Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS 165
be erected over him, only a mound of earth where he would
have the trees, "whose leaves wither not," to commemorate
what in life had been his purpose. It was this modest request
that made our father write the ode as he did.
Very recently a publication of the Ohio Military Institute,
which has taken the place of the old college, came into my
hands through the courtesy of the superintendent. Colonel
Henshaw. It says of Farmer's College that its history goes
back almost to the beginnings of education in the West. I
quote the following from The Sentinel:
Farmers' College was one of the first institutions of higher
culture established beyond the mountains. It had a long and useful
career. The roster of its former students contains the names of
President Benjamin Harrison, Murat Halstead, the great editor,
and Bishop John M. Walden of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Unfortunately Farmers' College was projected a generation too soon
for permanent success. The community had not yet grown up to
the ideas that inspired the enterprise. To quote the language of a
very old letter used in the early propaganda, "The distinctive feature
of Farmers' College is the practical character of its course of instruction
. . . to qualify our youth for a higher position in any of the
industrial pursuits." The idea thus expressed is to-day the most
powerful force directing the trend of thought in education.
Some years ago, while we were on our way home from the
South with Brother Joe, we planned to include in our trip
Cincinnati and its environs and^to spend a little time in the
city, on College Hill and out in the old home neighborhood.
It was the springtime — May in southern Ohio — when
Nature was just presenting herself in her most attractive garb.
College Hill is located in accordance with its name; the ascent
begins at Mill Creek Valley, and conjecturmg I should
say that for a distance of two miles the way is one continuous
climb.
The country for the most part is hilly and broken up into
long spurs and slopes interspersed by misty valleys, blue in
the distance. On that day green young groves holding
flowering shrubs such as redbud and dogwood flung out arms
of beauty, while wild phlox, violets, anemones, and spring
beauties spread a carpet on the ground. The air had all the