On this date in 1787 Cokesbury College, the first American Methodist college, opened for business and educating doors in Abingdon, MD. The campus was comprised of a single three-story building that was 108 feet long and 40 feet wide.  The college was founded to educate the sons of Methodist preachers, “poor orphans, and the sons of subscribers [financial supporters].”  On opening day it had an enrollment of 25 students and a faculty of three teachers.

As reported here:

The college had a troubled history. On December 7, 1795, a fire, possibly set deliberately, destroyed the college building and its contents. After the fire, it was decided to move the college to Baltimore. A large building was purchased, and Cokesbury became an academy instead of a college. It enrolled some 200 students, but another fire just a year later, December 4, 1796, destroyed the college and any further plans of Coke and Asbury.

Sounds to me like there might have been a firebug among some of the staff or faculty.

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If you think the 2000 Presidential Election was bad news with everything ultimately being settled by the Supreme Court, just be glad that you weren’t around on this day in 1876, when the Electoral College picked Representative Rutherford B. Hayes as President even though Tilden actually won.  Wikipedia’s article on the election states:

The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed and intense presidential elections in American history. Samuel J. Tilden of New York defeated Ohio’s Rutherford Hayes in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes’ 165, with 19 votes yet uncounted. These 19 electoral votes were in dispute: in three states (Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina) each party reported its candidate had won the state, while in Oregon one elector was declared illegal (on account of being an “elected or appointed official”) and replaced. The votes were ultimately awarded to Hayes after a bitter electoral dispute.

Many historians believe that an informal deal was struck to resolve the dispute. In return for Southern acquiescence in Hayes’ election, the Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction. This deal became known as the Compromise of 1877. The Compromise effectively pushed African-Americans out of power in the government; soon after the compromise, African-Americans were barred from voting by poll taxes and grandfather clauses.

The American poet (Alfred) Joyce Kilmer was born on this date in 1886.  You remember his most famous work, do you not?

Trees
(For Mrs. Henry Mills Alden)

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Here is another of Kilmer’s poems.

Prayer of a Soldier in France

My shoulders ache beneath my pack
(Lie easier, Cross, upon His back).

I march with feet that burn and smart
(Tread, Holy Feet, upon my heart).

Men shout at me who may not speak
(They scourged Thy back and smote Thy cheek).

I may not lift a hand to clear
My eyes of salty drops that sear.

(Then shall my fickle soul forget
Thy agony of Bloody Sweat?)

My rifle hand is stiff and numb
(From Thy pierced palm red rivers come).

Lord, Thou didst suffer more for me
Than all the hosts of land and sea.

So let me render back again
This millionth of Thy gift. Amen.

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The lyricist Ira Gershwin was born on this day in 1896. This is a very nice site featuring both Ira and his composer brother George.  Lyrics to some of his work can be found by clicking on the links below

• Embraceable You
• Fascinating Rhythm
• I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin
• I Got Rhythm
• Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off
• Our Love Is Here To Stay
• Singing In The Rain
• Someone To Watch Over Me
• S Wonderful
• They Can’t Take That Away From Me

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The comedian Steven Wright, born in 1955, turns 53 years old today.   Here is video of Wright performing at Comic Relief.

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English author and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter dated on this day in 1955:  “It is a dreadful truth that the state of having to depend solely on God is what we all dread most… It is good of Him to force us; but dear me, how hard to feel that it is good at the time.”  And to that I add my own hearty “Amen!”

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Janine Turner, was born today in 1963 in Lincoln Nebraska.  This fine and attractive actress starred as Maggie in “Northern Exposure” on CBS-TV on Monday nights for years.  Here is a scene from that wonderful show.