the control of the university or college. The object as set forth was "to promote the general educational interests and to qualify students to engage in the several pursuits and employments of society, and to discharge honorably and usefully the various duties of life." The powers granted were those usual to educational institutions; to sue and be sued, to hold property, to prescribe and regulate the courses of study, to fix the rates of tuition, to appoint a president and profes sors, and to fix their compensation, and other powers of a similar nature. These boards of trustees were frequently self-perpetuating, and their charters authorized them to remove a trustee on a twothirds vote of all the members. Sometimes the trustees were elected by the stockholders, as in the case of the Nemaha University at Archer. The capital stock, exclusive of lands, varied from $100,000 to $200,000; and the value of a share from $50 to $100. A very interesting feature in all these early charters is found in the clause forbidding the holding of land in perpetuity in excess of 1,000 acres; lands received through donations or otherwise above that amount were to revert to the donor after ten years, if not sold within that time. In the later charters no such provision is found, showing that the fear of the formation of large landed possessions had passed away. The charters also provided that these schools should be open to all denominations of Christians, but leave one in doubt whether the intention was to include non-Christians as well. The clause reads as follows: "The said college shall be open to all denominations of Christians, and the profession of any particular religious faith shall not be required of those who become its students."

Simpson University received, on January 23, 1856, a new charter which marked the first break from the set forms before adopted. The control of the university was now placed in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The trustees were to be chosen at the annual conference for a term of four years, one-fourth retiring each year. In addition to the ordinary collegiate instruction, provision was made for the departments of theology, law, medicine and agriculture. Both sexes were to be admitted on terms of equality. In the charter of the Brownville College,-one of whose charter members was our honored president, the Honorable R. W. Furnas, -the amount of land which might be held by the school was, for the first time, left unlimited. Provision was made for the annual election of one-third

of the trustees. In the Salem Collegiate Institute the object as set forth was "to build up and maintain in Salem an institution of learning of the highest class for males and females, to teach and inculcate the Christian faith and morality of the sacred scriptures, and for the promotion of the arts and sciences." In the charter of the University of Nebraska at Saratoga, there is a curiosity, in the provision which requires that "the trustees must, before entering upon their duties, take an oath to support the constitution of the United States and the provisions of this act." Cassville, whose site it would now require a Schliemann to discover, seems in those early days to have been an especially favored spot, as the Methodists were to establish a University and the Congregationalists a Seminary, there. An act for the establishment of a Seminary, at Peru, Nemaha county, to be under the control of the Methodist church, was passed January 11, 1860. This Seminary was actually put into operation, and in later years developed into the State Normal school. A new provision was introduced into the charter, providing that the buildings and the grounds not exceeding forty acres in extent, should be free from taxation. The charter required that the buildings should be erected and the school begun within a period of five years.

The establishment of a University at Columbus, Platte county, in this year, 1860, shows how rapidly the population was extending westward. With the exception of some modifications in the charters, and the founding of two or three Seminaries, the University at Columbus closes the list until near the end of the civil war. All Souls College was established at Bellevue, Sarpy county, February 15, 1864. Among the list of incorporators is found the name of Rev. O. C. Dake, Professor of English Literature in the University of Nebraska, from its beginning in 1871, to his death in the spring of 1875. In this same year there was chartered the Nemaha Valley and Normal Institute at Pawnee City. For several years it was under the charge of Professor J. M. McKenzie, afterwards State Superintendent of Education. The buildings in this case were already in existence when the charter was granted, the first example of the kind in the history of the state. Its property to the amount of $50,000 was to be free from taxation.

From this time on it becomes more difficult to trace the progress of the schools of higher education, for in 1864, a general act was

passed which permitted colleges and universities to be organized without special legislative charters. After 1860 for several years the civil war so far absorbed the attention of the people, that little thought was given to the subject of the school interests of the state. During several years very little legislative action, either for the common schools, or for the schools for higher education, shows itself on the statute books. As the war drew to a close there seemed to be a revival of interest, and the second stage in the territory's intellectual activity began, when general legislation took the place of the special enactments of its earlier years.

