 | CHAPTER XXVI Jefferson, Cabell and the University of Virginia |  |
Academic Department.
Ancient Languages:
The School of Ancient Languages, established in
1825, with Professor George Long as the first incumbent
of the chair, consisted of Latin and Greek,
and, until 1856, the work of teaching these languages,
and Roman and Greek history and literature,
was assigned to but one person. Professor
Long's service extended from 1825 to 1828, with a
short period of absence in the summer of the first of
these years, when he returned to England to receive
his fellowship at Trinity. During this furlough Professor
Thomas H. Key, of the School of Mathematics,
without neglecting the duties of his own
chair, taught acceptably all of Mr. Long's classes.
In 1828 Mr. Long was invited to the University
of London, just established, and was regretfully released
by Mr. Madison, the rector, to whom Lord
Brougham had addressed an urgent letter on the
subject. The retiring professor was asked to suggest
a successor, and it was expected that he would
indicate some fellow-countryman. On the contrary,
he nominated Gessner Harrison, one of the first students
who had graduated in his own school and had
recently attained his majority. The Board accepted
the young Virginian, and the University profited by
his thirty-one years of faithful service.
The School of Ancient Languages was divided in
1856 and became the School of Latin and the School
of Greek.
Professor Harrison filled the chair of Latin for
three years, 1856-59, when he resigned, and was succeeded
by Lewis Coleman (1859-61), who was fatally
wounded at Fredericksburg in 1862. Basil L.
Gildersleeve taught through the sessions and fought
through the summers of 1861-65, and was succeeded
in 1865 by William E. Peters, who continued at the
head of the school until 1902, when he became Professor
Emeritus. Thomas Fitzhugh followed him
and is the incumbent.
The School of Greek, as a separate chair, dates
from 1856. Professors: Basil L. Gildersleeve,
1856-76;[1]
Thomas R. Price, 1876-82; W. H.
Wheeler, 1882-87; Milton W. Humphreys since
1887.
Dr. Gildersleeve was twenty-five years of age when he
was made professor of Greek and Hebrew—for Hebrew was
then attached to the chair of Greek—but he was already a
Ph. D. of Göttingen. In 1876 he was called to the Johns
Hopkins University. Professor Price came to the University
from Randolph-Macon, and in 1882 went to Columbia.
Modern Languages:
George Blaettermann was the founder of the
School of Modern Languages (1825), in which he
held himself prepared to teach almost any modern
tongue. He retired in 1840. Other professors were
Charles Kraitsir,[2]
1841-44; Dr. Maximilian Schele
De Vere,[3]
1844-95; Joachim Reinhard, acting professor
of French and German, 1895-96; James A.
Harrison, English, French and Spanish, 1896-98;
Romance Languages, 1898-99; Teutonic Languages
since 1898; William H. Perkinson, German
and Italian, 1896-98; Richard H. Wilson, Romanic
school, and his successors were foreign born until
1896.
The School of Modern Languages was divided at
the beginning of the session of 1898-99 into the
School of Teutonic Languages, of which Dr. James
A. Harrison has since been professor, and the School
of Romanic Languages, Dr. Richard H. Wilson
professor.
Dr. Blaettermann's successor, Dr. Kraitsir, was a native of
Hungary, and was educated at Pesth and Vienna. After a
brief practice of medicine he joined the Polish patriots in their
effort to throw off the Russian yoke, and served as a surgeon
at Warsaw and in the field. His life was migratory for years,
during which he sojourned in Germany, Italy, France and
Belgium. The languages of all those countries he spoke fluently,
and he was regarded as a remarkable linguist. Dr.
Kraitsir retired from the University in 1844 and eventually
made his home in Morrisania, New York.
Dr. Schele was a native of Sweden, but at eight years of
age his father's family went to Southern Germany, where he
grew to manhood. He studied at Berlin and Bonn, receiving
his doctorate from the former. The following year Greifswald
gave him the degree of Juris Utriusque Doctor. After a
short term in the military and later in the diplomatic service
of Prussia he came to America and spent a year in travel, and
in study in Boston, where he met Ticknor and Longfellow.
He retired from his chair after 51 years of service and died at
the Providence Hospital in Washington May 10, 1898.
The funeral was held from Christ Church, Navy Yard, and
the interment in Rock Creek Cemetery. The pall-bearers were
Holmes Conrad, Leigh Robinson, Charles L. Bartlett, O. W.
Underwood, John Sharpe Williams, W. A. Jones, William B.
Mathews, and E. I. Renick.
Dr. Schele did much for the University. His work as an
author covered a wide field—philology, sociology, fiction. He
compiled and published a semi-centennial catalogue which
stands first among books about the University for the varied
and important information it contains.
Mathematics:
Thomas Hewitt Key organized the School of
Mathematics in 1825, and remained at its head until
1827. He seems never to have been satisfied in
America, certainly not after the disorders of October,
1825. Together with Mr. Long he tendered his
resignation on that unhappy occasion, but it was not
accepted. During the eighteen months following he
twice endeavored to resign, and the last time entered
a plea of failing health in the Virginia climate. He
was released then, and his successors have been
Charles Bonnycastle, 1827-40; J. J. Sylvester,
1840-41; Edward H. Courtenay, 1842-53; Albert
T. Bledsoe, 1854-63;[4]
Robert T. Massie, 1861-62;
Francis H. Smith, 1863-65; Pike Powers was professor
by temporary appointment from 1840 to 1841
and again from 1842 to 1843, and Alexander Nelson
1865-96 (Emeritus, 1896-1900); W. H. Echols
since 1896; James M. Page, adjunct, 1896-98, and
asociate 1898-1902, professor since 1902.
