legislature "in the executive committee, as agents of the
Convention," and they had been "left at liberty to alter or amend, as expediency
might seem to require." As already stated, in August, 1837, the Trustees of the
Southern Baptist College abandoned that project and surrendered their charter to
the Convention. The executive committee decided, in September, to take immediate
steps to elevate the Mercer Institute to the rank of a University, and to apply
to the next Legislature for a charter. This charter was obtained in December
following, and is in these words:

  "AN ACT to amend an Act entitled an Act to incorporate the Baptist Convention
of the State of Georgia,

  "SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
State of Georgia, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That
if, by the Act entitled an Act to incorporate the Baptist Convention of the
State of Georgia, said Convention, or their executive committee are invested
with taxing power, all such power is hereby annulled and made void.

  "SEC. 2. And it is further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the
executive committee of the Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia shall have
power to establish and endow a collegiate institution, to be known by the name
of the Mercer University, on the premises owned by said Convention ill Greene
county; and said committee are hereby authorized to make all necessary by-laws
and regulations for the government of said University: Provided, they be not
repugnant to the Constitution or laws of the State, or of the United States,
until a Board of Trustees shall be appointed by the aforesaid Baptist Convention.

  "SEC. 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the
Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia may, at its next meeting, or at any
subsequent meeting, elect a Board of Trustees for the said University,
consisting of not less than fifteen nor more than thirty-one in number, who
shall, or their successors in office, be a body politic and corporate, by the
name of the Trustees of Mercer University, and as such they shall be capable of
and liable in law to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleadcd, and shall be
authorized to use a common seal, to hold all manner of property, both real and
personal, for the purpose of making a permanent endowment of said institution,
and to raise funds for the support of the same, and for the erection of
buildings, or to confer literary degrees, and to exercise such other power, not
inconsistent with the laws of this State or of the United States, as the
aforesaid Convention shall see fit to vest in their hands.

  "SEC. 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid., That the
aforesaid Convention shall be authorized to determine the manner in which said
Board of Trustees shall be perpetuated, and the character of the individuals
from whom they may be chosen.

  "SEC. 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That, upon the
premises now owned by the Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia, in Greene
county, or that may hereafter come into their possession, no person shall, by
himself, servant or agent, keep, have, use or maintain a gaming house, or room
of any description, or permit, with his knowledge, any house or room occupied or
owned by him to be used by any person whatever as a place of gaming, nor shall
any person upon the premises aforesaid, by himself, servant or agent, keep,
employ or allow, with his knowledge, to be kept or employed on the premises he
may occupy, any faro table, billiard table, E O table, ABC table, or any other
table of like character, nor shall any person, by himself, servant or agent,
upon the premises now owned by the said Convention in Greene county., or that
may hereafter come into their possession, to be allowed to sell ardent spirits,
wine, cordials, or any other intoxicating drinks whatever, nor permit the same
to be done with his or her knowledge or approbation, on the premises which he or
she may occupy: Provided, however, that the Trustees of the Mercer University
may have power to authorize any individual to sell ardent spirits, wines, etc.,
upon their premises for medical and sacramental purposes. Any person violating
the prohibitions contained in this section shall be liable to be indicted for a
misdemeanor before the Superior Court, and, on conviction, shall be fined in a
sum not less than one thousand dollars for each and every offense.

  "SEC. 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the
executive committee of the aforesaid Convention, in executing titles for lots
which they may sell from time to time, shall have power to insert such condition
as may tend further to defend the premises aforesaid from the nuisances
specified in the foregoing sections of this act.

                           " JOSEPH DAY,
              "Speaker of the House of Representatives.
                        "ROBERT M. ECHOLS,
                     "President of the Senate.

"Assented to, 22d December, 1837.
                " GEORGE E. GILMER, Governor."

  As the statement is sometimes made that the University was chartered in, 1838,
I call attention to the fact that the charter was obtained in 1837, and not in
1838. Under this charter, the "Baptist Convention of the State of Georgia," at
its session in 1838, elected the following gentlemen as the

FIRST BOARD OF TRUSTEES OP MERCER UNIVERSITY.

  Jesse Mercer, C. D. Mallary, V. R. Thornton, Jonathan Davis, John E. Dawson,
Malcom Johnson, W. D. Cowdrey. J. H. T. Kilpatrick, J. H. Campbell, S. G.
Hillyer, Absalom Janes, R. Q. Dickinson, William Richards, Thomas Stocks, T. G.
Janes, J. M. Porter, Lemuel Greene, James Davant, F. W. Cheney, E. H. Macon,
William Lumpkin, J. G. Polhill, Lott Warren, M. A. Cooper, J. B. Walker, I. T.
Irwin, W. H. Pope.

