History of Ohio Wesleyan University - Conception

Conception

The school started functioning as an institution of higher learning on November 13, 1844 when the College of Liberal Arts opened its doors. Edward Thompson headed the college. In addition to the college president, the school hired four more instructors. The first salaries of the school administrators were fixed at: $800 for the college president, $600 for college professors, and $400 for other instructors. November 13 was a rainy day and the surroundings were not pleasant. Apart from the senior class and the students in the preparatory school, the starting class was composed of male students only. The first-year class consisted of twenty-nine students. Of the twenty-nine students, at the end of 1844, two were juniors, two were sophomores, fourteen freshmen and ninety-two in the prep school.

The first graduating exercises occurred in 1846 when the school graduated one student with the degree A.B.. The following year, the school graduated two students. The graduating class increased subsequently with the only interruption occurring with a two-year interruption during the War of the Rebellion when Wesleyan students participated in the Civil War on behalf of the Union Army.

On August 5, 1846, the first president, Edward Thomson, delivered his inaugural address. He stated that the college was a product of the liberality of the people of Delaware. He believed that Ohio Wesleyan was fortunate in that it was founded as a community divided in religious and political opinions because the friction of a mixed society prevented dogmatism, developed energy, and that the spirit of the college is the spirit of liberty.

Thomson and his successors were vocal in other political debates of the time, such as slavery and the expansion of the United States. In 1857, Edward Thomson denounced the argument that southern Christians "should retain their slaves in obedience to state laws forbidding manumission," saying that "the soft and slippered Christianity which disturbs no one, is not the Christianity of Christ."

The Ohio Wesleyan Female College was established in 1853. In 1857, the female college moved to Monnett Hall, named for school benefactress Mary Monnett Bain. In 1877, the female college merged with the University, which became coeducational. Monnett Hall remained the center for women's housing on campus well into the 20th century. The Monnett Garden, which now stands between Sanborn Hall and Austin Manor, was constructed in 1990 to honor the former Monnett Hall.