| Summary: | Minutes of the Board of Trustees meetings held in 1878RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD Of TRUSTEES OF THE
A & M COIJLEGE OF ALABAMA - ' F. M. Reese , Secretary
Commencing June 24, 1878
Auburn, Alabama
Jun~ 24, 1878
A - [CJ
At t he regular anxlUal meeting of , the Board of Trust ees, of , the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Alabama held in the College Buildings at 9 o'cl ock A.M.,
the roll being called there were pre sent: His Excellen9Y, Geo,_ S. H()uqton,
Governor of the State , ex- officio President of the Boara- and Messrs . Barnes,
Bi bb , Box , Dowdell, Haralson Ivlalone and St an'sel. Afte r the roll call Hr.
Langdon appeared and took his seat . Absent. : Mes srs . l1awler and Moren •.
The President of the College bej.ng called upon read and submitted his report .
To the Board of rrustees.
Report of the President of the College
A & M College - June 24th" 1878
Gentlemen: To the College, t J1:is has been a year of sorrow. . On the 6th of February
Cadet Charles S. Parkman died of pneumonia contracted as his father states while on
a visit ' to his h~me . ' This, was the first de.ath that has occurred i n the college
·since its organizat'ion. From that time the qark :vdI).gs, :oi' the deatp Angel seemed
to have r ested over the Institution. On the 14th of '~aryh Professpr B. !3 . Ross
left the earthl y tenement f or t hat house not made with hands .
On the 5t h of ~a rch the household of another m~mb~ r of the Faculty was stricken
by ithe bolt of death and ?- vacant cha.ir- a r \>rcoken family circle is the, c<?pstant
r eminder of the terrible blow.
On the 25th of Nay as if our load of sorrow vras pot already enough, t here was
added t he death of Professor E. Q.Thorntao. ~hen a gain on the 7th of J'une Cadet
, J . vI.' Allen died of typhoid fever'.
Such repeated blows have seldom fal len upon any Instit ution . Of the diseases
causi ng these deaths but one of them could have originated in this locality. Of
the five, three were f rom constitutional di seases, one was contra cted at home
and the other may have peen produced by local cau~es .
, .
On the occasion of the deat h of their colaborers , the Faculty has,. by r esolutions
and in other appropriate ways , t esti f i ed their appreciation of t hese Prof~s sors
and t he grief they felt at the~r loss.
Of Professor E. B. Ross they sayl'that by his death a grievous affliction visits
at once the col lege of Hhich he was for many years an 'abl e and faithful officerhis
country vJ'hose interests he ever served, his church '\<[hose al tars were dear to
him, but especially his family to which he was indeed and in t r uth an honored
head and comfort . II
( Of Professo r E. Q . Thornton they, say IIwe his associates .dleel t hat in tpe ,death
of Prof . Thornton the community has lost a va~uab~e member~ the state a public
spirited citizen, tne church a devoted christian, the cause of Education a wise
and earnest a dvocat.e , the College an able 'and accomplished Professor, and the
Faculty a judicious, coUnsellor and a warm f r iend v,rho had endeared himsel f t o us
by hi s unif orm courtesy, his thoughtf~ kindness, hi ~ generous nature, his modest
yet sterling worth .. 11
But t his sad" picture is not unrelieved by considerations of hope and promisewhen
in former reports t o the Boar d(I have st at ed that t he College was steadily
grovring in public favor- t hat by its hi gh standar d of scholarship, by its
earnest purpose to accomplish the work assigned it, and more than all, by its
adaptat i on to t he vmnts of our people , it was comnending itsel f to the t houghtfull
men of the state, I was uttering words of confident assurance drm-lTn f rom
f acts too many and too plain to be overlooked even sooner than I hoped the
deve lopmen~ of their growing conf i dence has come.
In number of students, t his session has placed t he college first among the
Institutions of the state and in t he front rank of colleges in the South.
Our catalogue shows a list of 238 . This increase of' munbers has been gained
not by parading b ~ fo re t he public merits ,'Ie do not possess, but by the real
worth and the substantial work of the college.
This fact gives aSSlITanCe t hat the popula r i t y of' the i nsti tution is not
ephemeral- will not like Jonah ' s gourd perish i n a night .
The increase in students r ender ed necessary a l a r ge outlay in improvements on
the Buildings and in facilities for their accommodation. The basement story
has been f itted up, ' adding to our f ormer a ccommodations elegant apartments for
the Chemical Laboratory, t wo good rooms for the preparatory department, each
capable of contai ning 60 pupils ; two good armories, a Tr easurer's off ice and a
guard room, and when compl et ed t here ",rill be also a room for fuel and one for
quartermaster stores. "
There has al so been purchased one hundred new desks f or students- a l evel
for t he Engineers epartment costing ~;;15 0 and various other appliances of
instruction which it is deemed useless"',to "enumerate.
The college is now capabl e of accommodating 300 students, a number vIe hope
to have during the next year.
I subr¢.t the report of t en Professors, show;Lng the amount of work done in their
departments of the college .
FARM
During t he past year experiments were made with different varieties of cot ton
seed . An a cre of each of four varieti es vlTas planted and each was fertilized
and cultivated in precisely the same vmy. The cost of the fertilizer was
$13.50 per acre. The season was unfavorable and the yield of some of the
acres which suffered most from the exce-ssive "drought was dminished nearly
fifty p'er cent. The four acres yielded the following amount of seed cot t on:
The Buck Cotton 1300 ~b~
" Anderson Cotton IhOO "
II Baker "(Rameses) 1930 II
" Sloppy II 224.0 It
The a cre of Sloppy cotton made exclusive of bagging and ties. 760 Ibs lint cott on.
