WER History of the University of Wisconsin-Chapter 6
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WER: History of the University of Wisconsin-Chapter 6

History of the University of Wisconsin

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CHAPTER VI. The Dawn of Prosperity—1866-1870.

Synopsis of reorganization act—Dane County purchases Experimental Farm—Coeducation at Wisconsin University—Financial situation plainly slated—Secretary Allen’s report—President Chadbourne’s election—Still needing funds—Post-graduate course—Agricultural department established—Military instruction—On the road to success—Regents’ report, 1868—Law School established—Regents’ report, 1869—Ladies’ Hall built—Dr. Chadbourne’s resignation.

Synopsis of reorganization act.The reorganization act of 1866 ordains that
the University shall “Provide the means of acquiring a thorough knowledge
of the various branches of learning connected with the scientific,
industrial, and professional pursuits; and to this end it shall consist of
the following colleges, to wit: 1st. The college of arts; 2d. The college
of letters; 3d. Such professional and other colleges as from time to time
may be added thereto or connected therewith.” The college of arts is to

“embrace courses of instruction in the mathematical, physical, and natural
sciences, with their applications to the industrial arts;” among them is
specifically mentioned agriculture, and the study of military tactics is
added to the list—these two courses being named in order to conform to
the terms of the Agricultural College act. “As soon as the income of the

University will allow, in such order as the wants of the public shall seem
to require, the said courses in the sciences * shall be expanded into
distinct colleges of the University, each with its own faculty and
appropriate title.” Coeducation is distinctly provided for in the phrase,

“The University, in all departments and colleges, shall be open alike to
male and female students.”

The government of the University is vested in a board of regents, to
consist of two from each congressional district, and three from the State
at large, all to be appointed by the governor. 1 The head of the
instructional force is to be entitled president, and the secretary of
state is to be secretary, and the state treasurer to be treasurer of the
board.2 For the “endowment and support of the University,” there are
appropriated: (1) The income of the University fund; (2) The income of the
fund derived from the sales of the 240,000 acres received from Congress
under the Agricultural College act; (3) “All such contributions to the
endowment fund as may be derived from public or private bounty”—these,
however, to be used only for the “specific object for which they shall
have been designed by the grantor.” The entire income derivable from these
three sources is placed at the disposal of the regents for the support, of
the University.

Dane county purchases experimental farm.In order that the agricultural
course may at once be established, it is provided in the act that

“Immediately upon the reorganization of the board, it shall be their duty
to make arrangements for securing, without expense to the State or to the
funds of the University, purchases suitable lands in the immediate
vicinity of the University, not less than two hundred acres, including the

University grounds, for an experimental farm, and as early as possible
thereafter, to make such improvements thereon as will render it available
for experimental and instructional purposes, in connection with the
agricultural course in the College of Arts.” Authority is given to the

Dane county board of supervisors to issue $40,000 worth of seven-per-cent
bonds, payable on or before January 1, 1886, the same to be placed at the
disposal of the board of regents for the purchase and improvement of lands
for the experimental farm; if these bonds are not issued or guaranteed,
and in the hands of the regents, within thirty days from the passage of
the act, “then this act shall be null and void.” Thus there was thrust
upon Dane county the sole responsibility for making the reorganization
effective, and enabling the University to take advantage of the

Agricultural College act of 1862. The county promptly issued the required
bonds, and the regents were enabled therefrom at once to purchase 195
acres lying immediately west of the University grounds, for the sum of

$27,054.3 The greater part of this beautiful tract had in 1855 been
platted into city lots, as Loring Guild’s Addition to Madison; there had
been built in this addition several small dwellings, mainly of the shanty
type, besides two brick houses which were acquired by the University with
the purchase. This being added to the 40.63 acres formerly comprising the
campus, the University was now in possession of 235 acres in one
tract—grounds which in contour, outlook, and general adaptability to the
purpose, quite surpass those of any other American university, save
perhaps California (Berkeley), and Cornell (Ithaca, N. Y.).

U. W. STUDENTS COMPETING FOR THE M’KERROW SHEEP MEDAL

Coeducation at Wisconsin.As has been pointed out in the preceding chapter,
the fact that the reorganization act admitted “females” to the full
advantages of the University, early proved a stumbling-block in the effort
of the new board of regents4 to reorganize the institution. In June, 1865,
the old board had tendered the chancellorship to Dr. Joseph L. Pickard,5
formerly State superintendent of public instruction in Wisconsin, and then
superintendent of schools in Chicago; but he declined, for the University
was then in a sad way financially. The new board, a year later, also asked

Dr. Pickard to take the presidency, “but owing to some misunderstanding or
other circumstances,” report the regents, he again refused; no doubt the
prospects of the institution seemed to him still uninviting. They next
made a tender of the position to Dr. Paul R. Chadbourne, of Williams

College, “a gentleman whom they deemed in every respect well qualified and
particularly fitted.” Dr. Chadbourne twice visited the State, “the last
time with the expectation of accepting the place;” but he, too, declined,
owing to “circumstances beyond the control of the board.”