  To this Board all the funds of the University, and its entire management for
the future, were soon thereafter turned over, and it has been the custom of the
Convention ever since to elect a new Board every three years. [The name of the
institution had been changed by the executive committee from the "Mercer
Institute" to that of the "Mercer University" in September, 1837.] In July,
1838, the newly elected trustees met at Penfield, organized for business, and
received the important trust thenceforth committed to their care. This was not
done without fevent prayer to God for wisdom and grace. Being one of that
"original panel," the author speaks advisedly when he declares that the sessions
of the Board are always opened and closed with prayer, and that he cannot recall
an instance when any important action has been taken without first imploring the
divine direction and aid. When it is remembered that Mercer, Stocks, Mallary,
Thornton, etc., were leading spirits among us, it is not to be wondered at that
such a custom was inaugurated. Perhaps no body of men ever labored together more
harmoniously during so long a period in the management of a public institution;
and though their management may not in all cases have met the views of
interested or disinterested parties, it may with safety be recorded that it has
generally been such as to promote the usefulness and success of the institution.

  Thomas Stocks was the first president of the board of trustees, and has been
continued in that position until quite recently, when his declining health has
disqualified him for it. Four agents, Posey, Conner, Davis and Mallary, were
employed in getting the subscriptions to the Washington project transferred and
in obtaining new subscriptions. From the sources of information at hand, it is
believed that by the end of the first year of its existence the University had
been endowed to the amount of about $120,000 00. This includes the legacies of
Rev. Jesse Mercer. Among those who contributed large amounts, $1,000 00 and
upwards, towards this endowment, were the following: Cullen Battle, R. Q.
Dickinson, Jesse Mercer, W. H. Pope, James Boykin, T. G. Janes, Absalom Janes,
W. Peek, Solomon Graves and John B. Walker. Many others were equally liberal,
considering their ability. But those men were both able and willing, and so the
work of endowment went on successfully.

The institution lost heavily by the late war, but the report of the trustees to
the Georgia Baptist Convention, at Macon, April, 1866, shows the University to
be worth in good stocks and securities, $114,793 47.

  The following gentlemen have been officers of the University:

  Presidents—B. M. Sanders, Otis Smith, J. L. Dagg, N. M. Crawford, H. H. Tucker.

  Professors and Assistant Professors—I. C. McDaniel, J. W. Attaway, W. J. Hard,
S. P. Sanford, Albert Williams, Robert Tolefree, B. 0. Pearce, P. H. Mell, W. R.
Posey, B. T. Moseley, S. B. Miller, T. D. Martin, S. G. Hillyer, J. E. Willet,
U. W. Wise, H. H. Tucker, W. G. Woodfin.

  Professors in Theological Department—Adiel Sherwood, J. L. Dagg, J. L.
Reynolds, William Williams, S. G. Hillyer.

  The " manual labor" feature of Mercer Institute was continued in Mercer
University for several years, though it was regarded by many as being not only
unprofitable but positively injurious; and, after eleven years' experience, it
was "indefinitely suspended," At a meeting of the Board at Penfield, December
18, 1844, the following report was adopted: "The committee on manual labor made
the following report: Whereas, the manual labor department of Mercer University
has been sustained at a very heavy expense—an expense which the present state of
the funds will not justify, and has in our judgment materially retarded the
growth of our institution, after as favorable an experiment as we have been able
to make of the scheme; and whereas, the contributors to the University fund, so
far as they have been called upon, express themselves with almost entire
unanimity ready to concur in any measure in reference to the system which the
Board of Trustees may deem essential to the prosperity of the institution; and
whereas, the Board of Trustees have found themselves, under all the
circumstances, unable to accomplish, to any desirable extent, the important and
benevolent designs for which it was originally organized— be it therefore
Resolved, That this department be and is hereby indefinitely suspended."

  The brother who furnishes me the foregoing item adds: " Private.—Being a
student at the time, I was one of the pallbearers at the funeral of manual
labor, and a more joyful funeral, perhaps, was never held; albeit the old system
did my health and constitution good. Requiescat in pace" So the students seem to
have held a "joyful funeral" over the old exploded manual labor system. The
wonder now is, that it was ever inaugurated.