This acre after deducting t he cost of the fertilizer, $13 . 50, gave a product of
:jp63 .00, counting the cost of labor at $15.00, there would be left as net profit
on t his acre the sum of ~4.8 .00 . The account with this one stands thu.s:
For fertilizer $13.50.
To l abor 15.00
Total debt 28. 50
Cr. by 760 Ibs . cotton 76.00
$4.7 .. 50
The unexhausted part of the fertilizer ought to be deducted f rom the expense
of t his acre . fy experience and observ'?-tion as "well as that of others, having
led me to the conclusion that such fertilizers · as I employed bGI'e not less than
one- fourth of t he value f or the ~UXEeding year or crop. I should certainly
estimate t he real gain upon t his acre as not less ~ han fifty dollars.
The corn crop v,rhich at the close of the sessi on l ast June promised a harvest
of sixty bushels per acre , Has by t he unf ortunate season r educed t o thirt y- six.
But as an evidence of t he correctness of t he sta t ement t hat one- fourth of the
val ue of t he fertilizer is left for the succeeding crop , I may state that this
plot of ground, after t he corn crop w-as gathered, was sOlm dmm i n oats and
yiel ded 68 bushels p_er acre wi thout any fertilizer .
After having for years tried all the varieties of wheat I could comll1.and I
came to t he conclusion t hat t he common IIblue stemll or lIpurple straw" is the
best wheat for our ~e ction of the State and I det ermined to 'use every ef fort
t~ improve it so as to increase t he ' yield. La st year I cultivated a'small
piece of ground planted i n wheat in rows 18 i nches apart and 12 inches in
the row. Selecting t he best heads f r om t his I planted last fall one acre '
in checks 18 i nc es each way- cult ivated it by givipg it two plowi ngs with
a small garden plow- enriched it Ivith $7.50 worth of fertilizer and a sack
of salt. The yi eld of the a cre was 40 bushels. This acre, without fertilizer
or cultivation would not have yielded more t han 15 busnels. The fertilizer
could not by any possibility have increased the yield mor e t han 12! bushels .
The r emaining i qcrease of 12~ bushels could be due to nothing but the cultivation.
The history of t his acre planted in wheat is not vIi thout inte-re st . Fi ve years
ago it ,vould not 'have produced five bushels of corn. It was almost absolutely
barren. During t he f our years it has been under my charge it has produced in
value the sum of $162.50 '
When recei ved fertili zers costing . 41.50
The product has exceeded cost of
fertilizer $121.00
Estimating ,t he value of t he l abor bestowed upon the crops at $10 per annum,
or ~40 f or the four years and we have a net gain above cost of both labor and
f ertilizer on this acire of ;p81 LBoI' t he 4 years or $20 . 25 per annum.
In addition such has been t he improvement of t he land, that it would now bring
250 Ibs of lint cotton without any : fe.rtili zing .
The question may be asked why with such result:;;, i s t he college farm an expense
to the Institut ion, instead of 'a source of i nc; me . "The answer to t his question
is easy. First, many things a r e changed to farm account by some measure which
are not expended on this Farm at all. All the expenses of 'the Agricult ural St ation
iIl North Alaba.m:t and . all the outlay on the college garden is charged to Farm acct .
Then all the i nvestment made for the use of the f a rm of whatever kind is , charged
to t his account and is by many supposed to be a part of the current expenses of
t he Farm. Thus l ast year' it was necessaI'lJ t o rebuild almost the entire fence
enclosing it . The yard of your Farm House was enclosed with a good plank fence,
an arbor was constructed for t he vineyard and various other improvements which
instead of being charged to the account of repair and .improvement are charged
to Farm account. , .
The same 'system of' keeping a ccounts with the Hilitary of' the college would
show that including the salary of fhe Quartermaster it cost the college more
than t he Farm, yet nobody complains because its expenses are not thus shown-'
by your Treasurers stat ement. But aft er al l the Farm isan expense t o the
college , and must continue to be so until it is put upon a widely different
basis. '
First, we have not l and enough to work economically i n the ordinary farm cropsno
offset this diff icu~ty I tried for one or two years the r aising of such
veeetables as are' grown in the ,market and ga r dens near our l ar ge c ities and
coulci. find no sufficient demand neither in Auburn or elsewhere for such products .
Second, the labor employed on such a farm must be of a higher grade than the
ordinary farm labor. The man who does the principal part of the work on t he
farm' is paid ~~300 per annum and i f -he vrill keep sober is worth it on any farm .
To atte~pt experiments wi t h the ordina ~J labor of the country without an hourly
supervision of it would ,be ,the most senseless folly.
The college can better afford to pay a competent man $300 t'o do the work necessary
to be done than it can to pay t wo "f oremen $100 each and then pay me a salary
of $2400 to oversee them.
Properly conducted experiments are always costly. They do not pay in t he amount
of product but they do pay largely in the information they give. I would not
ta.\<e a t housand dollars today for what I have learned by experiments upon the
college farm if that knowl edge could not be otherwise obtained.
The deat h of Professor Ross and 'Professor Thornton r ender necessary the election
of at least two new members of the Faculty. As the Chair of Moral Philosophy was
that a ssigned to the President in t he -"organizat ion of t he college, and as compe-tent
gentl emen can now be found who will cheer f ully accept the position of Professor
of Agriculture, I respectfully ask the Board to disconnect the Agricultural chair
f rom t he of f ice of President and to r eassign to me t he chair of Moral Philosophy.
In addition to suppl yi ng the vacancy in the chair of Natural History, it will in
my judgment be necessary to increase the teaching f orce f:orx of the faculty .
