Thursday, January 4, 2018

1870s Autograph Album with Inscriptions from Students at Wabash University at Crawfordsville, Indiana


Autograph album with inscriptions from the 1870s, mostly, but not all, from students at Wabash University at Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Most, if not all, of the students appear to have been members of Beta Theta Pi, as shown in the inscription by George Cyrus Taber, a member of the Class of 1874, who would become a lawyer at Logansport, Indiana.


The first page present in the album is the title page; any front end papers are missing, including one that might have contained the owner's name.  He was most likely a student and thus a male, as the college has always been a males-only institution.


There are a few inscriptions by women in 1877, while most of the inscriptions were penned earlier by members of the Classes of 1870-75.

I found information on students at Wabash University in several sources, two of them:


Surnames in the Album


?JJameson ?PPelton
AAndrewJohnsonPost
BBakerJonesPowell
Blessing [2]KKentPoyse
BowkerLLittleRRistine
BrownLynnRoss
BurnsideMMajorSSmith [2]
ButtnerMcConnellTTaber
CCarlisleMcCreaTuttle
CoryMcKaigVVance
CrouseMcLainWWard
DDaggyMcPheronWhitehead
DonaldsonMeteer
FFerrallMiller
GGreggMills
HHaginsMontfort
HainesNNorris
Hill
-->

A few pages:

Matt. L. Haines of Aurora, Indiana; inscribed at Wabash College on May 4, 1871.  Class of '71.   He was Matthias Loring Haines, who became a Presbyterian clergyman; director of Lane Theological Seminary and trustee of Wabash College

J. S. McLain of Paola, Kansas.  Class of '74.  Beta Theta Pi.  Presumably John Scudder McLain, who became editor of the "St. Paul Dispatch", the "St. Paul Pioneer Press", the "Minneapolis Evening Journal" and author of "Alaska and the Klondike".

S. Larie Ward, T.K., of Toledo, Ohio; inscribed in June 1871.  Class of '73.  Beta Theta Pi.  Samuel Lorence Ward, who became a clergyman and author: "Barbarians We to College Come" and hymn books in Turkish and Persian

Jennie Blessing; inscribed on March 20, 1877; "for Hagins".  Referring, presumably, to the previous page inscribed by Samuel K. Hagins

If you have information on any of the inscribers listed below, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Inscribers in the Album