One of the most gifted and aggressive of men was Dr.
Alfred Taylor Bledsoe. Previous to his removal to the University
he was professor of mathematics in the University of
Mississippi. He was a contemporary of Jefferson Davis and
Robert E. Lee at West Point, and as a lawyer practiced in
the same courts in Illinois as Lincoln and Douglas. He went
to Europe during the war at Mr. Davis's request to have the
use of the library in the British Museum in preparing his
book, "Is Davis a Traitor?"
Applied Mathematics:
The School of Applied Mathematics was established
in 1867. Professors: Leopold J. Boeck,
1867-75; William M. Thornton, adjunct, 1875-83,
professor since 1883; William M. Echols, adjunct,
1891-96.
Chemistry:
The School of Chemistry was organized in 1825
by Dr. John P. Emmet (1825-42). Other professors:
Robert E. Rogers, 1842-52; J. Lawrence
Smith, 1852-53; Socrates Maupin, 1853-71; John
W. Mallet since 1872.
Chemical Technology and Agricultural Science
(1867)—Professor: John W. Mallet, 1867-68.
changed to—
Analytical, Industrial, and Agricultural Chemistry
(1868)—Professor: John W. Mallet, 1868-72.
Changed to—
General and Applied Chemistry (1872)—Professors:
John W. Mallet, 1872-84; F. P. Dunnington
(acting), 1884-5. Changed to—
General and Industrial Chemistry (1885)—Professor:
John W. Mallet since 1885.
Analytical and Agricultural Chemistry (1885)—
Professor: F. P. Dunnington since 1885.
Natural Philosophy:
The School of Natural Philosophy dates from
1825 and was organized by Charles Bonnycastle,
on the retirement of Professor Key. Other professors:
Robert M. Patterson, 1828-35; William
B. Rogers, 1835-53; Francis H. Smith, since 1853.
Natural History and Agriculture:
Samuel Miller of Lynchburg gave to the University
in trust one hundred thousand dollars for the
establishment of a department of scientific and
practical agriculture. In September, 1869, on the
nomination of the Miller Board of Trustees, John
W. Mallet was elected professor of analytical and
agricultural chemistry and Leopold J. Boeck professor
of mechanics and engineering as applied to
agriculture, and the department was put into
effect. In the following July was established the
School of Natural History and Experimental and
Practical Agriculture (1870)—John R. Page, professor,
1872-79. The school was then rearranged,
and became Zoology, Agricultural Botany and Agriculture
(1879)—John R. Page, professor until
1887, when another readjustment was effected,
under the title of the School of Biology and Agriculture
(1887)—Albert H. Tuttle, professor since
1888.
Natural History and Geology (1879)—William
M. Fontaine, professor since 1879. In this year W.
W. Corcoran of Washington, a generous friend of
the University, gave $50,000 to endow a school of
this character, and Geology—heretofore attached
to the School of Natural Philosophy—and Natural
History, and a part of the department of Agriculture
were combined in one school.
Moral Philosophy:
The School of Moral Philosophy, dating from
1825, has had but three professors: George Tucker,
1825-45; William H. McGuffey, 1845-73; Noah
K. Davis since 1873.
History and Literature:
The School of History and General Literature
was established in 1857, with George Frederick
Holmes as professor. In 1882, Political Economy,
which had been attached to the School of Moral
Philosophy since George Tucker had introduced it
in the early years of his professorship, was substituted
for Literature, which was assigned to Professor
Garnett. Thus arranged it was called the
School of Historical Science. Richard H. Dabney
was adjunct professor 1889-97. In 1897 Professor
Holmes died and the School of Historical and Economical
Sciences was established, with Dr. Dabney
professor. He is still the incumbent.
In 1882 the School of English Language and Literature
was established, James M. Garnett, professor
until 1893. In that year the School of English
Literature was arranged as a separate department,
Charles W. Kent, professor. This school,
known as the Linden Kent Memorial School of
English Literature, was founded upon a liberal gift
of Mrs. Kent as a memorial to her late husband.[5]
This organization of the School of English Literature
left English Language as an independent
school and it continued so until 1896, when it was
transferred to Professor Harrison, who at that time
had French and Spanish. Two years later it became
a part of the School of Teutonic Languages.
Linden Kent came to the University as a student from service
as a Confederate private, having enlisted at sixteen. He
was first a student in the academic department and then in
the law, and was graduated in 1870 with the degree of B. L.
His fellow-students had conferred upon him several honors,
among them an editorship of the University Magazine, and he
won the Debater's medal in the Washington Society.
Practical Astronomy:
The School of Practical Astronomy was founded
in 1881 on a gift by Leander J. McCormick, a
native of Virginia, resident in Chicago, and on supplementary
contributions by William H. Vanderbilt
and others. Professor Ormond Stone, the first incumbent,
has been director since 1882.
| CHAPTER XXVI Jefferson, Cabell and the University of Virginia | |