CHAPTER VIII.

COLLEGES NO LONGER EXISTING.

COKESBURY COLLEGE (1784-1796).

The stroller, wandering through the streets of an old city, will come at times upon old and forgotten graveyards. Hidden away from the tread of the multitude and rarely seen by anyone, these graveyards have a pathetic interest and bring up visions of the past to the mind of the thoughtful. The headstones, moss-covered and with the inscriptions half obliterated by time and weather, often give glimpses into the long distant past and tell a story of unfulfilled expectations and vanished hopes.

So the investigator, searching old records, comes across dead institutions, long since buried and laid away, whose very names are scarcely known to the men of the present day. In the educational history of this State we find many such extinct institutions of learning, which failed because of adverse circumstances. Of the seventeen institutions for higher education, which were chartered and are no longer in existence, the oldest is the most interesting. Cokesbury College was a pioneer attempt of a great religious denomination in the higher education and, as such, is worthy of attention. Maryland is the cradle of Methodism in America, and so it was eminently fitting that the first Methodist college in the world, and indeed, the second one also, should be planted in the soil of this State.

For a long time Methodism in America had no definite organization, till, on the petition of the American churches, John Wesley consecrated Rev. Thomas Coke, doctor of civil law, superintendent for the United States. Dr. Coke sailed from England at once, and on November 3, 1784, arrived at New York. On the 15th of the same month he met Francis Asbury, "the pioneer bishop," at Barrett's Chapel, Dover, Del. At this first meeting Coke spoke to Asbury concerning the founding of an institution for higher education under the control of their church. This was not wholly a new idea, for four years before John Dickins had suggested the same thing to Asbury." Asbury then "contemplated a school or schools, on the plan of Kingswood, near Bristol in England, and in North Carolina, three years before, had opened a subscription, drawn up at his instance by Rev. John Dickins."3

'Stevens' Hist. of Meth., II, 253.

2Stevens' Hist. of Meth., 11, p. 253. Asbury's diary says: "This is what came out a college in the subscription printed by Dr. Coke."

3Some account of Cokesbury College, by Rev. Wm. Hamilton. Read before the Maryland Hist. Soc., Jan. 6, 1859, MS.

Gabriel Long and a Mr. Bustion were the first subscribers to this early attempt at the establishment of a school. The seed sown by Coke and Dickins fell on ground ready to receive it, and the project was vigor ously pushed. At the famous Christmas conference of the church, held at Baltimore, December 25, 1784, Coke and Asbury were ordained the first bishops, the church was organized and, contemporaneous with the church itself, the college was determined upon. The conference decided that a college should be established, and in honor of the two bishops it received a name compounded from theirs.' At the same conference, a collection of £45 158. sterling was raised as the first gift for the college. This self-denial incurred for the college was kept up year by year. In 1786 the collections for Cokesbury amounted to £800 28. 11d., and in 1788, having fallen off, they were only £261 158. 1d.2 Within a very short time a site was chosen and £1,000 sterling was subscribed, a large amount for a weak and struggling church.3 Rules for the government were prepared by Coke, and weighed and digested at the conference. Abingdon, in Harford County, near the Chesapeake, 25 miles from Baltimore, was chosen as the site. The reasons for this were, first, the beauty of the spot, of which Coke said at his second visit:

The place delights me more than ever. There is not, I believe, a point of it from which the eye has not a view of at least 20 miles, and in some parts the prospect extends even to 50 miles in length. The water front forms one of the most beautiful views in the United States; the Chesapeake Bay in all its grandeur, with a fine navigable river, the Susquehanna, which empties into it, lying exposed to view through a great extent of country.

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The other reason was the central position of the locality for Methodists. It is estimated that there were 14,988 Methodists in the United States in 1784, of whom 5,648 were in Maryland. Furthermore, within ten miles of Abingdon, is the old Deer Creek church, where the conference met in 1777, when the separation from the English brethren took place. In addition to these reasons, Abingdon was very easy of access, being on the direct stage line from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Bishop Coke contracted for the building materials, but could not stay for the beginning of the building, so Bishop Asbury laid the cornerstone of the building on Sunday, June 5, 1785. He makes this entry in his diary: "I rode to Abingdon to preach the foundation sermon of Cokesbury," and, attired in his long silk gown and with his clerical bands floating in the breeze, the Bishop took his stand on the foundation wall and read from the seventy-eighth Psalm as a text:

I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and Known and our fathers have told us: We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation 'Cummings' Early Schools of Meth., p. 21.