Wi th the present organizati on of the college classes we have the equival ent of
140 recitations per week in the college proper exclusive of the preparatory
department. Our 4th and 3rd classes have become so large in order t o give
them eff icient instruction, we are compelled t o divide them and thus double the
number of their recitations. Such a division would give us t he equivalent of
ten college classes with an average of 4 recitations per day :for each, making 400
recitat ions per week.
The University of the St ate with more in her corps of instructors, provides in
all her derartments for but 115 recitations per week while t his college even if
t he proposed additi ons were given us would have for her 8 instructors 200
recitations per week.
As to the specific action w"8ich the Board may t ake in giving us this additional
aid t here may be a diversity 'of opinion. --
A 5-
It has been suggested t hat the Board create a Chair of EnglisQ Literature f or the
ne." Professor . Those Professors who need as.sistance in their department are the
Professors of Languages and IvJathematics and whatever the new Professor may be
styled, the necessities of the college will f orce him to give aid to those gentlemen .
It has been suggested t o me that a Professor of }fechanicalPhilosophy and practical
Ilechanics be created and I am inf-orm~d that a member of the Boa rd will probably
submit a plan f or this purpose . The eminent success whic)1 is r eported to have_
attended the introduction of this f eature i nto the school of Technology in Boston,
a feature modeled after t he Russian schools, woul d seem to entitle it to favorable
considerati on at the hands 01' t his Boar d.
It is certainly desirable t o give instruction to as many youpg men as possible
at least in the r udimental principles of t he mechanic arts . ~ Every En.gineer ought
to have skill in the' use of t oos , and every farme,r ought to pe able to repair
and in many instances to make the i rnplements used upon the farm. Such a knowledge
of machinery as would enable him to know when his implements Here in good order
would save i mmensel y in the wear and t ear of such tools upon Em ordinary plantation.
Should the plan be submitted I have no doubt the Board Ifill gi ve' it, the consideration
i ts merit deserves .
The only other met hod of giving the Faculty the needed a i d is t o elect an Instructor
for the C olle g~ and to let him be assigned to such duties in the college as may be
deemed best. This pl an has the merit of cheapness, a very doubtful one in the
. employment of men t o do work in an Inst i t ution like this .
As the l aw of t he Board makes it my duty to recommend suitable persons f or the
various chairs whenever i t is determined what chairs it is designed to f ill by
new appointments, I will be prepared to submit the names of gentlemen qualifj.ed
f or the position.
The prepari3.t ory department which was organized by the Faculty under permission
of t he Board has grown t o such importance as to merit the most favorable consideration
of t he Boa r d. In my judgment it ought to have at its head a man f ully ~qual
to any other in the Faculty. Much of the success of the college depends upon the
manner in which boys are trained and prepared in this department and I recorr®end
to the Board that the principal of t his Department be elected by the Board and be
a full Professor with salary equal t o that of other professprs .
Only thus can you secure for this department the services of such a man as vnll
fully meet its demands . After f illing the vacant professorships , I wouJ.,d prefer
the adoption of thi s suggestion to any other made to increase the teaching f orce
of the Fa culty. The mai n question with t he Board will doubtless be can the college
sustain thi s a dditional expendit~re.
The Faculty or ganized as I propose with a President , six Rrofessors and Instructors
for the college proper wi th a salary of $1200 and with a Professor and Assistant in
the preparatory department would require $17, 000 . The income of the college may be
briefly stated at $22,000 per annum. This would leave for pther purposes a sum of
$5, 000 per annum which ought to be sufficient .
The report of t he Treasurer shows that the expenses of the college f or the past
year have been $24, 000 and of this sum not less than $4, 000 has been f or extraordinary
expenses . I f we must be stinted in anyt hing let it not be in numbers
or the ability of the men who compose the Faculty.
We are denied by our scanty means many of those el egancies which other more favored
Institutions possess. Our only hope is in competing with them in men who should
compose the Faculty of the Institution.
In conclusion permit me to .say that t he f uture of the college is f ull of hOPE3 and
promise . It has over come obstacl es the most f ormidable and pr ejudices t he most
inveterate and unyielding; -".ron its way by its meri ts to the front rank of coll eges
i n the South, and considering its , age and its r esources it is of its class the
equal of any in t he Union.
It is true t hat much is yet t o be accomplished to make it all we could desire,
but the same wisdom in i ts Board of ~Bna gement and the same fidelity t o duty on
the part of its Faculty 1.rill ca rry it forward in its career of usefulness until
all our people will recognize the value of i t s l abors, and unite in promoting
its interests . It is true we need many things- more buildings, l arger libraries,
great er appli ances of instruction, extensive museunls of Natural History, more
extended farming operations where will be found the best specimens of cultivated
crops, stocks, fences , buildings, roads, orchards, vineyards , groves , and gr a ss
o lots, farm machi nery and all the impl ements of husbandry- b~t in time all of
these will come .
The gener al Government will some day give us further aid . The State of Al abama to
which we a re indebt ed for nothing but a name will one day awake to the f act of our
existence and no longer treat her child as an orphan and a stranger. If she does
nothing more she will at least comply with the obligations of her trust. and pay
to us all the discount we have suffered by receiving her unconcern and funds at par.
Some man l i ek Jerrel of Georgia or like Vanderbilt will desire to leave a blessing
to posterity and make t his college the channel t hrough which it will be tra.nsmitted.
No college has a nobler mission or gr ander field of usefulness. The
results of its l abors will not to any great extent be f elt or reco,gnized by the
masses for years t o come , but these results will be permanent as the mountains
that are lifted to t he clouds or the streaJlls that f low 0uward to the sea .
