University of Virginia Library

IV. The First Board of Visitors

The Act establishing the University of Virginia, after
accepting the conveyance of the lands and other property
belonging to Central College, laid down with minuteness
the necessary prescriptions for the number of Visitors,
their appointment, their powers and duties, the courses
to be taught, and the number, salaries, and accommodations
of the professors. Substantially, the Act followed
the recommendations of the Rockfish Gap Report in every
particular, and it will, therefore, not be requisite to
add to the synopsis of that Report which has been given.
The most vital provision of the original bill for the creation
of a university was retained: the annuity was again
fixed at fifteen thousand dollars. Among the characteristic
features of the subsequent government of the institution
which were not foreshadowed in the Act was the
chairmanship of the Faculty, and the great power which
its incumbent was to exercise in the management of its
affairs. The Board of Visitors were authorized in a
general way "to direct and do all matters and things
which to them shall seem most expedient for promoting
the purposes" of the new seat of learning, and it was

under this clause that this unique method of administration
came into existence.

The first Board of Visitors,—which, as the Act required,
was appointed by the Governor,—consisted of
Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John H. Cocke,
Joseph C. Cabell, Chapman Johnson, James Breckinridge,
and Robert B. Taylor. The Board of Central
College, it will be recollected, embraced only five members,
and all of these, with the exception of David Watson,
were transferred to the new Board. Of the three
new additions, two were lawyers of the highest standing
for learning, probity, and astuteness, and the third a citizen
equally conspicuous for ability and public services.
There seems to have been no undertaking to divide the
membership among the different sections of the State,
but the homes of several were notwithstanding widely
dispersed: Taylor resided in Norfolk, Johnson in Staunton,
and Breckinridge in Botetourt county. There was
not a single Visitor from the region of country lying west
of the Alleghany Mountains,—the reason for which,
quite probably, was that, in those times of stage coach
and private carriage, there was small prospect of even a
rare attendance at the sessions of the Board of a member
who had to traverse the long road from the valley
of the Kanawha or the Monongahela. Johnson and
Breckinridge were also, in their homes, remote from
Charlottesville, but both were constantly passing through
on their way to Richmond to be present at the sessions
of the General Assembly or the terms of the Supreme
Court. The original plan of Jefferson was to ask for
the appointment of men who resided within convenient
reach of the University; but this was modified by the action
of the Governor and Council, who thought it wise
to select only a majority of the Board from the neighboring

region and the remainder from the other parts of
the State. This had a tendency to diminish the chance
of sectional carping; and it also conferred on the institution
the distinction of being governed by a larger number
of influential public men than could be found within
the bounds of any single group of counties. The line of
exclusion seems to have been drawn in the first appointments
sharply against judges and members of Congress;
but in the course of time this rule was entirely abandoned
as to the latter at least.

The last meeting of the Visitors of Central College
was held on the 26th of February, 1819. They had been
impowered by the University Act of January 25 to perform
their former functions until superseded by the coming
together of the new Board. The proceedings of
this meeting were far from being merely nominal, in anticipation
of the early extinction of the old Board; at
least three of its members belonged to the new; and
they perhaps felt that they were an expiring body only
in law and not in fact. Jefferson was present, and
through his influence, no doubt, the necessary measures
were adopted to ensure the continuation of the building,
since upon this he had always laid the primary stress.
It was resolved (1) that the funds of the University
remaining after the payment of current expenses, should
be applied to the erection of additional pavilions and
hotels; (2) that workmen for this purpose should be
contracted with at once before the season had advanced
too far to secure the services of the number required;
(3) that the funds in hand, or in prospect, would justify
entrance into engagements for the building of at least
two more pavilions, one hotel, and as many additional
dormitories as the amount left over would allow; (4)
that Alexander Garrett should be retained as the treasurer,

with the authority to act as bursar also; and that he
should receive from the State the annuity payable for the
present year (1819).

Central College, as a working corporation, came to
an end on March 29, 1819, when the new Board, with
a full attendance of members, convened for the first time.
The transition was merely nominal; there was nothing
radical in the spirit of the change; it continued to be the
same institution, under the same guiding and controlling
hand. Its aims were the same, and so were its principles.
Jefferson now felt more confident of the successful
consummation of his long matured plans for a really
great seat of learning; and this was perhaps the only alteration
in his outlook for the institution on the broader
stage of operation upon which it had entered. Even
the social customs of the old Board were to be those of
the new so far as his hospitable instincts could bring it
about. "It has been our usual course," he wrote to
General Taylor, when inviting him to Monticello, "for
the gentlemen of Central College to come here the day
before the appointed meeting, which gives us an opportunity
of talking over our business at leisure, of making
up our views on it, and even of committing it to paper
in form, so that our resort to the College, where there
is no accommodation, is a mere legal ceremony for signing
only."

The officers chosen by the Board at their first memorable
session were Thomas Jefferson, rector, Peter Minor,
secretary, Alexander Garrett, bursar, and Arthur S.
Brockenbrough, proctor. Jefferson and Cocke were reappointed
members of the committee of superintendence.
The Board promptly adopted the recommendations of
the Visitors of Central College at their last meeting;
namely, that all but necessary current expenditures

should, in the beginning, be restricted to building, and
that as little as possible should be reserved for the engagement
of professors, until a sufficient number of
pavilions, hotels, and dormitories had been provided to
accommodate them and the pupils expected.

At this time, there was a considerable body of land,
laid off in two lots and owned by John M. Perry, lying
between the tracts,—one of forty-seven acres, the other
of one hundred and fifty-three,—which had been acquired
by Central College, and transferred to the infant university.
The Board, on March 29, instructed the committee
of superintendence to purchase this intervening
area on the condition of a deferred payment; and it was
due to this complication, perhaps, that it was not until
January 25, 1820, one year later, that Perry conveyed
the first lot of forty-eight acres; and not until May 9,
1825, more than five years afterwards, that he signed
the deed to the remaining lot of one hundred and thirtytwo
acres. The first lot was improved with a dwelling
house and curtilages, and its value was estimated as high
as $7,231.00 The second lot was assessed at $6,600.00.
The payment, even in instalments, of these large sums
imposed on the resources of the University an irksome
burden for several years. The acquisition, however,
was rendered compulsory by the fact that the springs
which supplied its cisterns were situated a little without
the observatory tract owned by it, whilst the communicating
pipes had been run entirely within the boundaries
of Perry's property before reaching the actual site of the
University itself. At any time, the owner of that property
could order the removal of the pipes and thus cut
off the natural reservoir from use. Jefferson had long
been aware of this possibility, but until the institution
was incorporated, was lacking in the means to remove

it. One of the first provisions of the new Board, under
his inspiration, was to arrange for this purchase, which,
when accomplished, put an end to the risk of future interference.

An additional section of land,—presumably situated
between the present Staunton Road and a parallel line
running west and east in front of the north portico
of the Rotunda, aggregating about eight acres,—was
bought in 1824, from Daniel A. Piper.[4] These four
parcels of land increased to the extent of one hundred
and eighty-four acres the domain already in the possession
of the University. Another addition was made in
1824: a small parcel was bought of Mrs. Garner. This
also was probably situated on the present Staunton Road,
and if so, lay west of the present Gothic Chapel.