2 Rev. I. P. Cook's MSS.

3 Jan. 3, 1785, circular says, "We have already been favored with subscriptions amounting to £1,057 178. sterling.

4 Some Account of Cokesbury.

"Cook's MSS., p 143

6 Vol. 1, p. 497.

7Ps. 78, v. 4 to 8

to come the praises of the Lord and His strength and His wonderful works that He hath done. For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children; that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.

He dwelt on the importance of a thoroughly religious education and looked forward to the effects which would result to the generations to come from the streams which should spring from this opening fountain of sanctified learning.'

In his journal the good bishop adds he "had liberty in speaking and faith to believe that the work would go on."

The ground for the building was bought of Richard Dallam and Aquila Paca for £60 sterling." The building was said to have been in "dimensions and style of architecture fully equal, if not superior, to anything of the kind in the country." It was of brick, 100 feet in length and 40 in width, facing east and west, and stood "on the summit and center of 6 acres of land, with an equal descent and proportion of ground on each side." John Dickins said of it in 1789:

The whole building is well painted on the outside and the windows completely glazed. The house is divided into rooms as follows: At the west end are 2 rooms on the lower floor, each 25 by 20 feet; the second and third stories the same. The east end was like the west.

In the middle of the lower floor is the college hall, 40 feet square, and over that, on the second floor, 2 school rooms, and on the third floor 2 bedchambers. At the

1 Strickland's Asbury, p. 163.

2 A certified copy of the original deed is in possession of the Methodist Historical Society, from which we learn that the trustees were Henry Dorsey, Jesse Hollingsworth, and Philip Rogers, esqs.; Charles Carnan, Samuel Owings, Nicholas Jones, and Cornelius Howard, gentlemen, all of Baltimore County; Dr. Moses Allen, physician, of Talbot County, and William Frazier, esq., of Caroline County. The land is described as "all those two lots of ground situated in the said town of Abingdon, bounded by Market street, Prospect street, and Harford street, excepting such parts of said lots which were heretofore deeded by John Paca in trust for a church or preaching house for the society commonly called Methodists, together with all the large edifice built for a college or seminary of learning on the said lots, together with all the appurtenances belonging thereto. Nevertheless in special trust and confidence that the said trustees and their successors shall at all times forever permit such persons as shall be appointed by the yearly conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held in the United States of America and no other to use and occupy the said premises and have control of the said college for the purposes of its erection."

The nominal consideration was 10s., but the real transaction had been accomplished by Bishop Coke two years before, for the deed bears date May 9, 1787. The church referred to, the first Methodist one in Abingdon, was erected in 1784.[Cook MSS.]

3

Although the college had dormitory accommodations, it was intended that “as many of the students as possible shall be lodged and boarded in the town of Abingdon among our pious friends," and only "those who can not be so lodged and boarded shall be provided for in the college."

end of the hall are square spaces for 4 sets of stair cases, 2 at the north and 2 at the south end, with proper doors opening on the staircase. The carpenters' work on the first and second floors, with one staircase, is almost completed. The plastering and painting of 4 rooms at the west are nearly finished; the school-rooms are also chiefly done, and 1 room at the west end partly plastered.'

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The premises were inclosed by a substantial fence and a portion of the inclosure was appropriated for a garden. A person skilled in gardening was appointed to overlook the students in their recreations, where each was at liberty to indulge his own peculiar taste from a tulip to a cabbage. There was also a place for working in wood (taberna lignaria, as they called it), with all proper instruments and materials, and a skillful person was appointed to direct the students at this recreation.2 In the same inclosure there was a place for bathing, and a "master, or someone appointed by him, always present. Only 1 was permitted to bathe at a time, nor was anyone allowed to remain in the water above a minute. Bathing in Bush River was strictly prohibited by the rules of the college. These mentioned, with walking and riding, were the out-door exercises of the boys at Cokesbury."3