The connection that is destined t o be made between lea r ning and labor- between
the intelligence that plans and the hand that executes" elevating as i t must do
the very substratum of human society wi t h all that i s based 'upon it above the
degrading and exhausting vassalage of slavish toil h~ll prove the gr andest
revoltuion of the lvo.rld. ItSubdue the earthll was the Divine injunction to our
first par ents, all its "~lil d and untamed elements of sea and air, al l its
mysterious and imponderable yet potent agenci es- all its diversified and undeveloped
:fauna and f lora of every land and of every clime comes within the
scope of the Divine cormnand and i t s accomplishments will be one of i t s highest
achievements rendered possi ble to man by his power s and his de stiny •. Much
mi sunderstood, long overlooked, wellnigh forgot t.en, the wold is awaking to the
fact that thi s sl'bj ection of the physi cal "\"forld to ihis SWA,y is the Divine
method of r eli eving it f rom the burden of the curse- thus the mighty movements
begun 1.vhi ch ends in t he ful l reali zation of the prophetic 1;.rords that the
vlilderness and the solitary places. sh&11 be made glad and the desert re j oice
and blossom as the ro se .
1. T. Tichenor, President A. & 1,1. College
Al abama
In connection with his OviD t he President submitted the following ~eports of
Professors :
It 7-
Report of C orrunandant
To the President of the .A & M College of Alabama
I have the honor t o submit the accompanying r eport of the Deaprtment of t-iilitary
Science and Tactics for the A & M ~ oll e g e of Alabama for the year ending June 26 ,
1878.
Full r eports made heretofore exhibit the course of i nstruction and the character
of the exerc i s es in this Department.
I offer a feltl suggestions; the adoption of which will materially benefit t he
discipline of the school.
I respectfully reco~~ end that the college l imits be fixed at the distance of
one mile radius from the center of the college buildings, that all cadets not
r esiding at home , be confiDed to such limits . This wil l induce uniformi ty in
duti es and enable the Commandant to be cdvised of the impr oper abscn~ e of cadets
l'lhich cannot be a scertained now in the case of those boarding at farm houses in
t he country and who are necessarily excused f rom work of ,the roll calls.
Thi s is a serious evil which I t hink need only to be stated to you in order to
be corrected by the adopt i on of the regulation as stated above.
The town affords ampl e boarding a ccommodation for three hundred cadets.
::Je have found our: system of discipl ine to work admirabl y with the large increase
in our number of cadets in the fir st year and we are gr atif ied to report
the f act that with so l arge a nwnber of new cadets added to the corps , we have
:qot a serious breach of discipl ine during the past year.
In a few cases cadets have lef t for home v-Jithout leave, but as the parent or
guardian has in BO case comp~lled the cadet to ret urn we attribute such conduct
to lax disc:i.pline at home which had unfitted the boy for the strick disci
pl ine of the school.
~ie l oose no~ h in g by eliminat ing such mat erial from our corps of cadets.
The state of Alabama, t hr ough his ,i!;xcellency Governor Houston, has promptly
supplied the corps with additional arms and accouterments.
Very respectfully submitted,
R. A. Hardaway, Com!".nandant
See Regulation one hundred and eleven (Ill) appended:
Cadet Limits
Section 111. Cadet limits are comprised within the distance of one mile of
college buildi ngs .
To be amended as follows:
. i
Section 111. Cadets limits are comprised within the distance of one mile radius
from the center of the college buildings and all cadets shall be confined in the
s election of boarding houses t o the above li.rnits .
Report of Professor J . T. Dunklin
Department of Ancient Languages
A &:1:1 Coll ege Auburn, Alabama June 22, 1878
Dr. J. T. Tichenor, President:
I submit t he fol lowing report for t he session of H577-?8 .
In the course in Latin, Number taught 100.
In the course in Gr eek, Nrunber taught 25.
The students in t his department are t aught in four classes making fourteen recitations
in Latin and t wel ve in Greek durine; the week .
The method of instruction is by t ransl ation from Latin and Greek authors i nto
.En~~lish -and vice versa. These langua~ es are s t l-Jied in their etymology and
syntax along i-rith the reading the Latin ani Greek al,~thors, ·the various construct
i ons explained and illustrated and the corresponding Engl i sh Doter' and composed .
As much of the geography, mythology and literature of Latin and Greek are studi ed
as the t i me and ci rcumstances allow . In view of the f acts that Hodern Literature
is so t i nctured by that of' classic antiquity that the fonner can only be successfully
studi ed and appr eciated by a knowl edge of the latter. '1'0 do the vwrk
of this department with t horough efficiency, I need a ssistance. 'I\venty-six
recitations or l ectures a week is too much for one instructor to attempt and
do the work as it shoul d be done, especial l y so when much of the work is done
by written exercises requiring many hours for t hei r pr eparation and correction .
I need some additional appl icances in maps and books of reference whi ch woul d
add much to the interest and efficiency of my work . I desire the Board to
rr~ke a small appropriation to procure this very desirable help .
The pr ogress of :ny class during the year has been good--thei r attendance at t he
class and orderl y deportment i n r ecitati on have been uniformly good . '1'he aro.ount
of Hork required of them can be seen by r eference to catalogue . It is my endeavor
to have all this accomplished as fully and thoroughly as the time allowed will
permit . But the desire of the t eacher f or t he advan c e ~ent of his classes always
outweighs actual results .
