SECOND PERIOD
GERMINATION -ACADEMY AND COLLEGE History of the University of Virginia, 1819-1919; The Lengthened Shadow of One Man, Volume I | ||
X. Site of the College Selected
The space that has been used in describing the personalities of Jefferson, Cabell, and Cocke is fully warranted in the light of a fact that will become increasingly perceptible as our theme advances; namely, that the establishment of the University of Virginia was not dictated by an irresistible popular impulse, but was due primarily to the unwearied exertions of Jefferson and Cabell; and its actual construction to Jefferson, assisted throughout with ability and fidelity by the modest Cocke in the background. Unless we take in the public spirit that had previously animated these men, we cannot arrive at a perfectly accurate conception of all the influences in which the institution had its origin. We have now to relate the story of the practical work which was done in founding it, for, as we shall see, the incorporation of Central College was really the incorporation of the University; the history of the College is the history of the University in its chrysalis state, which must be studied if we are to understand correctly
Among those features inherited from the College which became highly characteristic of the University was its official organization, its system of administration, its plans for buildings, and its requirements for professors. The provisions of the Act of Incorporation of Central College show as plainly as the design for its construction how long the thought of a university had been simmering in Jefferson's consciousness, for when the real university was determined upon a few years afterwards, the only alterations made in those provisions were such as were called for by the widening of the scope of the original scheme. One of the first clauses in the charter of Central College reveals that it was this future university, and not the present college, that he had most vividly in mind: the Governor of Virginia was to be the patron of the new seat of learning; and there was to be a board of six visitors by his appointment. Jefferson himself informs us that this provision was inserted for the explicit purpose of "divesting the situation of the College of all local character and control, and placing it under the will of those who represented the Legislature." The visitors were to hold office for a term of three years; were to come together at least once in the course of each twelve months; were to possess the right to choose a treasurer and proctor; to select the professors, determine their salaries and fees, and prescribe their courses of instruction; to lay down rules for the discipline of the students, and adopt regulations for their lodging and board; to overlook in a general way the officers, agents, and servants in the performance
The treasurer was to continue in office during the pleasure of the Board, and was only to pay out moneys in obedience to their specific or general instructions. The title to all the college property was to be invested in the proctor as trustee; suits were to be brought in his name; and he alone was to receive donations and subscriptions He was to be the custodian of the buildings and all other estate in the College's possession; the provider and dispenser of the food and fuel that would be required by the students; the immediate overseer of the agents and servants; and the personal medium through whom all the orders, laws, and regulations of the Board were to be carried out.
By the Act of Incorporation, Central College became the beneficiary of all the rights and claims of Albemarle Academy. The only certain income which it could expect to enjoy at an early date consisted of the subscriptions, which had been pledged, chiefly, it would seem, by the citizens of the surrounding region; and the money accruing from the sale of the glebe lands in Fredericksville and St. Anne's parishes. No steps had been taken as yet to swell these funds by means of the lottery which had been authorized. It was due to the emptiness of its coffers that, although the College was chartered in February, 1816, more than twelve months passed before the Board of Visitors assembled. If the proceeds of the plebe sales had been received from the commissioner of the county in the meanwhile, the amount was looked upon by them, previous to that meeting, as too small to justify them in buying a site and laying the foundation stone.
Apparently, it was not until April 8, 1817, that the Visitors endeavored to hold a sitting, end even on that occasion, only three were present; namely, Jefferson, Cabell and Cocke. As a quorum was wanting, no business was transacted beyond fixing upon May 5 as the date for the convening of the whole Board; but the real purpose of the three Visitors was perhaps to inspect a site for the College which had been offered to Jefferson, and which he, probably, thought should be secured, at least optionally, at once. This was done; and when the full Board met on the day appointed, one of their first acts was to ratify this provisional purchase. Jefferson's preference had been for the ground situated on the first ridge lying to the east of the present site of the University, property that belonged to John Kelly, a member of the former board of trustees of Albemarle Academy. Kelly is said to have been a Federalist in political creed; and for this reason, it is reported, the purpose for which the land was to be bought, and Jefferson's connection with it, were kept secret when the tender for it was made. It is quite probable, however, that he had a more personal motive for disliking the master of Monticello. We learn from the recollections of Alexander Garrett, that, when the first suggestion came up of converting Albemarle Academy into Central College, the trustees, presumably Kelly among them, proposed that the new institution should be named Jefferson College, and that Jefferson emphatically objected to this, and recommended "Central College" instead. If Kelly, as one of the trustees, was ready to honor his distinguished neighbor so signally at this time, there must have been some reason besides his Federalism why he, one year later, was so brusque in declining the tender for his property; and that reason, as we have already surmised, was his possible resentment at the summary
Perhaps, he would not have taken his disappointment so philosophically had he not felt that the land belonging to John M. Perry, lying to the west of Charlottesville also, but at a somewhat greater distance, afforded a fairly satisfactory substitute. This site was formed by a narrow ridge that sloped gently from north to south. It fell sharply away from the eastern edge of the small plateau at its top, and from the western edge spread downward here and there in a declivity quite as marked. Although this site was on very high ground, the view of the Blue Ridge must have always been screened more or less by the former Carr's Hill and the present Preston Heights. The Southwest Mountains, -which were then, as now, directly in the scope of the vision, -shut out the horizon too closely at hand to make the scene in that quarter as impressive as the grand spectacle of the Blue Ridge would have done in the other, had a site been obtainable which would have offered an unobstructed outlook on that splendid chain. In a country distinguished for its magnificent landscapes, the spot chosen for the Central College commanded not one entirely; not even from the future northern portico of the Rotunda.
This was the first drawback. The second lay in the
There was perhaps a third drawback, -one, however, that had so little practical importance that it does not seem to have come up for consideration in the selection of a site for the proposed group of buildings. If anyone
The first parcel of land, which covered an area of fortyseven acres, was, at the time of the purchase, an impoverished, disused field. The second parcel, amounting to one hundred and fifty-three acres, and situated about five-eighths of a mile from the first, contained a large quantity of valuable timber and stone for building, -the reason in part for its acquisition, since it was not needed as the site of any of the projected structures. It was also expected to form the watershed for the reservoir which was to supply the cisterns within the precincts.
The first parcel had been patented, in 1735, by Abraham Lewis, as a segment of a tract embracing eight hundred acres. In the course of the previous year, David Lewis and Joel Terrell, his brother-in-law, had acquired title to three thousand acres, which took in the whole of Lewis Mountain, situated on the western flank of the present University site. At an early date, George Nicholas, son of the colonial treasurer, Robert Carter Nicholas, had purchased a tract of two thousand acres, which included, among other sections of these first patents, that portion on which the University buildings now stand. In 1790, James Monroe bought the part to which the present Monroe Hill belongs. Twenty-four years afterwards, John M. Perry purchased of John Nicholas, then filling the office of county clerk, -the actual site of the University, and after holding it only three years, disposed of it to the Visitors of Central College. Perry was always addressed with the title of Captain, and had
There seems to have been at first a cloud on the title to the site, for it was not until June 23, 1817, that a valid conveyance of it could be, made to Alexander Garrett as the trustee. On that day, Garrett, by the written order of Perry, paid to John Winn $1,066.81 of the money due for the area sold. That both tracts had passed into the possession of the College by September 16, 1817, is confirmed by Perry's acknowledgment of a deferred payment by Garrett, the late proctor of the College, for Nelson Barksdale was now the incumbent of that office.
SECOND PERIOD
GERMINATION -ACADEMY AND COLLEGE History of the University of Virginia, 1819-1919; The Lengthened Shadow of One Man, Volume I | ||