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HISTORY OF HILLSDALE COLLEGE BY HON. JOHN C. PATTERSON, 1883
The churches throughout the State were vigorously canvassed, and subscriptions were taken during the summer and fall of 1844. The subscriptions were of small amounts, and were frequently payable in property or labor. Elder Chauncey Reynolds, of Ionia County, for his subscription, agreed to convey eighty acres of land for the use of the institution whenever it could be sold for six hundred dollars. His subscription was the largest made, and he thus demonstrated by his liberality that he was individually in favor of the enterprise, as he had stated in the yearly conference at Franklin. The funds for the enterprise donated to a great extent by persons of limited means were thus gathered together.
At the time that David Marks received the letter from Elijah Cook, proposing to establish a denominational school in Michigan, Daniel M. Graham. of Gilead. Branch county, Michigan, was a member of the senior class at Oberlin college. He was studying for the ministry, and being very intimate with Marks, they talked over the plan together, and canvassed the future of the institution. Marks used his influence to enlist Graham in the work, and recommended him to the trustees and friends of the contemplated school as a suitable person to take charge of it. A few thousand dollars had been pledged, and Spring Arbor Seminary was organized on paper. Upon the suggestion of Elder Marks, Mr. Graham met with the trustees of the seminary at Spring Arbor, in October, 1844. Rev. A. Nichols, of Oberlin Theological Seminary, called the attention of the trustees to the fact that there was no institution of learning in the Free-will Baptist denomination that aspired to the name and functions of a college.
EARLY MICHIGAN
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