The difficulty here was the coeducational clause in the statute of
reorganization. In their annual report for 1866, the regents state that
they find it “extremely difficult, if not impossible, to secure the
services of a thoroughly competent and experienced educational man at the
head of the institution,” unless the law is modified. They ask from the
legislature “the necessary authority for the erection of a separate female
department, and for making the necessary regulations concerning the
participation of females in the different branches of University studies.

Such an amendment of the law they deem essential for the future prosperity
of the University.” By chapter 117 of the General Laws of 1867, their
prayer was granted, the objectionable section being amended so as to read,

“The University shall be open to female as well as male students, under
such regulations and restrictions as the Board of Regents may deem
proper.”

This stumbling-block removed, Dr. Chadbourne consented to come to

Wisconsin, and on June 22, 1867, was elected by the regents as president
of the University. What had hitherto been known as the Normal Department,
patronized almost exclusively by young women, was henceforth styled the

Female College. The young men were now quartered only in the North

Dormitory, which contained accommodations for about ninety students; for
the rest of their number (148), the regents were obliged to “obtain rooms
elsewhere, at a much higher price than was received from students for
room-rent.” The South Dormitory was now devoted exclusively to the young
women; the regents declare, however, that it “is not fitted for them,” and
the State is urged to provide for the erection of another building for
their occupancy. The Female College, thus installed, was placed in charge
of Miss Elizabeth Earle, as preceptress,6 with an assistant preceptress, a
teacher of music, and a teacher of drawing and painting. “The President of
the University and the Professors give instruction in their several
departments, and the students have the privilege of attending University
lectures, but the recitations and other exercises are distinct from those
in the other colleges.” Later, it was provided that the students of the

Female College were “to be instructed in any optional study for which they
were prepared,” and its graduates were to receive “such appropriate
degrees as the regents may determine;” still later, that they were to

“receive the same degrees as graduates of other colleges for the same
course of study.” As a matter of fact, although the women had separate
commencement exercises, they graduated regularly from the course of the
college of arts (none in 1868, six in 1869, one in 1870, four in 1871, and
five in 1872), and received the bachelor’s degree.

During President Chadbourne’s administration (until June, 1870), they had
separate recitations, which “was found to be inconvenient and expensive.”

As all courses were open to women, this appeared to be about the only
difference between the students of the Female College and the young men.

Dr. Chadbourne had prescribed for them an inferior three years’ course of
study; it is evident, however, that few cared to follow it; certainly,
none of them graduated upon the basis of such a course. In 1870, the
report of the board of visitors hints at disapproval of a separate
department for the women; the regents, however, claim in their report that
they have in the Female College but “conceded the privilege of a distinct
ladies’ education” for those who wish it; “the sexes are not required to
recite together, but a preference in this respect is granted to the
ladies, and competition for all the honors of the University is open alike
to male and female students.” Throughout the following year, in the
interregnum between the presidencies of Chadbourne and Twombly, both sexes
recited together, for the reason that there were not enough professors and
instructors to conduct separate classes. It was in this year (1871) that

Ladies’ Hall was opened; and the regents express a desire “to do all in
their power to provide for ladies the same facilities for college
education enjoyed by gentlemen,” and speak with pride of the fact that

“Wisconsin is far in advance of her sister States in the noble provision
which she is making for the higher education of her daughters.”

By 1873,—when, however, there were no women graduates,—complete
coeducation in the University was assured. With the class of 1874, there
were graduated fifteen women, who engaged in the last commencement
exercises held separately from the men. Since then there has been no
distinction between the sexes in their relations to the institution.

Ladies’ Hall simply exists as a convenient dormitory for the women;
residence therein is not compulsory. In 1877 there was a reactionary
movement on the part of the board of visitors in favor of reviving the

Female College; but President Bascom, who thoroughly believed in the
efficacy of coeducation, clearly showed that the current criticisms
thereof, on physical grounds, were ill-founded; that the young women
actually “improve in strength rather than deteriorate during their college
course,” and are less subject to illness than their fellow-students. He
explains this by saying, “The young men are not accustomed to confinement,
and though sunbrowned and apparently robust, do not endure the violent
transition as well as women.” The question of restoring the Female College
was referred to a committee of the regents, who (June, 1877) reported
adversely. The board then turned the matter over to a committee of the
faculty, who reported (in November) that the young women stood the strain
well, and furthermore that separate instruction was really impracticable.