Respectfully submi t ted,
J . T. Dunklin ,
Pr ofessor of Anci ent Languages
Reverend J . 'I' . Tichenor, DD
President
Auburn , Alaba'1la
Sir:
A & IV; College
Auburn, Alabama
June 22, 1878
t the .last meeting of the Board .of Trust ees , the Chair of Natural i:JClenCes,
which I had previousl y filled was divid.ed and Professor Thornton called to
preside over a par t . _ By a private ar rangement between us he taught l,,'sics ,
Botany , Geology l eaving to me Chemi stry , Astronomy and ~1ine ralogy . In Chemistry
I had t hr ee classes , the 3rd consisting of 51 members which pursued the study
of General Chemi st ry, and the 2nd of whi ch pur sued Agr i cultural -< nalysis . In
As t ronomy, there were nine students and in t~ineralogy , eight . Hy classes in
Che:'nistry met every day, t he other s 3 tirnes a week . After the deat h of Pr ofessor
Thornton, I took charge and completed the regular classes in Botany and
Geology, t he former consisting of 61 members , the latter of eigh,t . I also
finished up a German class of 14 members.
I have again the pl easure of reporting diligence and progress by the greater
part of the young men pursuing the scient i fic department. An increase in
interest fo r scientific knowledge is fully attested by the f act, that during
t he past year, I have had 7 young men at work in the l aboratory, the most of
whom are pursuing t his course in Science . Next year the most of them will .
continue t heir wor k and be graduated .
I have the pleasure also of inforrnaing you t hat during the past term, the chemical
department has been. transferred t o t he basement and admirabl y fitted up
both for experiments and lectures in r egular chemistry and f or work in analysis.
A ~p ringfield gas lnachine f urnishes gas to t wenty- seven work tables . A furnacB
r oom has also been f i xed up . I nto the lecture , work, and furnace r oom, streams
of viater are conducted through pi pes f r om the reservoir and enamelled sinks
pr ovided for each for working purposes . In fact our facilities f or chemical
IrJOrk , thanks t o your -cooperation, have been greatly enhanc es. ,The old rooms
formerly occupied by me have been also fitted up .
The philosophical apparat us deposited .in t he Hest room and cabinet and museum
in the ~ast r oom whi l e the center provided with COlLTlter s, seats and desks
still remain a s a lecture room for the Professor of Nat ur al History .
Al l of which is most respectful ly s ubl~litt e d .
'iJ . C. Stubbs
.Pr ofes sor of Chemistry
19-
~10-
Report of the Department of Pure fv'J.athernatics
Reverend J . T. Tichenor, Pr esident
A. & ~-1 College
Sir:
I have the honor to submit t he foll owing report of the work done in my department
during the scholastic year of 1877- 78 .
Class
1 st
11
II •
2nd
II
II
fl
3rd
11
II
tI
"
1st
" 11
2nd
II
Sec.
11
II
Sec.
11
Calculus
II
Spher. . Trigonomet ry
Analyti cal Geometry
II
ll{echanics .
Calculus
"
Analytical Tri gonometry
" "
Geometry
Anal ytical Geometry
4th Al gebra
" II
II Geometry
4th Al gebra
11 II
II II 11 GeoTuetry
I rregular Al gebra
Commercial Course
Arithmetic
Bookkeeping
Session
1st
No . Recit . Per
_..:.-.;..;;....,:_C'_,;..,l.;..,a_ss_ Per Sessi on Subj. Total
50
18
No. in
8
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
2
1 & 2
7
7
14
12
12
9
. 38
40
41
l~l
40
34
27
31
31
29
27
6
51
12
48
16
17
i. I
8-6
26
( "
{ -"
$6
80
49
6��
';1
1 & 2 40 ' 511.
1 & 2 38 144
68
13
63
48
24
33
36
6
24
112
49
116
81
135
99
161
165
66
Total Recitations in this Department
. 1 95
902
The whole nwnber of cadets in this Depar tment during t he year is 166. The foregoing
table gives the . exact nwnber of recitations and class exercises as shovm by my record
book . Ninty- three weeks are devoted to this work exclusive of examinations .
It will be seen that I have had 28 recitations per vleek or 5 3/5 r ecitations per
week giving me but 2 vacant hours in the week . I would respectfully suggest in
view of this heavy ,<{ork .that I be r elieved of the COIIll!lercial ourse which now
occupies nearly .one-fourth of my t ime . The classes have made very satisfactory
pr ogr ess and thei r deportment in the class r oom excellent .
VerJ r espectfully ,
o. D. Smith
Professor of Eathematics
11- 11-
Regular Proceedings- P.
On motion of Kr . Barnes the r eport of t h e. Presiuent li,e on ,the table until further
order of t he Board .
The Trea surer beint; called on read and subrr}it~te d his report, vice; :
Tr easurer ' s. Office A & H Coll ege .
Aum:;j.n , . Alabama June 15, 1878
To the Honor able Boa rd of Trustees
Gentlemen: '
I have tl;1e honor to pr esent to you herewit h a statement of the financial t r ansactions
of t his Office for the year ending June 15 , 1878 .
Receipts' .
To State Tr easurer, alc $21, 210 .00
II Incidental " 1, 730 . 00
1I Surgeon " 845 .00.
1I Farrn II 283 .76
II Rent of Land It 47 .70
1I Balance II 6 89 . ~1
i5f, 24 , 805.87
,Disb:ursements
By amount paid t o balance 90 .20
" II II II 2, 91C.71
II II II II ':':;xpense 1, 204 . 93
II " II II Printing 298 .75
" II II " Fixtures 756 .03
II II II II Stationery 47.65
II II Fixtures 157 . 97
" II Appar atus 117 .18
II II Chemi cal 60 .00
II II Pr inting 8 .• 25
II 11 Fa,rrn 7 .80 385.44
By amount paid to Apparatus alc 34 .24 187 .77
II II II Int . and Discount 922 . 56
II II 11 338 .08
" " II Tru.stees al c 200 . 95
II II II Salary alc 14,343 .29
II II II Farm alc 506 .88
" II 11 Insurance alc 412 .61
" " 11 Chemical alc 100 .39
11 II II Surgeon alc 845 .00
1I 11 II Incidental ale 105 .00
11 11 II Advertising alc 538 .00
11 11 11 Commission alc 611 .13
$24, 805.87
All of which is most respectfully submitted .
