Commencements Past & Present

The first commencement that I have any record of was held Wednesday, August 6, 1845. The program of exercises of this commencement were as follows.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

COMMENCEMENT

Wednesday, August 6, 1845

Ann Arbor

Detroit

Printed by Harsha & Willcox

ORDER OF EXERCISES

 Part 1. Sacred Music.

         2. Prayer.

         3. Salutatory Address Edmund Fish, Bloomfield

         4. Romance Edwin Lawrence, Monroe

         5. The Power and Province of Rational Philosophy Judson D. Collins,                 Lyndon

                                            6. Music 

        7. The Ideal                   Thomas B. Cuming, Grand Rapids

        8. Intellectual Sovereignty     Merchant H. Goodrich, Ann Arbor

        9. Perfection of Philosophy    P. W. H. Rawls, Kalamazoo

                                            10. Music

       11. Claims of Agriculture on Science Geo. W. Pray, Superior 

      12. Lamech-   A Fragment                J. D. Collins,

            Lyndon Lambert                         J. D. Collins

            Jarah                           C. A. Clark

Characters: Naphel                P. W. H. Rawls

Sons of Lamech                     T. B. Cummings

                                               E. Lawrence.

        13. The Hire Of Intellect                Edmund Fish, Bloomfield

                                 14. Music

                                  Part 2.

            13. Greek Poem               Thos. B. Cummings, Grand Rapids

16. The Proper Direction of Intellectual Effort    Geo. E. Parmelee, Ann Arbor  17. Physics and Metaphysics -Their Laws Equally Determinable John Mackay,             Calais, Me.

                                      18. Music

 19. Poem- The Nazarine.          P. W H. Rawls, Kalamazoo

  20. Connection Between Faith and Knowledge   Chas. A. Clark, Monroe 

21. Influence of the Crusades Fletcher O. Marsh, Kalamazoo

                                            22. Music.

 23. Degrees Conferred.

24. Address to the Class. 

                                            25. Prayer.

On Thursday evening, August 10th, 1843, they had a sophomore exhibition. There were thirteen speakers and among them the following: Oration, "Peculiarity of the American Republic," by L. D. Norris, Ypsilanti; essay, "Instability of Government," by M. H. Goodrich, Ann Arbor; dissertation, "Party Spirit,"' by A. M. Campau, Detroit.

On Wednesday evening, August 14. 1844 there was a Junior exhibition, in which nine addresses were given. The speakers were P. W. H. Rawls, Kalamazoo; M. H. Goodrich, Ann Arbor; C. A. Clark, Monroe; Edwin Lawrence, Monroe; George W. Pray, Superior; J. D. Collins, Lyndon; George E. Parmelee, Ann Arbor; Edwin Fish, Bloomfield; Fletcher Marsh, Kalamazoo.

The catalog of the University of Michigan for 1845 shows that the faculty numbered seven members. There were also five principals of the different branches of the University. There were fifty-three students in the university. In the senior class, we find the names of Charles A. Clark, of Monroe, and Merchant H. Goodrich, of Ann Arbor. In the Junior class, the names of Henry D. Goodrich, of Ann Arbor, and Charles W. Noble, of Monroe; In the Sophomore class, the names of Franklin B. Collins, of Pittsfield, and.Franklin L. Parker, of Plymouth. In the Freshman class, we find the names of John L. Chipman, David M. Cooper, James B. Witheral, Charles Hurd, all of Detroit, Sidney D. Miller, of Monroe, and William P. C. Whiting, of Ann Arbor.

The faculty of the university in 1845 consisted of the following members, Douglass Houghton, A. M. M. D., professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology, George P. Williams, A. M., Professor of Natural Philosophy and Mathematics, Rev. Joseph Whiting, A. M., Professor of the Greek and Latin Languages, and President of the Faculty, Abram Sager, M. D., Professor of Zoology and Botany, Rev. Andrew Ten Brook, A. M., Professor of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy, Barrit A. Smith., A. B., Tutor in Latin and Greek, Silas H. Douglass, M. D., Assistant to the Professor of Chemistry.

The following named persons were members of the different branches of the university established as preparatory schools:

PRINCIPALS OF BRANCHES

Rev. I. A. B. Stone, A. M., Principal of the Branch at Kalamazoo.

Rev. J. Chaplin, A. M., Principal of the Branch at White Pigeon.

B. L. Baxter, A. B., Principal of the Branch at Tecumseh.

Rev. Rufus Nutting, A. M., Principal of the Branch at Romeo.

Ira Mayhew, Principal of the Branch at Monroe.

The commencement exercises from 1845 to 1861 were very similar to that of 1845. There was a gradual increase of students and quite a rapid increase of members after the medical department was established. Instead of having some eminent man deliver the Commencement address, a limited number of the graduating class delivered addresses on different topics. I entered the university with the class of '63. The first commencement exercises that I attended were in June 1861, when the somewhat noted class of 1861 graduated. The following were some of the members of this class: Dr. C. K. Adams, afterwards professor of history in the University of Michigan, also president of Cornell University, and later president of the University of Wisconsin; Prof. W. H. Beadle, professor of the South Dakota State Normal School; Hon. B. M. Cutcheon, prominent as an officer in the civil war and afterwards representative in Congress; Col. Isaac H. Elliott, a prominent officer in the civil war; James J. Kamerman, prominent in banking and railway matters in Colorado; J. H. McGowan. an officer in the civil war, regent of the university in 1877, a representative in Congress; Dr. S. A. McWilliams, a .prominent physician, and surgeon of Chicago; Prof. W. S. Perry, for many years of the Ann Arbor high school; Henry M. Utley, prominent as editor and connected with the library and educational matters in Detroit, and a number of others who were prominent in military and professional life.

This commencement was held in the old Methodist church. now known as the Unity Block, on the corner of Ann street and Fifth avenue. Large numbers always attended these commencement exercises. The church was packed full and the front steps crowded when I reached the building. A broad-shouldered member of our class allowed me to climb on his shoulders, and thus I got into the church through the front window. The church was so packed that men were kept in the basement to watch the timbers through fear that the floor might give way. These watchmen reported occasionally to Dr. Tappan, the president of the university, who was on the stage.

This class of '61 had prepared a class ode for their graduating exercises, and about a dozen of them sang it. I think that Henry M. Utley was the author of the ode, and I believe Dr. C. K. Adams prepared the music for it. Dr. Adams had a heavy bass voice and he attempted to sing the alto, very much to the amusement of Prof. Andrew D. White, who was then professor of history, etc, in the university and is now our minister to Germany. Dr. White was one of the most eminent men we have ever had in the faculty of the university and has done a grand work in educational as well as governmental departments. He appreciated the sincerity, energy, and rugged ability of the western students, but was always somewhat amused at times by their marked peculiarities. He predicted much for this class, and they have fulfilled his predictions. I think there were about five hundred students in the university at this time. There were about fifteen or twenty members of this class that spoke at this commencement. When each speaker finished his oration, bouquets of roses and other flowers were thrown to him on the stage, by his friends. This was a very pleasant feature of the old regime. The degrees were conferred in much the same manner as at the present time. This system of holding commencement exercises in the largest church in town, continued until the university hall was constructed. Finally, the graduating classes became so large that the university authorities deemed It best to abandon the old system and invite some eminent man to deliver the commencement address to the graduating classes.

In 1861 no one ever dreamed that the university would contain nearly four thousand students and that the campus would be nearly covered with buildings as it is at the present time. The pioneers of Michigan acted wisely and well when they established a school system and the University of Michigan upon a solid foundation. The State has received in return one hundred percent upon this wise investment.