The school under the direction of Mr. Merrill was discontinued in the spring of 1855. The building itself passed from under the control of the board of regents May 26th, 1856. From that time until it was burned in November 1864, various private parties conducted school courses in the building. In the St. Anthony Express of August 4th, 1855, we find the following notice.

ACADEMICAL SCHOOL IN ST. ANTHONY.

We take pleasure in calling the attention of our citizens to the notice in another column of Prof. Johnston who proposes to open a high school in the building heretofore occupied by Prof. Merrill. A school of this description is greatly needed in St. Anthony, and from the short acquaintance we have had with Prof. Johnston, we have no doubt but that he is in all respects qualified to conduct such an institution as he proposes opening. We trust our citizens will manifest an interest in well sustaining the enterprise.

In the same issue appears the following

RATES OF TUITION.

Primary branches, per year of 11 weeks $ 3.00 Common English branches, per year of 11

weeks

....

4.00

Mr. Johnston who conducted this school is now living in St. Paul and is counted one of the men of wealth of that city.

He was followed by a Mr. Taylor. The following notice printed in the St. Anthony Express of May 31st, 1856, speaks of this school as follows:

HIGH SCHOOL IN ST. ANTHONY-Mr. Taylor, a graduate of the State Normal School at Albany, N. Y., is now in our city and will open a select school at the Academy building, on Monday, June 2nd. The fact of his being a graduate of this school, is a sufficient guarantee of itself as regards his capacity, but we also learn that he brings testimonials of high order, from the various places where he has taught since graduating. It gives us unfeigned pleasure to learn that this school is again about to

be opened, and we trust that our citizens will not fail to give him their cordial support.

Later in the same year the St. Anthony Express speaks about a "high school" which a Miss Hill was to open "in the Old Academy building on Third street."

It was finally rented by the school board of St. Anthony which fitted it up and carried on an excellent school until it was burned. In the early days of St. Anthony this building was used by the First Congregational church. The following notice appeared in the St. Anthony Express of May 28th, 1852.

"Reverend Charles Seccombe will preach in the school room of the University on Sabbath morning at eleven o'clock and will lecture, at the same place, on Sabbath evening, at early candle light."

So long as this school was under the control of the regents it was taught by the Reverend E. W. Merrill who had charge of the same as principal. It would appear now that the regents might well have kept up this school for many years, and, had they done so, the foundation work which had to be all done over again in the school which opened in 1867, would have been unnecessary.

THE NEW CAMPUS.

Scarcely a year had passed after the first site was selected, before the agitation concerning the selection of a new site was begun. St. Anthony and the territory at large were growing so fast that the regents saw that the time would soon come when the University would need more land.

There is a story current that in the early days when the territorial institutions were located, there was an understanding that the prison should go to Stillwater, the capitol to St. Paul and the University to St. Anthony. It seems quite probable that there may have been such an understanding but the fact remains. that the location of both the prison at Stillwater and the capitol at St. Paul were fixed before the question of the location of the University at St. Anthony Falls was settled, and the original idea was that the University should be located on the Fort Snelling reservation;

however, this does not preclude the possibility of such an understanding among the representatives from the three main centers of population of the territory at that time. Reverend Mr. Neill declares the whole story a "myth" and Mr. North also pronounced against it. On the other hand H. L. Moss says that there was talk concerning this matter at the time of the Stillwater convention which met to frame the constitution of the state.

The story also goes, that, subsequent to the time of the location of the three state institutions above mentioned, the territory had grown so rapidly that the people from the other parts of the state were clamoring for a re-distribution of these institutions and the regents used this talk as an argument in favor of going ahead with their plans for securing a new site and the erection of a new building, in order that the institution might be saved for St. Anthony.

Both of these considerations, viz: the rapid growth of population and the agitation concerning removal doubtless had some influence in causing the regents to purchase the new site. They wished to secure the location of the University permanently in St. Anthony. Another consideration which had its influence in hastening the purchase of the present site was the fact that the property in St. Anthony and vicinity was rapidly rising in value, and if a site was to be secured at a reasonable price, it must be done immediately.

The purchase of twenty-five and one-third acres of the present site, was finally consummated, October 21st, 1854. This land was purchased of Paul R. George and Joshua Taylor.

For this piece of land, which is now worth -at a conservative estimate $350,000, the regents paid only $6,000. Of this amount, $1,000 was paid in cash, and the regents gave their note for the remainder.

MISTAKE IN THE DEED.

A curious mistake was made in the making out of the deed for this property. One of the courses which should have been N. 3934 degrees west, was put down as N. 5934 degrees west. This mistake made a difference of about twelve

This error

acres of land, against the regents. was rectified by Calvin Tuttle, the original owner of the land, who, on the 21st of July, 1856, in consideration of one dollar paid to him by the regents, gave them a quit-claim deed of the land which they supposed they had purchased of Taylor and George.

Up to the time of the purchase of this land, the income of the University had been nothing. The $1,000 in cash, paid for the site, was borrowed money. The legislature of 1856 (February 21st) passed an act authorizing the regents to borrow $15,000 secured on the site already purchased. This seemed to be ample security, so cheaply had the site been purchased in the first place, and so rapidly had it increased in value. The regents were instructed to pay for the site already purchased and erect a new building with this money.