E. . T. Glenn, Tr easurer
Liabilities
$ 3,313 .25
1,258 .00
689 .41
1,000 .00
$11,260 . 66
Assets-Amt • . due from ;3tock Tr eas. - 4,140.00
$1,120 .66
Due -Faculty on Discount
II II II Salary
" II " Overdraw
II Bills Payable Estimated
Aubur n , Alabama June 24, 1878
Addenda to Li abilities
Due on East Alabama College cl aims
To -Prof es sor J . T. Dunklin
" " A. Flogg
" II vi. C. Stubbs
Regular Proceedings:
$43 9.11
130 . 50
166.12
$735 .33
Res pectfull y submitted,
B. T. GJenn , Tr ea surer
- -
On motion of ~(r . Barnes , the report of the Tr easurer lie on the t able .
The r eport of the Resident COll1IIlittee on t he Books , .Vouchers , etc. was r ead and
submitted .
To the Board of Tr ustees of
the A & £.;1 Col lege of Alabama
Gentlemen :
A & fir College of AlabaIua -
June 17, 1878
Your committee t o whom was referred and a ss.igned the dut y of examining t he
books, voucher s , etc . of the 'l'reasur er of the Coll ege ask l eave t o r eport a s '
fol l ows :
1st They have examined t he general expense account ana f ind that t he items
entered and charged on the books· correspond wit h vouchers appr oved and endorsed
by the Pr esident and the Acting President of t he Col lege .
2nd They have examined the Bank, accolli"lt and f ind that t o correspond ,.r1th t he
pass book of the Banking Houses .Ln which the Treasurer' has made deposits .
3r d That the T1Masurer has ex."libited t o us a statement of receipts f rom diff
erent sources and di sbur sements. made by him for the fiscal year endi ng June 15
·of this i nstitute and f i nd t hat they cor r espond .
Respectful l y submi tted ,
H. C. Dowdell
F' . ilL Reese
j't- -13-
Regular Proceedi ngs:
On motion of 1r . Harral s on , t he comrmmicati on of the Trustees of the Auburn
Female College be refer red to committee on Course of St udy . Adopt .ed .
On Notion of Hr . 3arnes , the r eport of the Treasurer and resident committee
be r eferred to the cOT.!l11.ittee on Financ e . Adopted .
On motion of lVIr . Harralson that p rti on of the Presidents r eport in ref er rence
to the c reation of additional profe s sorships and t he fin~n c ial condition of the
College be r eferred to the committ ee on Fi nanc e . Adopted .
On motion of I~r . Bar nes . AIL additi onal committee t o "rit a committee on Agric
ul tu~ e be created and t hat certain 'portions of tIle President' s report be referr
ed to sai d committee whi ch when named shall be a standing commi ttee. Adopted
.
A c ommunication f rom Er . Davi.d T. Blakely having been r ead t he s ame was on
motion of l'~r . Ha rralson referred to the committee on Financ e .
At the sugge stion of the Presi dent of the Board , an adj ournment unt i l 3 o 'clock
was order ed .
The Board met a c cor ding ' t o ad journment and t her e 1,vere present: the Pr esident and
:tessers . Bar nes , Bi bb , Box, Dowdell, Harr alson , Langdon , Malone , tjloren, St ans el .
Absent, ~r . Lawler .
communication t o wi t , t he report df the Comrnandant to t he Pr esident of t he Col lege
was read and on motion of Hr . Ha r ralson was r ef erred t o t he committee on
t he Revision of Laws .
The r epor ts of the Faculty to the Fresident of the Collegi3 wer e r eferred to committ
ee on Fi nanc e .
'l'he President designat ed the follo'l'ling commit tee on Agricultu re , to vIit, I'1essers .
Lor en, Dowdell, ~lone , Langdon and St ansel.
On motion of t Ir . Ba r nes , Hr . Harralson was a dded t o t he commi t t ee on F,i nance and
at the suggestion of the Presi dent , fiT . Bi bb was a l so added to the Finane e C ommi t tee .
On motion the Board adjourned unt.i l 9 0 I clock tomorrow.
14-
Auburn , Al abama
June 25, 1878
The Board met a ccording to adjour nment and ther.e were pr esent the President and
Messers . Barnes , Bi bb , Box, Dowdel l , Haralson , Langdon , Lawler, f',al one , Noren
and Stansel .
The committee on Finance submitt.ed the fol.lowing repor t , viz:
The cOllli"aittee on Finance to whom was referred that por tion of the president ' s report
which relates to the or ganization of the Coll ege , repor t and recormnend as
follows:
1st That a profes sor of Agr iculture be elected . .
2nd That the President of the College be made professor of Hor al Philosophy .
3rd That the duties of the chair of 3nglish Lit erature be divided between the
Pr esident and the professor of Agricult ur e .
4th That a Principal of the Preparatory Department be elected with the rank and
pay of a professor and that a tutor in this p epa rtmen~ be also elected by
this Board as a~ as sist~nt of the professor with a sala0T of $ 7~O . OO .
5th That a profes sor of Natural History be elected .