The building cost, it was estimated, about $40,000, a large sum for the church, and "secured principally by the bishops, as they passed over the country, everywhere inviting the people to come to the aid of the noble undertaking." Before Coke left for England 15 trustees were selected, of whom 5 were traveling preachers and the rest were chosen for high standing in the church and their known ability for exercising the trust, but also from their residing sufficiently near to make it convenient for them to attend the examinations. These trustees met and made 29 rules for the government of the institution. The most important of these were the 18th, which prohibited the students from indulging in anything which the world calls play. "Let this rule be observed with the strictest nicety, for those who play when they are young will play when they are old." The 29th provided that a "convenient room shall be set apart as a place of confinement." Other rules were, that the students were to rise at 5 a. m. the year round and to be in bed by 9 p. m. They were to study seven hours daily. Three hours were allowed for dinner and accompanying recrea

1 Stevens' Hist. of Meth., II, pp. 253.

2 Meth. Dis. 1789, p. 41.

3 Some account of Cokesbury.

Early schools of Meth., p. 27.

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5 The chartered trustees were: Traveling preachers, John Chalmers, Henry Willis, Nelson Reed, Richard Whatcoat, and Joseph Everett. The lay trustees were Judge Edward White and James Anderson, from Delaware; Henry Ennalls and John Carnan, from the Eastern Shore; William Wilkins, of Annapolis; Philip Rogers, Samuel Owings, Isaac Burneston, James McCannon, and Emanuel Kent, from Baltimore. 6 Meth. Quarterly Review, 1859, p. 178. Art. by Dr. Hamilton.

7 Some account of Cokesbury.

tion. Feather beds were not allowed and each student should sleep in a separate bed. The bishops were to examine the students twice yearly.' In 1785 the bishops sent out a circular entitled a "Plan for erecting a college, intended to advance religion in America, to be presented to the principal members and friends of the Methodist Episcopal Church."2 It was quite long, and its principal provisions are as follows:

It is to receive for education and board the sons of the elders and preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, poor orphans, and the sons of the subscribers and other friends. It will be expected that all our friends who send their children to the college will, if they be able, pay a moderate sum for their education and board; the others will be taught and boarded, and, if our finances allow it, clothed gratis. The institution is also intended for the benefit of our young men who are called to preach, that they may receive a measure of that improvement which is highly expedient as a preparation for public service. A teacher of ancient languages, with an assistant, will be provided; as also an English master to teach the English language; nor shall any other branch of literature be omitted that may be thought necessary for any of the students. Above all, especial care shall be taken that due attention be paid to the religion and morals of the children and to the exclusion of all such as continue of an ungovernable temper. The college will be under the presidentship of the bishops of our church for the time being, and is to be supported by yearly collections throughout our circuits, and any endowments which our friends may think proper to give and bequeath. The expense of such an undertaking will be very large, and the best means we could think of at our late conference to accomplish our design was to desire the assistance of all those in every place who wish well to the cause of God. The students will be instructed in English, Latin, Greek, logic, rhetoric, history, geography, natural philosophy, and astronomy. To these languages and sciences shall be added, when the finances of our college will admit of it, the Hebrew, French, and German languages. But our first object shall be to answer the designs of Christian education by forming the minds of the youth through divine aid to wisdom and holiness by instilling into their minds the principles of true religion-speculative, experimental, and practical-and training them in the ancient way that they may be rational, spiritual Christians. We have consented to receive children of 7 years of age, as we wish to have the opportunity of teaching "the young idea how to shoot," and gradually forming their minds through the divine blessing almost from their infancy to holiness and heavenly wisdom as well as human learning. It is highly expedient for every youth to begin and finish his education at the same place. We shall rigidly insist on their rising early in the morning, and we are convinced by constant observation and experience that it is of vast importance both to body and mind. It is of admirable use, either for preserving a good and improving a bad constitution. It is also of peculiar service in all nervous complaints, both in preventing and in removing them, and by thus strengthening the various organs of the body, it enables the mind to put forth its utmost exertions. We prohibit play in the strongest terms, and in this we have the two greatest writers on the subject that, perhaps, any age has produced (Mr. Locke and Mr. Rousseau) of our sentiments; for, though the latter was essentially mistaken in his religions system, yet his wisdom in other respects and extensive genius are indisputably acknowledged. The employments, therefore, which we have chosen for the recreation of the students are such as are of greatest public utility-agriculture and architecture.

In conformity to this sentiment one of the completest poetic pieces of antiquity

'Stevens' Hist. of Meth. 11, p. 253. Later incorporated in Meth. Discipline, c. g., 1789, pp. 34-39.

"In full in Early Schools of Meth., pp. 22-26.