THE NEW BUILDING.

With the erection of the new building began the trouble, which, before it was finally settled, cost the University $125,000. One who was a member of the board of regents at that time, afterward said: "That was our first mistake. But we had to build as we did, for public opinion demanded it." In justice to those regents it must be remembered that this was in the time of the great prosperity, just preceding the terrible financial panic of 185758. The regents, remembering how soon they had outgrown their former quarters, resolved to build such a building as would be sufficient for many years to come.

Accordingly, on the ninth day of August, 1856, the contract for that part of the building west of the main stairway, was let to Alden, Cutler & Hull, for $49,600. This would now seem to be a foolish piece of business to one who does not understand the facts. The regents seem to have figured something in this

No

So far as human wisdom could foresee the regents were justified in their judgment. one could possibly foresee the rude awakening from the dreams of prosperity which the hard times of the next year were to bring about.

In August 1857 came the deluge. The notes for stumpage sold were to be paid when the logs were floated to market and sold. Most of the University stumpage had been sold along the Rum river. In 1857 the Rum river dried up and so for a time no money could be realized from stumpage.

The campus, on account of hard times, did not increase in value as it had been expected that it would, and so no money could be realized by further incumbering it. Interest began to count up and the regents could not raise money sufficient to meet it.

The legislature of 1858 (March 8th) came to the rescue with an act authorizing the regents to issue $40,000 in bonds, secured on certain lands (21,000 acres in the counties of Pine, Mille Lacs and Sherburne) of the congressional grant.

Under ordinary circumstances this would have been amply sufficient. have been amply sufficient. But the times were so hard and money so scarce, and it was such a difficult matter to negotiate the bonds at all, that this provision was lamentably insufficient.

Only $34,200 was realized from the sale of the bonds for $40,000, $5,800 being held back by the purchasers of the bonds to pay the interest up to December 1st, 1859.

Such was the predicament in which the regents found themselves when they made their report to the legislature in 1860.

It appeared that notes of the regents were out to the amount of $17,942.02. These notes

all dated February 24th, 1859, and bore interest at the rate of 12 per cent; all were already past due. Bonds secured by University lands, to the amount of $55,000, were also out, bearing interest at 10 and 12 per cent. And the regents had no money nor had they any prospect of receiving money to meet the accruing interest.

The board of regents at this time was made up of men concerning whose honesty there can be no question. They can hardly be accused of carelessness or indifference to the interests of the state or their own responsibility in the matter. Neither can their patriotism be doubted. They had among their number as careful business men as could be found anywhere at the time. But it is to be noted here that the more conservative members of the board were against the precipitate action taken by a bare majority of the members of the board. The public spirit of the individual members of the board is evidenced by the fact that they gave liberally of their own time and money to the service of of the University. Looked at in the light of later developments, we can not but deplore the fact that the men who had a bare majority control in the board did not forego their power and listen to the better reason of the more conservative minority. However, these men doubtless acted according to the best light they had at that time and did not take risks for the University which they would not have taken in their own business, and it is to be said that had it not been for the unforseen panic they would probably have been successful. The final outcome of their action, while it can hardly be said to be beneficial to the University, secured for the University an excellent site. The land and the building which finally cost about $125,000 (under the unforseen calamity) is today worth many times that amount.

THE OLD MAIN.

The new building authorized and built by this board was the west wing and extension of the Old Main. (See page 20.) This included that part of the building beginning with the

main stair-way as located in 1875. The east end of this extension was roughly walled up with blue limestone without pointing. This wing and extension were part of the original plan calling for a central or main portion and a second wing and extension, on the east end of the central portion. The original plan called for these wings to be three stories above the basement, while the main portion was to be five stories above the basement and surmounted by an observatory. The building was to have faced the north instead of the east. This wing and extension, completed in 1858, stood vacant through the days of the war and insolvency. A legislative committee which visited the building in 1864 reported a family living in the building, ostensibly to take care of it, with turkeys in one room, hay in another and wood in the third while the floor of the basement was ruined by wood splitting.

In an address made before the alumni in 1893, Governor Pillsbury says, "While the regents were making a vigorous effort to extricate the University from its embarrassment, the state was emerging from the effects of the Civil War; a great demand was being made on the state authorities to provide for the care of the insane, as only temporary quarters had been provided at the asylum at St. Peter, in 1866. The University building was standing vacant, and it was reported as fast going to decay, but could at least be utilized temporarily for the cccommodation of the insane. A strong effort was made for this object, against the protest of the regents, to devote the University buildings for the accommodation of this unfortunate class; and only for the vigorous efforts of the regents was this institution kept from becoming an asylum for the insane."

THE BARBER AND BUTTERFIELD SCHOOLS.

The repairs on the building had been so nearly completed by the spring of 1858 that the regents felt justified in starting a preparatory department and Professor Barber was employed to take charge of the same at a salary of eight hundred dollars per annum. The regents ex