  • Lizzie ? of Crawfordsville, Indiana
  • Edwin A. Andrew of Warsaw, Indiana; inscribed at Wabash College on June 16, 1871.  Class of '71
  • Al Baker of Indianapolis, Indiana; Class of '73 Beta Theta Pi.  Albert Baker, who founded the law firm Baker and Daniels at Indianapolis; son of Indiana Governor Conrad Baker
  • Jennie Blessing; inscribed on March 20, 1877; "for Hagins"
  • Emma Blessing;  inscribed on March 20, 1877
  • C. B. Bowker of Indianapolis, Indiana; inscribed at Wabash College on May 4, 1871.  Class of '71
  • Carrie E. Brown of New Albany, Indiana
  • Marie C. Burnside of Shelbyville, Indiana
  • A. Lewis Buttner of Fort Wayne, Indiana; inscribed on May 9, 1871.  Class of '71
  • Mary A. Carlisle; inscribed on March 20, 1877
  • Harlan P. Cory of Seymour, Indiana.  Class of '74.  Omega  Gamma Alpha.  Harlan Page Cory
  • Meigs V. Crouse of Dayton, Indiana; inscribed on May 1, 1871.  Class of '71
  • The. F. Daggy of Tuscola, Illinois, Class of '71
  • J. Barnett Donaldson of Ossian, Indiana.  Class of '74, Beta Theta Pi.  John Barnett Donaldson
  • Frank O. Ferrall of LaFayette, Indiana.  Class of '76
  • O. Mill Gregg; Class of '70
  • Samuel K. Hagins; inscribed on March 20, 1877
  • Matt L. Haines of Aurora, Indiana; inscribed at Wabash College on May 4, 1871.  Class of '71.   He was Matthias Loring Haines, who became a Presbyterian clergyman; director of Lane Theological Seminary and trustee of Wabash College
  • Wiley Hill
  • Kate V. Jameson; not sure of middle initial or surname; inscribed on May 24, 1878
  • E. P. Johnson of Redfield, Iowa.  Class of '71
  • I. Oliver Jones of Paddy's Run, Ohio; inscribed at Wabash College.  Class of '71
  • William H. Kent of Williamsport, Indiana; Class of '73.  William Hitchens Kent
  • C. H. Little of Madison, Indiana; Class of 1870 Beta Theta Pi.  Charles Harvey Little, who graduated from Lane Theological Seminary and became a clergyman at Lowell, Indiana
  • James A. Lynn of Livonia, Indiana.  Class of '71
  • Charles Major; inscribed on March 20, 1877
  • Ira McConnell of Crawfordsville, Indiana; inscribed in June 1871.  Class of '73
  • Samuel P. McCrea; inscribed on March 20, 1877
  • Robert N. McKaig of Cambridge, Indiana; inscribed at Indiana Asbury University [now DePauw University], Class of 1870
  • J. S. McLain of Paola, Kansas.  Class of '74.  Beta Theta Pi.  Presumably John Scudder McLain, who became editor of the "St. Paul Dispatch", the "St. Paul Pioneer Press", the "Minneapolis Evening Journal" and author of "Alaska and the Klondike".
  • J. E. McPheron of Rogersville Junction, Tennessee; inscribed on June 17, 1871 at Wabash College.  Class of '71
  • J. H. Meteer of New York.  Presumably James Harrison Meteer
  • S. B. Miller of Tuscola, Illinois; inscribed at Wabash College on May 3, 1871.  Class of '71
  • Eugene R. Mills; Class of '70
  • Frank P. Montfort of Greensburg, Indiana; inscribed at Wabash College.  Class of '74, Beta Theta Pi.  Francis Peterson Montfort
  • Jacob Norris of Rockaway, New Jersey; inscribed at Wabash College on May 3, 1871.  Class of '71.  He was a tutor at the College.
  • Charles Pelton of Union County, Illinois.  Class of '71
  • Roswell O. Post of Logansport, Indiana; inscribed at Wabash College.  Class of '71
  • William A. Powell
  • William Stratton Poyse of Prescott, Wisconsin; inscribed at Wabash College on May 4, 1871.  Class of '71
  • W. H. Ristine of Crawfordsville, Indiana
  • Charles A. Ross of No. 24, Jackson House; inscribed at Shelbyville, Indiana
  • L. S. Smith of Du Quoin, Illinois; inscribed at Wabash College in Indiana, Class of 1871.  He was Lucius Skinner Smith, who became a banker
  • Brainard F. Smith; inscribed on April 4, 1871
  • George C. Taber of Logansport, Indiana; inscribed at Wabash College, Class of '74.  Beta Theta Pi.  George Cyrus Taber, who became a lawyer at Logansport, Indiana
  • Kittie E. Tuttle of Crawfordsville, Indiana; inscribed on June 22, 1871
  • ? M. Vance of Indianapolis, Indiana; inscribed on June 15, 1871.  Class of 1874, member of Beta Theta Pi.  Presumably Lawrence Martin Vance
  • S. Larie Ward, T.K., of Toledo, Ohio; inscribed in June 1871.  Class of '73.  Beta Theta Pi.  Samuel Lorence Ward, who became a clergyman and author: "Barbarians We to College Come" and hymn books in Turkish and Persian
  • Wick C. Whitehead of Pataskala, Ohio; inscribed on May 9, presumably 1871.  Class of '71  Perhaps Columbus Delano Whitehead


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