EDUCATIONAL ENDEAVOR

53 the Board.S3

III. EDUCATIONAL ENDEAVOR

53

54 The closing paragraph or this •Address• directed the attention or those coucerned for foreign aisaions to another concern, that· of education--•the iaprove.ent or the a{nds or _{. .} pious youth who are called to the gospel ministry.•56 The docuaent reminded the readers ot the geaeral increase iR knowledge on the part or society and or the necessity that the minister increas~ hia kno~ledce in equal propqrtion. It directed their attention to what other denoainations were doing for the instruction of their youth. Then, attar care- tully stating that liberal education ia no indispensable qualification for adnisterial service, it recommended help tor youth

• • • ·by the origination ot education Societies, ud

it possible, by a general theological s•inary, where aoae at least, may attain all the adYantage, which

learning and aature studies can artord, to quality tor acting the ~art ot Men who are set tor the defence

ot

the gospel.}7

Kclueation c•e to haTe a place

ot

great iaportance-~

undue iaportance, as soae thought--iR the early years

et

the ConYentioa. Here it is necessary to reate the tortuaea

ot

Coluabiaa College und~ the direction ot the Triennial Cen- vention. This ia preceded by a diacuaaion ot taeolegical e•ucatioa . . ona Baptiata prior to lSlS.

5'rroceediua,

1614,

P•

42.

·57Ibid.

55 Theological education prior ~ 1818. The first

. .-. ""-...

Baptist educational institution in the Unit:'ea··states aiaed at offering theological training was Hopewell Academy, iQ Hopewell, New Jersey. In 1756 the Philadelphia Association took the following action in relation to it:

Concluded, to raise a sua of money towards the

encou~ag .. ent of a .Latin Grammar School for the proao-

tion~t learning amongst us, under the care of Brother Isaac Eaton, and the inspection of our brethren Abel Morgan, Ilaac Stelle, Abel Griffith, and Peter Peteraon Vanhorn.5

Eaton, who had been pastor at Hopewell Church since 1748, opened the academy in 1756. According to Dean H. Ashton the roster of Eaton's pupils read like a catalogue.of the most prominent men of the denomination from 1760 to 18lo.59 Among th~ better know.a names were those of James Manning, Hesekiah Smith, and Sa.uel Jones.

In the sa.e year the Philadelphia Asaociation con- cluded to raise a sum towards the encourag . . ent of Eaton's school, the Charleston Association considered "the expedieacy of raisin1 a fUnd to fUrnish suitable candidates for the

ministry • • • and it was reco-ended to the churchea

5&A.

D.

Gillette (ed.), Minntee ot the PhiladeJfhi•

Associatioa

troa !·

D. l7Q7 ~

!·

^)!.

tf¥7; f'lf'

^{t~. rat}

one 11\Uidred fears ot-rti"""'Jiistece (P ade p ·a: e·

liirican Baptist Pdlicatioa Society, 1851), P• 74..

59Dean H. Ashton, "Isaac latoa--Reslected Baptist Educator," The Cbroniqle, IX (April, 1957J, 67-79, giTes a briet Jccoun~ot litenfs work at Hopewell.

generally to collect money tor the purpose.•60 Among the students who benefited from this fUnd in the early years were Edmund Botsford and Sa.uel Stil~an.

S6

I

In 1762 Morgan Edwards was Moderator or the Philadel- ; phia Association.. He intiaated that he was •laughed at as a projector or a thing impracticable• when he suggested the

tound~ng

or a B;ptist col{ege.61

Hever~heleas,

some Baptist leaders were interested in the suggestion. James Manning, a recent graduate or the College of lew Jersey, was chosen to visit Rhode Island and explore the possibilities ot founding a college there. Manning arriTed in Newport in July, 176).

A

plan for a college

waa

laid before the Gen~ Aas .. bly ⁱⁿ August or the saae year. A charter was granted in 1764, and signed by the pYernor and secretary in 1765. Thus cae into existence Rhode Island College, the tirat college under Baptist control in the United .Statas.62-

Academies siailar to the one at Hopewell were operated

60wood ~aa,

A

History

ot

the Charleston Aaaeciatiea

! l

Ba!tist Churchea ~-the State-ef-aiU~h-caroilDa (C&iriea- toa: •. Hoff,· Printer, Ill'l), P• II.

6~oted

^ia

w. c.

Bronson, 'fhe Hiatop: of Brea UaiYeraittt 1764-1_9_U. (ProYidence:-,ru'bfishe bytlie lniYer- aity,

191

^·1,

P•

S:-llothiBg occurs in the Philadelphia

Aaaociatioa Miautea in relation to the college before 17~.

. 6

21-id., pp.

8 tt.

The naae ef the college waa

changed to Br- UniTeraity ia lao.t. in honor ot one of ita

gr~-test beaefactora, licholas Browa. •

-·--- -

57 by other Baptist pastors. Sa.uel Jones opened a school at Lower Dublin, Pennsylvania, in 1766. William Williaas is supposed to have had some two hundred students under his

care at Wrentham, Massachusetts. Burgess Allison established a classical boarding school at Bordentown, Mew Jersey, in 1776. As early as 17~ the Philadelphia Association created a fund for the education or yoUDg men preparing for the . ,

-~~

gospel ainistry. The Charleston and the

Warren

Asaociatioaa did the

sam~.

in i791 and 1793 respectiTely.63

There is no way to tell how many candidates for the ministry studied diTinity with learned pasters. SeTeral are

known to haTe studied with Sa.uel Stillaan or Bostoa; others with !homas Baldwin or the sue city. Jolm Stanford or Hew York and Williaa Staugbton ef Philadelphia read diTinity with young theological students. Jer . . iah Chaplin, who had studied with Baldwin, had several students uader hie care at DanTers, Massachusetta.64

Baptist education societies begaa to appear in the

early years of the nineteenth century. The Baptist ld~catiOD

Society of the Middle States was reraed in 1Sl2. Ia

llaaaa-

chusetta aa education society was feraed at the aeeting of

6)11Tab HoTey "In Theological Education,•

eRr

Baptista

aad

the latlonal

CenteDary. 1 Recor•

ot

iatian

Work. -172;1170, teiUef

Moss editor

TPiiliadiljibia:

Len

cu. ~mr

Publication !ociety, 11'76) • PP• 127, 128.

64Ibid.,

PP•

129, 1)0.

Boston Association on Sept .. ber 22,

^181~.

Two years later Warren Association formed a similar society. By

18~

there were at least seYen major education societies among the Baptista.

Baptists in Maine commenced a

liter~ry

and theological institutioa at WaterYille in 1817. The school flourished

:.,_, r . -. .

tor a tiae

^llllder

the able_ care or Jer•iah Chaplin. When a charter was secured froa the state in 1820, the school chose -to att•pt the work or a literary institution only •. Yater-

Tille and Brown were the two Baptist colleges in existence wbea the Board of the ConTention opened a theological

iaetitutioa in 18ls.6S

Col-biaa College. On Jlay 12, 1817

1

the following ameadaent to the Constitution ot the Triennial ConYentioa vaa adopted:

That whea co•petent and distinct

^~ds

eball haYe been receiYed tor the purpose, the Board, t.ro• these, without resorting at all to the missioa faads, shall proceed to institute a Classical and Theological

SaaiQary

1

tor the purpose or aidiag pious yo.ag_•ea,