In order “to meet exceptional cases of physical weakness,” a six years’

course was provided, but few women chose to enter it, and the question was
thereupon dropped. 7

Financial situation plainly stated.In following to a conclusion the
purchase of the experimental farm, and the solution of the problem of
coeducation, both of them vital features of the act of 1866, we have left
far behind the matter of reorganization. We have seen the disappointments
and embarrassments experienced by the regents in the selection of a
president. In his report for the year, ex-Governor Edward Salomon, 8 the
president of the board, plainly informs the people that the University is
still in a weak condition, financially; that the estimated expenses for
the current year are $21,000, and the prospective receipts less than

$12,000, while the income, from the sale of lands will not be increased
for several years to come. He urges an annual appropriation from the State
of $5,000 to $7,000 for the next five years; and shows that when the State
allowed $100,000 of the University fund to be used for buildings and land,

9 this reduced the legitimate income of the institution by $7,000. “If I
am correct in this construction, then the State owes the University over

$100,000, or at least the actual interest on that sum.” Mr. Salomon makes
out an excellent case against the State, and thus vigorously concludes:

Two great institutions of learning are united in this University, which,
until this year, have never cost the state one cent to support. It is
time that Wisconsin should cease standing behind so many of her sister
states in regard to this, its highest institution of learning, which
should be the pride of its citizens. In other states, where state
universities flourish and stand high as institutions of learning, it
will be found that they are liberally supported by state donations.

Secretary Allen’s report.Such words as these, from a citizen so high in
the popular estimation as Mr. Salomon, were well calculated to create an
impression favorable to the University. Simultaneously with the report of
this powerful friend, was issued that of Gen. Thomas S. Allen, the
secretary of state, and ex officio secretary of the board of regents, who
clearly outlines the situation:

Although the fact may seem startling and contrary to general impression,
yet it is no less true, that the State of Wisconsin has never made an
appropriation of one dollar towards the support of its own University.

But it has nevertheless charged the University Fund Income with the
expenses of taking care of its lands, and keeping an account of its
funds. By reference to the disbursements of this fund, which may be
found in the several reports of the Secretary of State for years past,
it will be seen that a sum amounting to over ten thousand dollars

($10,000) has thus been withdrawn from a fund too small to meet the
necessary expense of sustaining the Institution as the credit and good
name of the State demands that it should be sustained. But in addition
to this, under the provisions of chapter 268, laws of 1862, one-half the

University fund itself, upon the interest of which the support of the

University depended, was sunk into oblivion; thus reducing the income
from $18,397.70 in 1861, to $13,005.56 in 1862, and to $11,530.90 in

1863, which has since been about the average. The amount of University

Fund Income on hand Sept. 30, 1866, was $5,501.47. This, with $144.93
belonging to the Income of the Agricultural College Fund, constitutes
the whole amount at the disposal of the regents for defraying the
current expenses of the University for the year commencing Oct. 1, 1866,
and ending June 30, 1867. Out of this are to be paid the salaries of six
or seven Professors, two Assistants in the Normal Department, and
incidental expenses, such as fuel, repairs, etc.

The University cannot be successfully organized and managed in
accordance with the wishes of the people and the Legislature, and
including the Agricultural Department, upon an income of less than
twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). Now, it will properly be asked, how
can this income be secured? Other States having Universities, and among
them Michigan, Kentucky, Iowa and Louisiana, appropriate annually from
the State Treasury sums varying from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars.

In addition, several have erected buildings without any expense to the

University Funds.

Now, it is my opinion, that our University cannot be made a success
unless it receives some assistance from the State. Let the Legislature
first refund the sum of ten or eleven thousand dollars charged the

University Fund for clerk hire and expenses. This will, in addition to
the funds on hand, provide for the expenses of the present year. After
that, a small annual appropriation will suffice, until such time as the
income may be derived from the sale of the Agricultural College lands.

This brief statement of facts is submitted for the consideration of the

Legislature, with the hope that a wise and liberal policy may be
adopted.