  The institution continued to grow in public favor and usefulness until the
late war threw its shadow across its path. As nearly all our male colleges were
suspending operations, the trustees of Mercer University met in Atlanta at an
early period of the war, and resolved not to suspend. This was deemed the more
necessary in order to afford educational facilities to any young men who might
have it in their power to prosecute their studies. At a later period of the war,
a resolution was adopted granting tuition gratis to all sick and wounded
soldiers. Many of this class have availed themselves of this offer. The
institution continued its operations throughout the war.

  The College buildings consist of the President's house and office, chapel, a
large building occupied by the family of one of the professors and by students,
library and apparatus building, building for recitations, and two society
halls—all spacious, and most of them of brick. They are situated in a beautiful
campus of about four acres, which is well shaded by venerable oaks.

  The College and society libraries contain about ten thousand volumes of well
selected and standard literature.

  The apparatus has cost about $3,000 00, and is ample for all purposes of
illustration.

  The grand purpose of the founders of Mercer University was the promotion of
theological education—the improvement of the rising ministry of the State and of
the South. But the theological department has been overshadowed by the literary.
Very few have graduated in the theological department; yet God has accomplished
the object for which the institution was organized in another way—one hundred
and nineteen of its pupils having engaged in the sacred calling, as the list of
names appended to this sketch shows. No doubt many other sons of the University
have become ministers of the gospel, whose names the author has not been able to
procure. Why God has thus measurably diverted the University from the work it
was originally designed to accomplish, is a question the present writer is
willing to leave for the future historian. It is matter of profound gratitude to
God that he has permitted the institution to be raised up, and that he has
vouchsafed to it thus far so much prosperity and usefulness. It may be his will
that it shall now start oil a fresh career of glory. Or, as all the institutions
of our country seem to be tottering to their base, it may be his will that
Mercer University shall go down in the general wreck, and that her history shall
close here.

   The foregoing was written several years ago, and as some important things in
the history of Mercer University have transpired of late, it is thought best
they should be recorded. The denomination in the State have never been fully
united as to the location of the University at Penfield. The consequence has
been that the question of removed has been agitated in the papers and in the
State Convention from time to time for years past. The advocates of removal
gradually increased, until the session of the Convention in Newnan, April, 1870,
on motion of Rev. C. M. Irwin, it was resolved, by a vote of seventy-one to
sixteen, to remove the University from Penfield to such other location as might
afterwards be selected. A committee was appointed to co-operate with the
Trustees in selecting such location. A meeting of said committee and the
Trustees jointly was held in Atlanta, (date not known,) and fixed upon Macon as
the future home of the University. The citizens of Penfield instituted legal
proceedings to prevent removal. The trustees suspended the exercises of the
University, and the Faculty opened an institution in Macon, on their own account
and at their own risk, which was styled Mercer College. The Trustees applied to
Judge Cole of the Superior Court of Bibb county, for such an amendment of their
charter as would authorize the removal, which was resisted by the citizens of
Penfield. The application was granted, whereupon the citizens of Pen-field
appealed to the Supreme Court of the State.

  Thus matters stood when the Convention met at Cartersville, in April, 1871.
The report of the Trustees was referred to a special committee, which committee,
in turn, reported, indorsing the action of the Trustees in deciding upon Macon
as the future home of the University, and recommending, as a compromise with the
people of Penfield, the establishment of a High School at that place by the
Trustees of the University, on condition that they withdraw their opposition to
removal and cease the litigation of the question in the Courts.

  The Convention adjourned, sine die, at about ten o'clock at night, April 24th,
after which a consultation was held between the Trustees of the University and
the agents of the citizens of Penfield. After full and free discussion, the
following preamble and resolution were offered by Dr. W. T. Brantly, seconded by
Rev. M. J. Wellborn, and adopted:

  "WHEREAS, The Georgia Baptist Convention directed the Board of Trustees of
Mercer University to establish an institution at Penfield, to be known as Mercer
High School:

  "Resolved, That such an institution be opened on the first Tuesday in February
next, and that two teachers shall be employed at a salary of six hundred dollars
a year each, and all the tuition money: Provided, the condition on which such
school was to be established shall then exist."

  The foregoing resolution was indorsed as follows: "The within resolution
having been passed by the Board of Trustees, the undersigned, on behalf of the
citizens of Penfield, hereby pledge themselves to withdraw all litigation in
reference to the removal of Mercer University, thus leaving no obstacle to the
opening of said school at the specified time.