A very unique piece of legislation, passed in 1865, providing for the Johnson County Seminary, deserves a moment's attention. In brief its terms were as follows: the county commissioners of Johnson county were authorized to levy and raise a tax of $1,000 per year for each of the five succeeding years, for the purpose of erecting a building for educational uses at Tecumseh. The government was placed in the hands of the county commissioners and six trustees chosen by the electors of the county. This board had the usual powers, and was authorized to elect a secretary and a treasurer from its own members. The building was to be erected whenever the trustees thought that the funds on hand were sufficient to justify it. A peculiar provision authorized the use of certain rooms in the building, at the discretion of the trustees, for the purpose of holding therein district and county court, for the use of the county treasurer, the county clerk, and some other specified county officers, but for no other purposes whatsoever. Evidently the newness and the poverty of the country were tempting the people of the county to secure a court house and a school house at the least possible expense. This proposition was submitted to a vote of the people, but apparently must have been defeated for nothing has been found thus far in the Johnson county records of any further proceedings under it.

This brief account of the history of higher education in the territorial period should not be closed without calling attention to the spirit shown. The anxiety of every town, in many cases even while yet a paper town to have the name of enjoying the benefits of the higher education, seemingly indicates the general high character of the early immigrants. While much of this history seems ludicrous, and to us as we look back upon it absurd, yet there is abundant evi

dence that to them much of it was very real. One of the reasons for this university fever, if it may be so called, is to be found in the fact that so many young men fresh from college or seminary were among the early settlers in the territory. Another, undoubtedly, is found in the mania for land speculation which ran to a high degree during those years. The names of educated men abound everywhere among the charter members of these colleges and universities; and without attempting to mention the names of all such men, Rev. 0. C. Dake, Hon. A. J. Poppleton, Hon. J. M. Woolworth, Hon. J. Sterling Morton, Hon. R. W. Furnas, Hon. David Butler and many more nearly as well known should always be kept in mind.

The Methodist church exhibited the greatest activity in this edu cational field, but some of the other churches were only a little less active. Scarcely a town that had aspirations to be the metropolis of its section, and what one had not? but had its university or its collegiate institute among its attractions. Of course it is true that very few of these schools ever passed beyond the paper or charter stage, yet we cannot help honoring the spirit of those who recognized the value of the higher culture. The great mistake which they made in their plans was, that they failed to recognize the need for concentration. This mistake has long been a hinderance to the cause of higher education in our country, and especially in our own state. Within the past few months it has been recognized and acted upon that the higher schools should be only few in number, and that they should have the strongest endowments possible. Practically, perhaps little of permanent value in education was produced by this early spirit. Yet that this enthusiasm for education was sufficient to leaven the state, when it became one, and to secure the passage of an act for the present State University within two years after it was admitted in 1867, can be called no small influence.

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA.

The bill chartering the University of Nebraska, known as S. F., No. 86, was introduced into the senate, February 11, 1869, by Mr. Cunningham, of Richardson county. On the same day it was referred to the Committee on Education, the Hon. C. H. Gere, now regent and editor of the State Journal, chairman. The committee reported it back the next day with amendments. It was passed and sent to the House on the thirteenth. Under the suspension of the

rules it was read a first and a second time the same day and referred to the Committee on Schools. On the fifteenth the bill was read the third time, passed and sent to the governor who signed it, and it became a law on that day, the last day of the session. Thus in four days after its first introduction the bill was a law. Was the rapidity of its passage a premonition of the rapidity of the development of the University?

The building was provided for by S. F., No. 32, a bill to provide for the sale of unsold lots and blocks on the town-site of Lincoln, and for the erection and location of a State Lunatic Asylum, and a State University and Agricultural College. This bill was amended February 12, 1869, on motion of Mr. Tullis, of Lancaster county, by striking out the words "Lunatic Asylum," before the words "University and Agricultural College," and inserting them after "State University and Agricultural College."

THE CHARTER.

The charter has been amended several times, but as it has never been thoroughly revised, it is now in a very chaotic condition. In the original charter provision was made for a board of twelve regents; nine of them to be chosen by the legislature in joint session, three from each judicial district. In addition to these nine, the Chancellor, the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Governor were members ex-officio. The members of the first board were appointed by the governor. This method of choosing regents was probably adopted from Iowa, for that was the only state in the west where such a system prevailed. However, jealousy of the chancellor's influence soon entered into the minds of some, so in 1875, an amendment was passed providing that he should not hereafter be a member of the board of regents. This amendment separated Nebraska from its neighboring western states where the chancellor was uniformly a member of the managing board. At the same time provision was made that an increase in the number of judicial districts should not increase the number of members. By the constitution of 1875 an entire change was made, and a board of six regents was created to be elected by a direct vote of the people. Undoubtedly the Michigan influence was predominant in the convention, for in all the neighboring states, except Iowa, at that time the regents were nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.