These appeals bore immediate fruit. In chapter 82, laws of 1867 (approved

April 6), the legislature gave to the University its first actual
appropriation—$7,303.76 per annum for a period of ten years. This was the
exact interest, according to rates then prevailing, upon the sum taken
from the principal of the fund by the act of 1862, and was a virtual
restoration to the fund of that amount. Hitherto, as pointed out by the
regents and the secretary of state, the University had not cost the State
a dollar; the fund, the grounds, and the buildings had been the gift of
the federal government; and the experimental farm was donated by Dane
county. 10

President Chadbourne’s election.Up to this time, embarrassed by the
difficulty of securing a president, and by means “insufficient to effect
the development and changes contemplated by the act of reorganization,”

the regents had continued the instructional force substantially as it
existed before. In June (1867), however, they succeeded at last in
inducing Dr. Chadbourne to accept the presidency, and reconstructed the
faculty11 as follows:

Paul A. Chadbourne, 12 M. D., President and Professor of Mental and

Moral Philosophy.

John W. Sterling, LL. D., Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy.

Ezra S. Carr, LL. D., Professor of Chemistry and Natural History.

John P. Fuchs, M. D., Professor of Modern Languages and Literature.

William F. Allen, 13 A. M., Professor of Ancient Languages and History.

T. N. Haskell, 14 A. M., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature.

R. E. Harmon, A. B., Tutor.

Amos H. Thompson, A. B., Tutor.

Miss Elizabeth Earle, Preceptress in the Normal Department.

Miss Clarissa Ware, Associate Preceptress.

Miss Frances Brown, Teacher of Music.

Miss Louise Brewster, Teacher of Painting and Drawing.

In their report for 1867, the regents, in a conservative spirit, review
the progress thus far attained in the few months of President Chadbourne’s
administration:

[The president has] very zealously and ably assisted the regents in
laying the foundations for the present and future organization and
development of the university; and although the results so far
accomplished may not perhaps satisfy the expectations of some, who,
themselves without experience in such matters, would have a great and
renowned institution of learning created in the space of a year, or of
others, who, dissatisfied with the past results of our university, would
begin by tearing down and uprooting every thing that connects the past
with the present; yet it is confidently believed, that an earnest and
impartial consideration by men of experience and judgment of what has so
far been accomplished by the President and Regents of the University, is
all that could reasonably be expected and should satisfy the just hopes
of the friends of the Institution and of the people of the State.

To create such an institution of learning as is contemplated by the law
of reorganization, and as the regents hope will eventually be reared to
the lasting honor and benefit of our young and noble State, requires a
large, able, learned and experienced faculty, a correspondingly large
number of well prepared students, and correspondingly large and ample
means. All this can be reached in time; some of it, the regents believe,
they have already obtained; but, as in all really great things, so here
time, patience, industry, perseverance and good judgment are essential
to success. It must not be forgotten, that we are just beginning with
slender means to lay the foundation for a university, and that this
report can be expected to show only progress in the work of
construction. PAUL A. CHADBOURNE

WILLIAM FRANCIS ALLEN

Still needing funds.In concluding this report, President Salomon, its
author, after urging the erection by the State of a building for the young
women, again calls attention to the bettered, but still critical,
financial condition of the University:

It appears that the total income of the ensuing year, including the
estimated receipts of tuition fees, will be $22,208.38, an amount barely
sufficient for the support of the departments now organized, including
the contemplated chair of agriculture. If we compare this income with
that of the University of Michigan, which, as I am informed, was over

$67,000 last year (being three times as much as ours will be for the
ensuing year), it will at once appear why our University cannot, for
many years to come, be expected to equal that of which our sister State,

Michigan, is so justly proud. The example of Michigan is one well worth
our emulation, and I hope that the time may not be far distant when our

State University, which, since my connection with its administration I
have seen near the brink of bankruptcy, and scoffed and sneered at from
all sides (the much-abused step-child of the State, “that had no
friends”) will rise to be worthy of the name “University.” New life has
been infused into it, and it will not disappoint the people if they will
properly support and aid it.

Post-graduate course.The regents promise that “After the present year
provision will be made for such graduates and other students properly
prepared, as wish to devote themselves to special scientific studies.

* The development of this ‘post-graduate’ course will in time give to the

Institution the true character of a University, and it being beyond and
outside of the ordinary college studies pursued at other colleges, it is
expected that many students will be drawn hither to pursue these special
studies.”

Agricultural department established.Thus far, the regents say, they “have
been disappointed in their efforts to secure a competent and proper person
for the professorship of agriculture. * This place requires a man of
great scientific ability not only, but also of practical knowledge and
experience in agriculture. The history of agricultural schools in this
country and in Europe shows that they are the most difficult to sustain.”