(Signed)                     "R. L. MCWHORTER,
                             "THOMAS P. JANES,
                             "JAMES E. SANDERS,
                                      "Committee."

  At this consummation, a motion was made that Dr. Brantly lead in a prayer of
thanksgiving. The motion was adopted, and all present knelt in devout prayer.
The citizens of Penfield, in due time, ratified this compact in a public
meeting; and, in July following, the Supreme Court announced the withdrawal of
the case and the dismission thereof from its docket. Thus was the question of
removal settled.

  Mercer University, as such, was opened in Macon, in Johnston's building, in
October, 1871. The present Faculty consists of the following gentlemen:
  A. J. BATTLE, D. D., President, and Professor of Moral Philosophy.
  S. P. SANFORD, A. M., Professor of Mathematics.
  J. E. WILLET, A. M., Professor of Natural Science.
  W. G. WOODFIN, A. M., Professor of Greek Language and Literature.
  J. J. BRANTLY, D. D., Professor of Belles Letter.
  E. A. STEED, A. M., Professor of Latin Language and Literature.

  Number of students on the catalogue in the early part of 1874, about one
hundred and thirty.

  Value of the property and assets of the University, $315,550 49. The
Convention also owns a Permanent Fund for Education, $25,659 83. The main
college building will cost, when completed, about one hundred thousand dollars.

MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL

  Who have been educated at Mercer Institute, or Mercer University:

  W. D. Atkinson, T. S. Allen. T. C. Boykin, D. E. Butler, J. B. Bartlett, W. C.
Boone, E. B. Barrett, C. B. Barrow, M. B. L. Binion, J. C. Binns, J. C. Brown,
V. A. Bell. J. L. Blitch, A. Buckner, T. J. Beck, E. L. Compere, T. B. Cooper,
William Cooper, W. H. Clarke, A. E. Cloud, J. T. Clarke, M. P. Cain, A. B.
Campbell, C. D. Campbell, W. T. Chase, P. B. Chandler, A. R. Callaway, E. R.
Carswell, E. J. Coats, J. R. Cowen, S. P. Callaway, G. M. Campbell, J. F. Dagg,
W. H. Davis, W. 0. Darsey, Lewis Everingham, T. J. Earle, S. D. Everett, J, W.
Ellington, T. F. Faulkner, J. H. Fortson, V. A. Gaskill, John C. Gunn, W. W.
Gwinn, J. A. Garrison, B. C. Greene, Noah P. Hill, _____ Hightower, J. 0. Hixon,
J. P. Hilldrup, E. Hedden, J. Hedden, John Howell, John Harris, Jr., B. F.
Jessup, Edgar Jewell, L. R. L. Jennings, J. C. Johnson, W. L. Kilpatrick, J. H.
Kilpatrick, S. Landrum, T. W. Lanier, A. L. Moncrief, William Murrow, J. S.
Murrow, G. R. McCall, M. N McCall, A. M. Marshall, U. M. Mathews, George
Mathews, T. D. Martin, T. J. Martin, A. S. Morall, J. G. McNorton, W. A.
Overton, 0. C. Pope, S. D. Paschall, J. H. Preston, J. W. Pullen, A. D.
Phillips, R. W. Phillips, J. G. Ryals, P. B. Robinson, T. A. Reid, S. W.
Stephens, A. T. Spalding, J. H. Sullivan, J. Shackelford, W. T. H. Scott, M. H.
Sanders, L. W. Smith, W. Singletion, J. M. Stillwell, T. F. Sturgiss, L. W.
Stephens, Columbus Smith, T. H. Stout, E. A. Steed, Carlos W. Stevens, W. M.
Tryon, B. F. Tharp, J. H. Toole, A. S. Tatum, A. E. Vandivere, J. B. Vaughn,
Jesse M. Wood, A. S. Worrell, T. U. Wilkes, W. C. Wilkes, G. T. Willborn,
Hillman Williams, W. J. Wootten, T. B. West, J. H. West, J. J. Wallace, C. C.
White, J. F. Willson, J. G. Williams and J. H. Weaver.




Additional Comments:
From:

GEORGIA BAPTISTS: HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
BY
J. H. CAMPBELL,
PERRY, GEORGIA.


MACON, GA.: J. W. BURKE & COMPANY. 1874.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
J. H. CAMPBELL,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.




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