Stansel
On reCOllUJlend.ation of the President of the College degrees be conferred on t he 1'01-
1.0"ring nam,ed gentlemen graduates of the Coller,e :
Lemuel Gulliver Daunn, Bachelor of Engineering
~ ilas Charles · Dowdel l , Bachelor of Science
Tucker Hender son Frazer, Bachel or of Engi ne,ering
Robert li:arly Hardaway, II II "
I saac l exander Lanier, II " II
,, ;,- Beorge ·.Ht.mlbep.:"Pr.i Ct:e , II II II
Lee Stark Schieffelin , II II "
Reuben Loxla Thornton, II II II
On reCOIl .,endation of the President of ,t he College ful l pay be allo"zed the tv.ro
deceased professors , B. B. _'oss and E. A. Thornton, whi ch on motion of !Vir. Bibb
was adopt ed .
On motion of -:r . Haralson, hr . Bar cl ay havi ng failed to be pres ent, Dr. Tichenor
be requested to del iver th~ Agr i cultural address .
On lllotion the Board adjour ned. unt il 3 o ' clock P. H.
The Board met according to adjournment and t her e were pres ent: the Pr esident and
:t1esser s . Barnes , Bibb , Box, Dowdell , Haralson, Langdon , Lawler, "4alone, Horen and
Stansel .
Report of committee on Course of Study . The committee t o whom was referred the
communication of the Trustees of the Auburn Female Coll ege, have had the same
under consideration and report the suggestions and propositions t herein expedient
at pr esent .
Langdon .
It 15-
Report of Cormn.ittee on Finance
Hr . President:
The Co ilInittee on Finance further report:
1st That the office of .~uarte r Haster be abolished and that the duties of that
office so far as pertai ns t o. department , be devolved on the Commandant and
t he other duties of the office on the President of the Col l ege .
?~d Tha~ t he appropriation for the contingent expenses of the College which shall
i ncl ude all expenses outside of salaries of offices be limited to the sum of $3000 .00
3rd That a chair of Hechanics be established and t hat a professor be elected thereto
who shall be r equired to perform such other duties as the Faculty may a ssign to him .
4th 'l'hat the Secret.ary 1s salary be reduced to ""150 .
Stansel
The report was vot ed on by s ections:
1st Section Yeas 5 Nays 3
2nd Section Agr eed t o
3rd Section Agreed to
4th Section Yeas 5 Nays 4
On motion of Hr . Bibb , the salaries of the professors to be elected commence on the
last \:v ednesday of September next . Adopted .
1r . Stansel offered the f ollowing resolution , RESOLVED , That the S oard does not
recognise an;y obligation to pay the claims predicated upon Discount of Alabama
State obligations her etofore used by the College in payment of its officers .
On motion of Hr . Box , the consider ation of the r esolution was postponed until tonorrow
mor ning , 9 0 I clock .
On motion the Board a djour,ned until .tomorrow, 9 0 1 clock A. t i .
I
Auburn, Alabama
June 26, 1878
The Board met a cc or di ng to ad journment and there were present: t he Pr esident and
He ssers . Ba r nes, Bi b b, Box, Dowdell, : aral s on, Langdon , Lawler, Malone , horen
and Stan s el .
Mr . Box moved t o amend the resolut ion i ntroduced by l'~r . Stan'sel on yesterday in reference
t o a sentenc ~ of t he Board in not recognizing t he obl i gation t o pay to prof
e s s ors and of ficers of Col l ege di s count on State obl i gations by insert ing the
,vork Il does" in lieu of "does not ll before t he w_ord r ecognise . Not adopted .
The que s t i on comi ng up on t he r e s ol uti on of Er. Stansel and a division bei ng called
for , the Yeas wer e 4, l-ays b .
Those voting Yea Here ~JLesse r s . Langdon , Lawl er , l'~oren and St an s el . Those voting Nay
were Eessers . Barnes, Bibb , Bos" Dowdell , Haralson , and Ealon e .
i ' A cOinraunica tion from the Pr esident of the College \va s rec eived and read , t o "lit:
I
To His Exc ellency Governor Houston
Pr esi dent of t he Board of Trustees
Sir :
Auburn, Alabama
June 25 , 1878
A & M College
I hereby recornmend t o t he Board Colon el ~'Jilliam H. Chambers f or t he Profes sorship
of Agr i culture, P . H. -liell for t he Pr ofessorshi p of l'atural History, Colonel D~ .T.
Bl a key for the Professorship of Hechani cs, Reverend G. 1,'1 . l'~axson fo r t he Principal
of ,the Preparatory Depa rtment , and C. L. Thach for as s ist ant in the Preparatory
Departrrlent.
• e s pe ctfully su,bmi tted,
J . T. Tichenor, President
On moti on of Hr . Lawler, the comrrmn i cat i on of the Pr esident of the Coll ege was
l a i d on the tabl e .
J,lr . Barnes i ntroduced the f ollowing resolution , RESOL'llED, by t he Board of Trust ees
of the A & 1~ College , t hat it is t he opi ni on of t his Boar d consi dering t he na ture
and char a cter of the onati cn of Congr e ss and t he endo"li!1ent of t he said College by
t he Unit ed St ates Gove r nment t hat t he St ate should rnake up the discount owed on t he
State obl i gations r eceived in payment of its int erests on the State bonds .
I'll' . iVlO r en moved t o insert the Hord "not II between t he words should and make in t he
r e s ol ution . Not adopted .
The re s ol ution of h r . Ba r nes coming up and a division bei ng called the Yeas wer e 7
and l\ays 3 .
-1\ -- 17-
Those voting Yea were Hessers. Barnes, Bibb, Dowdell, Haralson, Langdon, :J.alQne and
Stansel. Those voting Nay were Nessers . Box Lawler and Noren .