In case they are unable to secure a professor by the coming winter, the
president “will himself assume the duties of that professorship until a
suitable person can be obtained for it.” It is also learned from the
report, that the experimental farm has been fenced, and that cultivation
will commence in the following spring; also, that at the request of the

State Horticultural Society, five acres have been set apart for

“experiments of fruit culture.” In the February following (1868), Prof. W.

W. Daniells,15 of the chemical department of Lawrence Scientific School,
at Harvard University, was chosen to occupy the chair of agriculture; and
thereby that department was at last permanently established.

IN THE U. W. CREAMERY

Military instruction.The general expectation that the country would soon
be in the throes of a civil war led, early in 1861, to the organization of
a militia company among the students; and throughout the years of the

Rebellion there was more or less informal instruction on “the hill” in
military tactics. In their report to the regents, in 1862, the faculty
declare that besides enabling most who have left us for the army to start
as officers, it has heightened the physical vigor of all who have shared
in it, and thus given a sympathetic aid to true mental efforts.” We have
seen that the Agricultural College act prescribed military instruction at
the University as one of the conditions attendant on the receipt of aid
therefrom. Nothing was done in the matter by the regents, in 1867, owing
to the inability to obtain an instructional officer from the war
department. Congress had passed an act presumably providing several
agricultural colleges, but the department itself so construed the law that
it declined to make such details. The fault was finally remedied, and in

1868 the regents report the arrival (in January) of Col. W. R. Pease, U.

S. A., 16 who had been assigned by the war department as professor of
engineering and military tactics. “An armory has been established and put
in proper condition, and a uniform has been prescribed by the Regents.”

Thus was the military department, organized, under much the same
conditions as prevail to-day.17

GUN AND MILITARY LECTURE ROOM

On the road to success.The war had given a strong impetus to the business
interests of the country; there had been aroused a sounder patriotism,
national and state; and no doubt the greater attention paid by the regents
to scientific and practical studies had done much to win the regard of the
people. The number of students in 1868 had increased to 394 (124 of them
in the preparatory department). At last, prosperity was in sight. In his
report for that year, as president of the board of regents, Mr. Salomon,
who appears to have been an active and efficient chief, writes with
enthusiasm over the improved condition of the University:

Regents’ report, 1868.The report refers with pride to the new department
of agriculture; to the arbor-vitć hedge and the “row of Norway spruce and

1600 evergreens,” just planted; also to experiments under way in planting
corn and potatoes, and to certain experiments in “the land given to the

State Horticultural Society” for this purpose; “a large and substantial
barn has been built, and a good farm-house for the superintendent.“18 The
preparatory department, we are told, “will continue to be necessary *
so long as the high schools of the State are not sufficiently developed to
furnish the necessary preparation for students at the University. *

The sole object of this department is to prepare students for the regular
classes of the University.“19 The income for the University has been, this
year, $27,658.38, about a thousand dollars more than the disbursements;
but “Considering the large and increasing demands now made upon the
institution, its income is still far below that of many similar
institutions in other states.” The report concludes with this strong
appeal to the legislature for a new building, the first of a series of
like appeals which have from time to time in our day been rendered
necessary by the continued growth of the University:

The principal and pressing need of the University is still felt to be

(more pressingly even than last year because of the increase of
students) an increase of room and of accommodations for students. The

University must have another building. It is impossible to put up such a
building from its own resources, and it has, therefore, to rely upon the
generosity of the state to furnish the means. Without another building
the University cannot expand as it surely will with enlarged
accommodations. The President of the University, in his last report to
the regents, makes the statement: “We have no proper laboratory, no
telescope, no observatory, no room for public meetings, no building
suitable for the Female College.” From their resources the Regents may
supply some of these and other pressing wants in time, but they cannot
erect a new building. For that they can only appeal to the state.

Law school established.We have seen (p. 66) that in January, 1857, the
regents made a futile attempt to establish a law school, with Judges

Edward G. Ryan and Timothy O. Howe as lecturers. Nothing further was done
in this direction until 1868, when the department was formally organized,
with Jairus H. Carpenter as dean20 and William F. Vilas as professor;
while Justices Luther S. Dixon, Orsamus Cole, and Byron Paine “have kindly
consented to accept professorships in this department and to lecture
therein gratuitously when their other duties will permit. The regents
felicitate themselves, in their report, upon the establishment of what

“will probably soon present one of the most attractive and successful
branches of the University.” THE LAW BUILDING

Regents’ report, 1869.In the regents’ report for the year ending September

30, 1869, written by President C. S. Hamilton, the governor is informed
that “Col. Pease having been relieved from duty here, regents have as yet
been unable to secure a successor. But all students in the University who
desire instruction in military tactics have been well provided for by the
employment of Mr. D. B. Frankenburger21 as Drill Master.” The law
department graduated its first class—twelve. “I do not think,” writes Mr.

