Dickinson College

Chartered in September 1783, Dickinson College was originally a Presbyterian school that re-opened in 1834 under Methodist auspices. The following decades saw the institution produce and influence hundreds of young men who spread all across the American continent and into the halls of government. Little more than twenty miles above the Mason-Dixon Line, the college was also one of the few antebellum American institutions that remained about evenly divided in its membership between northerners and southerners. (By Matthew Pinsker)

    Date Event
    Dickinson College expels James Buchanan
    James Buchanan graduates from Dickinson College
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    The McClintock Riot takes place in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Former Dickinson College president Jeremiah Atwater dies, aged eighty-five
    The Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania opens
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Dickinson College trustees hold firm that daily morning prayers will take place "before breakfast"
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Dickinson College students given a day off classes to attend the local Agricultural Fair
    Dickinson student, John F. Frederick '64, takes another drunken step towards ending his college career
    In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the Dickinson College faculty discipline a student for "hissing in the Chapel"
    J.D. Frederick, class of 1864, appeals his expulsion from Dickinson College for drunkenness
    Dickinson College students punished for "smoking out" a classmate from his dormitory room
    In Pennsylvania, mass Union meeting at the Carlisle courthouse resolves that secession is illegal
    In Pennsylvania, a Carlisle courthouse meeting debates the Crittenden Compromise
    In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, two Dickinson College students punished for gun play on campus
    Governor Alexander Ramsey makes Minnesota the first state to pledge its militia to the Union
    At Dickinson College, the Junior and Senior classes request the end of term be brought forward
    At Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, students are leaving for home in large numbers
    In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Dickinson College students are finding it difficult to attend class
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    Fire destroys Euphemia Hall, a female Episcopal school founded and run by a Dickinson College graduate
    Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
    In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Dickinson College holds its annual commencement ceremonies
    - In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Confederate troops occupy a town familiar to some of their officers
    - In Carlisle, Rodes' infantry enjoy a brief but comfortable respite at the U.S. Army Cavalry School
    At Dinwiddie Courthouse, Horatio Collins King performs the heroics for which he will later receive a Medal of Honor
    Two Dickinson College alumni clash in one of the last cavalry engagements of the war in Virginia
    Henry Vethake, former pioneer lecturer in "Political Economy" at Dickinson College dies in Philadelphia
    In Madison, New Jersey, Drew Theological Seminary is formally opened
    Date Title
    New York Christian Advocate, “Reply to Dr. Durbin,” March 10, 1847
    New York Tribune, "Application of the Gag," May 26, 1847
    Entry by John McClintock, June 2, 1847
    John McClintock to Edgar B. Wakeman, June 3, 1847
    John S. Porter to Robert Emory, June 8, 1847
    John McClintock to Jane McClintock, June 10, 1847
    Carlisle (PA) Herald, "To the Board of Trustees," July 10, 1847
    John Price Durbin to Robert Emory, June 12, 1847
    John Bowen to Robert Emory, June 14, 1847
    Providence (RI) Manufacturers and Farmers Journal, "The Slave Riot at Carlisle, Pa.,” June 14, 1847
    John McClintock to Edgar B. Wakeman, June 16, 1847
    Boston (MA) Liberator, “The Slave Riot at Carlisle, Pa.,” June 18, 1847
    New York National Anti-Slavery Standard, "The Riot in Carlisle," June 24, 1847
    Thomas W. Smith to Robert Emory, July 16, 1847
    Thaddeus Stevens to John McClintock, August 2, 1847
    Carlisle (PA) Herald & Expositor, “Local Matters: Dickinson College,” August 25, 1847
    Harrisburg (PA) Democratic Union, "The Carlisle Riot Case," September 1, 1847
    Charlestown (SC) Mercury, "A Practical Joke," April 13, 1849
    Carlisle (PA) Herald, “Commencement Exercises,” July 14, 1858
    John Hays to Charles Francis Himes, August 18, 1858
    John Hays to Charles Francis Himes, June 20, 1859
    New York Herald, “Rebellion in Dickinson College,” November 23, 1859
    Cleveland (OH) Herald, “No Riot,” November 26, 1859
    Carlisle (PA) American Volunteer, “Decidedly Wrong,” July 7, 1860
    Carlisle (PA) Herald, “Commencement Exercises of Dickinson College,” July 13, 1860
    William Willey to Waitman Willey, April 22, 1861
    Dickinson College President Herman Johnson Circular Letter, April 24, 1861
    William Willey to Waitman Willey, April 29, 1861
    New York Times, "Carlisle," July 3, 1863
    Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “The Rebels at Carlisle,” July 4, 1863
    John Keagy Stayman to Edgar Hastings, July 1863
    George D. Chenoweth to James W. Marshall, July 15, 1863
    Recollection of Confederate Lieutenant George Baylor, May 24, 1864
    Recollection of Confederate Captain George Baylor, April 10, 1865
    Charles Albright to William Gamble, April 10, 1865
    Chicago Style Entry Link
    Kates, David Aaron, ed. "Sophmore Year, 2d Sesssion, Commencing January 17, 1856." John and Mary's Journal 13 (2000): 33-58. View Record
    King, Horatio Collins. History of Dickinson College. New York: American University Magazine Publishing Co., 1897. View Record
    Osborne, John and James Gerencser. "Dickinson Chronicles." http://chronicles.dickinson.edu/. View Record
    Super, Charles. A Pioneer College and Its Background. Salem, MA: 1923. View Record
    How to Cite This Page: "Dickinson College," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/17946.