On reassembline of the Board, Hr. Haralson submitted the following r e,.;ort:
R0.::>OLV~D , That Section 111, one hundred and eleven, of - regulations be amended to, read
as follOl,",s: Cadet l imits are compr ised withi n one mi.l e r ap-ius from t he center ,of
t he College buil di ngs and all cadets in selecting boa r di ng. houses shall be conf,ined
to the prescribed limits .
The Corruuittee on the Revision of Laws to whom was refer r ed the r eport of the Commandant
recom'Tlend the adoption of the r esolution amending Section 111 of rules of
discipline and police. The r eport was adopted .
On motion of £·:r. Lawler the degree of Ph . D. was conferr -::d on Pr ofessor -if! . C.
Richa rdson of the ci ty and county of 'fuscaloosa, Alabama.
On motion of }'Ir . Bibb, t he degr ee of 1) .D. was conferred on Reverend Jou OLe L.
l":'ills of the city and county of Hont?;omery, Alabama.
On moti on of Hr . St ansel, the degree of L.L.B. be conferred on .Jno . H. £.1artin, of
t he city and county of Tuscaloosa, Alabama .
The committee on Finance to whom was referred the report of the Treasurer and the
r eport of t he Local Examining Committee on the same beg leave to r eport t hem ba ck
and r ecommend t heir adoption by the Boa rd . (Adopted. )
On motion of hr. Stansel the degree of D. ]) . be confer r ed on 1·: . C. Hearne of Huntsville,
Alabama
Hr. Bibb moved to r econsider so much of the repor t of the Finance Committee as relates
t o the establishment of the chair of Nechanics . The motion was adopted and
on moti on of Jv.r. -1alone that portion of the r eport of the Committee in r efer ence
t o the establishment of a chair of ~ e c h anics be post poned until the next !!leeting
of t he Board . Adopt ed . A division being called, the Yeas were 5, Nays 3. Those
voting Aye were Hessers . Bibb, Box, Dowdel l, Haralson, and 1alone. Nays, Messers
Langdon, 'loren , and Stansel .
Nominations being in order , Hr . Ii,alone put in nomination William H. Charnbers for
the chair df Agriculture .
On moti on , }.r . Chambers was elected by acclamation .
hr .
IiV _' r .
Barnes put i n nomination the name of hr . Grote for the chair of Eatural History .
Dowdell the name of F . J . Hot t and Mr. Lawler the name of P. H. £'lell, Jr .
A vote being taken
On 1st Ballot
Gr ote 1
Hott 5
M:ell 4
2nd Ballot
j\~o t t
Nell
4
6
Er. rilell was decla-red elected to the chair of N9-tural History .
"
A 18-
For Principal of P r~pa ratory Department .
rv:r. halone nominated \ir. Casey
fJir . Dowdell II ir. Banks
tl r . Barnes II Er. Lockett
Hr. Barnes 11 :D r . Pinckard
Mr . Haralson II Dr . Avery
Hr . Langdon II Mr. IvIaxson
1st Ballot: 2nd Ballot:
Pinkard 1 haxson 3
Banks 1 Lockett 5
Eaxson 1 Casey 2
Ca-sey, 1
Avery 1
Lockett 5
3nd Ballot: 4th'Ball(rjt.
l~son 3· Maxson -4
Lockett r- :/ Lockett . 4
Casey 2 Casey 1
Pinckard 1
5th Ballot 6th Ballot
IVtaxson 4 l'1axson 4
Lockett 4 Lockett 4
Casey 1 Casey 2
Banks 1
7th Ballot 8th Ballot
iVlaxson 4 l-ia'Xson 4
Lockett 4 Lockett 5
Banks 2 Casey 1
9th Ballot 10th Ballot
1-1axson 4 Haxson 4
Lockett 5 Lockett 5
Casey 1 Pinckard 1
11th Ballot 12th Ballot
Pinckard 3 Pinckard 4
Lockett 5 haxson 4
Ir-axson 2 Lockett 2
13th Ballot 14th Ballot 15t h Ballot
Pinckard 4 Haxson 5 IViaxson 6 Haxson 4 Pinckard 5 Pinckard 4 Lockett 2
J
-If 19-
Mr. Maxson having received a majority of the votes was declared elected to the place
of Principal of the Preparatory Department .
For a.ssistant i n Preparatory Department, 1r . Halone nominated Hr . C. E. Thach .
l:~r . Bibb nominated l'lr • .s. R. Rivers .
The vote being taken, Hr. Thanh received 7 votes, Hr . Rivers rec eived 3 votes.
Hr . 'Thach was declared elected as assistant in Preparatory Department .
R.2:::JOLV:C1J, . That the Faculty may employ an assistant to di scharge such duties as may
be assigned him by the Fa culty at a salary not to exceed ($600) six hundred dollar s
provided his services a r e necessary . Adopted .
Report of Committee on Finance:
The Cormnittee on Finance report that they have caref ully examined the r eport of
the Treasurer and fLnd his account neatly and accur a t el y kept -and supported by
pr oper vouchers .
The election of of ficers bei ng in order, hr . Moren moved t hat Er. E •. T. Glenn be
unanimously el ected Treasurer; the motion was carried.
On motion of Flr . }_oren the salary of t he Treasurer be $700 in lieu of commissions .
Hr . Box moved to reconsi der t he action of the Board r educing the salary of the
Secret ary to the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars ($l5Q) .
The section of the r eport of the Fi nance Committee whi ch r ecolnmended a r eduction
of the salary of the Secretary to ~1 50 , coming us under the- r esolution to r econsider
. The said section -was defeated and t he salary restor ed to the original
amount , viz, $250 . 00 .
On motion the Board adjourned
F. lvl . Reece
Secretary to Board of Trustees of
A & 11 College of Alabama
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