Hamilton, “that in any College of the land there can be found a more
devoted body of teachers. Their labors, from the President down, have been
incessant, and far beyond the measure of labor ordinarily allotted to
instructors in other institutions. But I now beg your attention to this
fact, to wit: That with the present buildings and accommodations, the

University has reached the verge of its usefulness.” He calls for: (1) a
female college building, to cost $50,000, for the South Dormitory is
needed for the young men; “this want of room * is keeping away from us
many who would be glad to come, and the result must continue to injure us
until we can provide for them.” (2) A public hall costing $15,000, “for
the use of the College Societies, for declamation and for chapel exercises
there is not a room on the grounds, large enough to accommodate all of the

245 young men then in the University.” (3) An observatory to cost $25,000;

“in all the State there is not a good telescope”—a condition of affairs
which lasted until the opening of Washburn Observatory in 1878. President

Hamilton reviews at some length, and without mincing matters, the story of
the State’s early ill-treatment of the University. He points out that in
the two years which have elapsed since the act of 1867, the State has paid
to the University the sum of $14,607.52 “as interest on the money taken
ten years ago for erecting the buildings. * The difference between
this sum and the amount paid to the State for clerk hire is $2,697.69, and
is the total amount that the State has ever given to the University. It is
almost a matter of wonder that, under this illiberality on the part of the

State towards its chief educational institution, we have even a creditable
university in existence; and if to-day we have such an institution, what
may it not become in a few years under such fostering care as other states
show to their universities? * The Regents are encouraged to believe
that the State will not refuse the just demands of the University, and it
is in that hope that this report is respectfully submitted.”

Ladies’ Hall built.To the appeal thus strongly made, the legislature
promptly and generously responded. By chapter 54, general laws of 1870

(approved March 12), fifty thousand dollars was voted to the regents for
the construction of Ladies’ Hall, the first actual donation made by the

State to the University. The building actually cost but $46,570.36,
leaving a balance of $3,429.64 to be expended for furniture, and was
opened for use in 1871.

LADIES’ HALL

Dr. Chadbourne’s resignation.At the close of the college year of 1869-70,

President Chadbourne, actuated by ill health and private interests,
resigned his position, to the deep regret of the regents, who in their
report for 1870 express their “conviction that his departure is a great
loss to the educational interests of the State. They have heretofore often
publicly expressed their sense of the high value of his services, and they
take pleasure in saying that the fruits of his labors have identified him
with the University, and that he will long be held in grateful
remembrance.” There is no doubt that he had contributed largely to the
development of the institution during his three years of service; and the
parting words of the regents are to be taken as sincerely expressing the
sentiments of faculty, students, and citizens.

