Dickinson College | House Divided

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)

Events

Date	Event
09/01/1808	Dickinson College expels James Buchanan
09/19/1809	James Buchanan graduates from Dickinson College
07/09/1846	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
06/02/1847	The McClintock Riot takes place in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
07/08/1847	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
07/13/1848	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
07/12/1849	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
06/11/1850	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
06/26/1851	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
07/08/1852	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
07/14/1853	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
07/10/1856	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
07/29/1858	Former Dickinson College president Jeremiah Atwater dies, aged eighty-five
02/16/1859	The Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania opens
07/14/1859	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
07/11/1860	Dickinson College trustees hold firm that daily morning prayers will take place "before breakfast"
07/12/1860	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
10/08/1860	Dickinson College students given a day off classes to attend the local Agricultural Fair
10/22/1860	Dickinson student, John F. Frederick '64, takes another drunken step towards ending his college career
11/26/1860	In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the Dickinson College faculty discipline a student for "hissing in the Chapel"
12/17/1860	J.D. Frederick, class of 1864, appeals his expulsion from Dickinson College for drunkenness
12/17/1860	Dickinson College students punished for "smoking out" a classmate from his dormitory room
12/22/1860	In Pennsylvania, mass Union meeting at the Carlisle courthouse resolves that secession is illegal
01/14/1861	In Pennsylvania, a Carlisle courthouse meeting debates the Crittenden Compromise
03/04/1861	In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, two Dickinson College students punished for gun play on campus
04/14/1861	Governor Alexander Ramsey makes Minnesota the first state to pledge its militia to the Union
04/20/1861	At Dickinson College, the Junior and Senior classes request the end of term be brought forward
04/25/1861	At Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, students are leaving for home in large numbers
04/29/1861	In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Dickinson College students are finding it difficult to attend class
07/11/1861	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
03/10/1862	Fire destroys Euphemia Hall, a female Episcopal school founded and run by a Dickinson College graduate
06/26/1862	Dickinson College holds annual commencement ceremonies
06/25/1863	In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Dickinson College holds its annual commencement ceremonies
06/27/1863 - 06/29/1863	In Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Confederate troops occupy a town familiar to some of their officers
06/27/1863 - 06/29/1863	In Carlisle, Rodes' infantry enjoy a brief but comfortable respite at the U.S. Army Cavalry School
03/31/1865	At Dinwiddie Courthouse, Horatio Collins King performs the heroics for which he will later receive a Medal of Honor
04/10/1865	Two Dickinson College alumni clash in one of the last cavalry engagements of the war in Virginia
12/16/1866	Henry Vethake, former pioneer lecturer in "Political Economy" at Dickinson College dies in Philadelphia
11/06/1867	In Madison, New Jersey, Drew Theological Seminary is formally opened

People

Mason-Dixon Line

Documents

Date	Title
03/10/1847	New York Christian Advocate, “Reply to Dr. Durbin,” March 10, 1847
05/26/1847	New York Tribune, "Application of the Gag," May 26, 1847
06/02/1847	Entry by John McClintock, June 2, 1847
06/03/1847	John McClintock to Edgar B. Wakeman, June 3, 1847
06/08/1847	John S. Porter to Robert Emory, June 8, 1847
06/10/1847	John McClintock to Jane McClintock, June 10, 1847
06/10/1847	Carlisle (PA) Herald, "To the Board of Trustees," July 10, 1847
06/12/1847	John Price Durbin to Robert Emory, June 12, 1847
06/14/1847	John Bowen to Robert Emory, June 14, 1847
06/14/1847	Providence (RI) Manufacturers and Farmers Journal, "The Slave Riot at Carlisle, Pa.,” June 14, 1847
06/16/1847	John McClintock to Edgar B. Wakeman, June 16, 1847
06/18/1847	Boston (MA) Liberator, “The Slave Riot at Carlisle, Pa.,” June 18, 1847
06/24/1847	New York National Anti-Slavery Standard, "The Riot in Carlisle," June 24, 1847
07/16/1847	Thomas W. Smith to Robert Emory, July 16, 1847
08/02/1847	Thaddeus Stevens to John McClintock, August 2, 1847
08/25/1847	Carlisle (PA) Herald & Expositor, “Local Matters: Dickinson College,” August 25, 1847
09/01/1847	Harrisburg (PA) Democratic Union, "The Carlisle Riot Case," September 1, 1847
04/13/1849	Charlestown (SC) Mercury, "A Practical Joke," April 13, 1849
07/14/1858	Carlisle (PA) Herald, “Commencement Exercises,” July 14, 1858
08/18/1858	John Hays to Charles Francis Himes, August 18, 1858
06/20/1859	John Hays to Charles Francis Himes, June 20, 1859
11/23/1859	New York Herald, “Rebellion in Dickinson College,” November 23, 1859
11/26/1859	Cleveland (OH) Herald, “No Riot,” November 26, 1859
07/07/1860	Carlisle (PA) American Volunteer, “Decidedly Wrong,” July 7, 1860
07/13/1860	Carlisle (PA) Herald, “Commencement Exercises of Dickinson College,” July 13, 1860
04/22/1861	William Willey to Waitman Willey, April 22, 1861
04/24/1861	Dickinson College President Herman Johnson Circular Letter, April 24, 1861
04/29/1861	William Willey to Waitman Willey, April 29, 1861
07/03/1863	New York Times, "Carlisle," July 3, 1863
07/04/1863	Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “The Rebels at Carlisle,” July 4, 1863
07/10/1863	John Keagy Stayman to Edgar Hastings, July 1863
07/15/1863	George D. Chenoweth to James W. Marshall, July 15, 1863
05/24/1864	Recollection of Confederate Lieutenant George Baylor, May 24, 1864
04/10/1865	Recollection of Confederate Captain George Baylor, April 10, 1865
04/10/1865	Charles Albright to William Gamble, April 10, 1865

Images

Noah Pinkney and his sandwich stand outside Old East, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, circa 1900, zoomable image.

East College, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, circa 1900, with African-American janitor on duty, zoomable image.

East College, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, circa 1900, with African-American janitor on duty, detail.

Bibliography

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