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418 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the present beautiful campus has flowered. In the fall of 1801 the
college was formally opened for the reception of students. Professor
Meigs-at this time not only acted in the capacity of president but con
stituted within himself the entire corps of instruction.
In addition to the clearing made for the campus, a street was laid
out under the supervision of Professor Meigs, lots were staked, homes
commenced, and other steps taken looking toward the evolution of the
future town. The first settler to-locate in Athens was the Rev. Hope
Hull, the founder of Methodism in Georgia. He came from Washing
ton, in the county of Wilkes, where he had taught a select school for
several years and where, with great unction of spirit, he had preached
the doctrines of Wesley. If he was not at this time a member of the
board of trustees he became one later and continued until the hour of
his death to be the most loyal and steadfast friend of the college, be
queathing his love for it to his children after him. In 1808, he offered
to build on the campus a chapel forty by fifty feet in dimensions, if
the board would give $100 for a belfry, a proposition which the trus
tees accepted; and accordingly a chapel was erected by Mr. Hull which
served the purpose for twelve years. At the same time, on the out
skirts of the town, he built Hull's Meeting House—the fame of which
reached up and down the whole range of the Alleghany Mountains.
It was to meet immediate needs that the first temporary structures
of log were built on the campus. As soon as funds could be provided
the erection of permanent quarters was commenced. For this purpose
a loan was negotiated from the state, to secure which mortgages were
given to lands in Hancock. Luckily, at this time, a gift in cash of
$1,000 was made to the university by James Gunn, Jr., of Louis
ville, Georgia; and without delay the erection of the building after
ward known as Old College was started, under the supervision of Gen.
Jett Thomas. The first commencement exercises were held under a
bush arbor, on May 31, 1804, at which time the degree of Bachelor of
Arts was conferred upon the following graduates, ten in number,
to-wit:
Gibson Clarke, William H, Jackson,
Augustin S. Clayton, James Jackson,
Jeptha V. Harris, Robert Rutherford,
Jared Irwin, . William Rutherford,
Thomas Irwin, William Williamson.
Gibson Clarke was a son of the old Revolutionary hero, Gen. Elijah
Clarke. Augustin S. Clayton afterwards became a judge of the Supe
rior Court and a member of Congress. The Irwin boys were sons of
Gov. Jared Irwin. One of them became a doctor. The Jackson boys
were sons of Gov. James Jackson. Of these, William H. Jackson was
afterwards a trustee and a State Senator, while James Jackson was a
professor in the college. Jeptha V. Harris became a trustee and a Con
federate colonel. William Rutherford was the grandfather of Professor
Rutherford, who long filled the chair of mathematics.
Glancing at an old program of exercises, it appears that Augustin S.
Clayton read a poem descriptive of the means by which the lands of
the Oconee were obtained. His wonderful gift of satire seems to have