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1 The chancellor had been ex officio a member of the board, but by this law the president was omitted therefrom. 2 This was in itself a considerable gain. Heretofore the State had charged up to the regents $1,000 per year for clerical service in connection with the University fund, or about ten per cent of the income. The board had frequently, in their annual reports, protested against this charge as uncalled for, but hitherto without effect. By making these two State officials ex officio officers of the board, there could no longer be any charge for services in this connection. 3 In the regents’ report for 1866, the tract is thus particularly described: “A piece of land embracing that part of section 14, in township seven, north of range nine east, which lies west of the university grounds, and that part of section 2 in the same township and range which lies between the Sauk road [University avenue] on the south and the tract in section 14 adjoining on the north, also five town lots adjoining the university grounds on the southwest corner, comprising in all about 195 acres and including Prof. Read’s and Mrs. Hobbie’s stone and brick dwellings, at an aggregate cost of $27,054. Application has been made to the proper authorities for the vacation of the streets intersecting the town lots purchased, which will undoubtedly be granted.” In the MS. report of the chairman of the executive committee of the board, made January 10, 1867, which relates to the purchase of several tracts of lands or lots, appears the following memorandum: “Hobbie Lot 4, Block 3, Brooks’ Addition, is verbally contracted for, price agreed $1800. Not yet conveyed or paid for.” This brick house stood at the corner of University avenue and Mary street, being let by the University as a tenement. It was demolished in 1805, because unsanitary, and a part of the lot used as a tennis court for students. In the plat of the Guild Addition, Mary street, which (excepting the triangular Hobbie lot) formed the western limit of the old campus, was continued to Lake Mendota. Running westward from Mary was another street paralleling West State street on the north. Most of the sixty owners who were bought out by the University (chiefly through the instrumentality of Regent N. B. Van Slyke, chairman of the executive committee), were upon the lots lying between West State and the street to the north. North of the last-named street, the lots stretched up over the hill, to Lake Mendota. It was upon one of these elongated lots, at the summit of the hill, that Professor Read had built his brick dwelling. After the purchase, the University utilized this building for the residence of the president; but upon the opening of Washburn Observatory, a town house for the president was purchased by the regents, and the director of the observatory has since occupied the Read house. 4 The first board of regents appointed by the governor under the new law, were: John G. McMynn, Racine; F. O. Thorp, West Bend; R. B. Sanderson, Poynette; J. C. Cover, Lancaster; M. B. Axtell, Pepin; J. B. Parkinson, Fayette; Augustus L. Smith, Appleton; B. R. Hinckley, Oconomowoc; Samuel Fallows, Milwaukee; Jacob S. Bugh, Berlin; Edward Salomon, Milwaukee; Angus Cameron, La Crosse; C. S. Hamilton, Fond du Lac; J. Hadley, Milwaukee; N. B. Van Slyke, Madison, Thomas S. Allen was ex officio secretary, and William F. Smith ex officio treasurer. McMynn and Salomon had previously served on the board; Parkinson was one of the instructional force of the University, and Smith had been. The majority of the members were prominent citizens of the State. 5 Not to be confounded with Prof. Joseph C. Pickard, who during 1859-61 was teacher of modern languages and literature in the University, and during 1865-66 in charge of normal instruction. 6 The heads of the Normal Department, Female College, and Ladies’ Hall, respectively, have been as follows: Preceptress of Normal Department—Miss Anna W. Moody, 1863-64; Miss M. S. Melville, 1864-66; Miss Elizabeth Earle, 1867-69. Preceptress of Female College—Miss Clarissa L. Ware, 1869-70. Preceptress of Ladies’ Hall—Mrs. Delia E. Carson, 1871-82; Dr. Almah J. Frisby, 1889-95. Principal of Ladies’ Hall—Mrs. Delia E. Carson, 1882-86; Mrs. Mary Ekin Whitton, 1886-89; Mrs. Mary C. Bright, 1889-97. Mistress of Ladies’ Hall—Miss Abbey Shaw Mayhew, 1897 to date. Dean of Women—Dr. Annie Crosby Emery, 1897 to date. 7 See a full treatment of the matter in Allen and Spencer’s “Higher Education in Wisconsin,” pp, 37-41; and in Mrs. Helen R. Olin’s “Coeducation in the Wisconsin State University,” Woman’s Progress, vol. iii, No. 4 (September, 1894). From these two accounts, the present has largely been drawn. In his article in The Badger, 1889, Dr. Butler gives a somewhat different version of the beginnings of coeducation in the University: “When the academic young men went to war, the young women took the places which they had left vacant. The necessity of the University was their opportunity. Thus coeducation was naturally born. It came in almost unawares, as the morning steals upon the night, chasing the darkness. It started into life here sooner and more vigorously than in most other quarters, because student enlistments were more prompt and multitudinous here than in most institutions.” 8 He had been governor in 1862-64. 9 Of the 92,160 acres thus far granted by Congress,—exclusive of the Agricultural College grant, which had only recently been offered for sale,— there had, up to September 30, 1886, been sold 74,178 acres, netting $264,570.13. Out of this productive fund had now been taken (unpaid interest included) $104,339.43 for buildings, leaving but $160,230.70. 10 In the Badger for 1889, Dr. Butler says: “The University knew the State only as an exactor of clerk-hire for keeping its accounts, and of pay for taking care of its work. When war and evil days came, and Professors were no longer allowed homes in the University buildings, and salaries which had been $1,500 shrank to a thousand and fees which did not average $300, even after officers paid tuition-money for being allowed to teach their own children, while all prices doubled, not a dime of aid came front the State. 11 It will be noticed that Professors Daniel Read and J. D. Butler did not continue under the reorganization. 12 President Chadbourne was born in North Berwick, Me., October 21, 1823, graduating from Williams College in 1848. After some experience in high school work, he became a tutor in Williams, in 1851, and then professor of chemistry and botany; in 1858, he went to Bowdoin College to fill a like chair. In 1859-60 he was upon scientific expeditions to Iceland, Greenland, and Scandinavia; and later a professor at Mount Holyoke Seminary, and Berkshire (Mass.) medical college. He had served in the Massachusetts senate in 1865-66, and at the time of his call to the Wisconsin presidency was at the head of the Agricultural College at Amherst, Mass. Upon leaving Wisconsin in 1870, he returned to Massachusetts in ill health; but in 1872, on his recovery, became president of Williams College, a position which he held for many years. He served a term in Congress, and achieved considerable reputation as an orator and lecturer. 13 Prof. William F. Allen was born in Northboro, Mass., September 5, 1830, and graduated from Harvard in 1851. After teaching for a time, he went to Europe in 1854, studying history and Roman antiquities for two years. Again teaching in Massachusetts schools for a few years, he went to South Carolina in 1863, as an agent of the Freedmen’s Aid Commission, to teach negroes, remaining two years; and then went to Arkansas as agent oft he Sanitary Commission, staying till the close of the Civil War. Going to Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 1865, he left in a year, and went to Perth Amboy, N. J., where he was professor in a military college. While there, he accepted the call to Wisconsin; at first he taught ancient languages and history, after 1870 Latin and history, and after 1886 history alone. He died in Madison, December 8, 1889, after a brief illness, from pneumonia. Professor Allen was the author of History of the Roman People (Ginn, 1890); numerous Latin text-books; hundreds of review articles in The Nation, North American Review, and other leading critical journals; and scores of monographs—all of them of great excellence. He achieved an international reputation, among scholars, especially in the domain of Roman history and antiquities. 14 Professor Haskell was born in Chautauqua county, N.Y., January 20, 1826, graduating from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1851. After some experience as a teacher, he graduated from Union Theological seminary, in 1852, and was a Presbyterian pastor in Boston when called to Wisconsin University. He held his chair here for one year, and went to take a pulpit at Aurora, Ill. from there, he went to Denver in 1873; the following year, he was instrumental in organizing Colorado College, at Colorado Springs. 15 For biographical sketch of Professor Daniells, see sketches of the faculty, post. 16 Born in Utica, N. Y., July 8, 1831, graduating from West Point in 1855. In 1856-57 he was on duty as a lieutenant, at Forts Crawford (Prairie du Chien, Wis.) and Smith (Arkansas), and in 1858-59 in the Utah expedition. In June, 1861, he was commissioned captain, and for a time served as mustering officer in Ohio and New York. He was then in active service until August, 1863, receiving the brevet of major for gallant service at the siege of Suffolk, Virginia. Retiring from active service because of disease, he served through the remainder of the War of Secession as mustering and disbursing officer; and was brevetted lieutenant-colonel of the regular army, and brigadier-general of volunteers. Detailed to duty at the University of Wisconsin in January, 1868, he remained in charge of the military department until March 19, 1869, when he was relieved because of impaired health, and returned to Brooklyn, N. Y. 17 The military instructors have been: Col. W. R. Pease, 1868-69; Col. Walter S. Franklin, 1869-70; Col. Wm. J. L. Nicodemus (in the employ of the University), 1870-79; Capt. Charles King, 1880-82; Lieut. Nathan Chase, 1883-85; Lieut. Luigi Lomia, 1885-88; Lieut. James A. Cole, 1888-91; Lieut. Hugh McGrath, 1891-94; Lieut. Edward Chynoweth, 1894-95; Lieut. John C. W. Brooks, 1890-98; Capt. Charles A. Curtis, 1899 to date. 18 The agricultural department was now possessed of the following faculty: Prof. W. W. Daniells (agriculture and analytical chemistry), Prof. John E. Davies (chemistry and natural history), and Prof. Addison E. Verrill (comparative anatomy and entomology). See biographical sketches of the present faculty, post, for an account of Dr. Davies. Professor Verrill was born at Greenwood, Maine, February 9, 1839, and, like Professor Daniells, was educated at Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard University. He was professor of zoology in Yale when called to Wisconsin in August, 1868, and returned thither on resigning his position here, in June, 1870. He was a zoologist of considerable reputation, and one of the associate editors of (Silliman’s) American Journal of Science and Art. 19 This department was abolished in 1880. The high schools of the State steadily increased in number and duality, enabling the University to gradually raise its standard of admission, particularly in 1875. In 1877, the system of accredited high schools was adopted.—Allen and Spencer, pp. 41, 42. 20 The deans of the law faculty have been: Jairus H. Carpenter, 1868-69 Harlow S. Orton, 1869-72; Philip L. Spooner, Sr., 1873-76; J. H. Carpenter again, 1876-83; Ithamar C. Sloan, 1884-89; Edwin E. Bryant, 1889 to date. Charles N. Gregory has been associate dean since 1894. 21 For a sketch of Professor Frankenburger, see biographies of the present faculty, post.