The Election of Jefferson Davis to the
Presidency of the Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas
MOST persons who are at all familiar with the history of
the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas know
that Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederacy, was
offered the presidency of the college at its founding. There
are, however, many friends of the institution who have never
seen either the little pamphlet entitled Laws
Relating
to
the
Agricultural
and
Mechanical
College
of
Texas,
and
Proceedings
of
the
Board
of
Directors
of
Said
College,
from
June
1,
1875,
to
January
23,
1878,
arranged, and published at Austin, Texas,
1878, or the letters in which the offer of the presidency was
made and declined.
In the early years of the A. and M. College, the Governor
of Texas was, ex officio, President of its Board of Directors.
Since the organization of the college was not effected until after
the Democratic victory which swept Richard Coke into office,
the honor of first convening the board fell to him. The direc-
tors held their first meeting on June 1, 1875, at Bryan, and
authorized Governor Coke to offer the presidency of the college
to Jefferson Davis. The note in Peeler's pamphlet which records
the action is as follows: "The Board at this meeting further
authorized the President to correspond with Ex-President Jef-
ferson Davis and to tender to him the presidency of the Col-
lege."
The effort to bring Davis to this state seems to have had
considerable popular backing, for, about this time, a movement
was launched in Dallas to raise a fund to purchase a home-
stead for him, and to invite him to make his home here. The
Dallas Daily
Herald
reports these efforts, but it is not clear
how far the movement went.
Coke pursued the call, as authorized by the board, only to
have it declined. The Dallas Daily
Herald
of Wednesday, July
21, 1875, carries the correspondence.
Coke wrote:
Executive Office, State of Texas
Hon. Jefferson Davis,
Austin, June 14, 1875
Memphis, Tenn.
My dear Sir:
At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Agricultural and Me-
chanical College of Texas, held June Ist, at Bryan, in Brazos County, near
which the college is located, it was unanimously resolved, that the Presi-
dency of the College be tendered to yourself, with a salary of four thousand
dollars per annum, with residence properly furnished, and as much land
attached as might be desired for yards, garden, etc. As President of the
Board, I was instructed to communicate immediately with you, present
the offer, and urge its acceptance. I now perform that most pleasing duty,
as the representative, not only of the Board of Directors of the Agricultural
and Mechanical College of Texas, but in behalf of the State of Texas and
all her people ask that you come and live with and be one of us, and make
your home and resting place, after a long and eventful public service, among
a people who will never cease to love and honor you. Nor are we entirely
unselfish in making this request. We desire to build up the Agricultural
and Mechanical College, an institution which shall be a prominent feature
in the educational system of the great State which founds it, and worthy
of her pride and fostering care, and we know of no living man whose
name and efforts can do so much as yours towards accomplishing that
purpose. The duties to be performed by the President of the College have
not been defined, and will not be until you are heard from, and, should
you accept, as we trust you will, your wishes will be consulted in fixing
them.
It is hardly necessary for me to assure you that it gives me great
pleasure, personally, to be the medium through which this communication
is made.
Hoping to hear from you at your convenience, I am
Most respectfully and truly yours
Richard Coke
Governor of Texas and ex-officio President, Board
of Directors, Agricultural and Mechanical College
Davis replied:
Memphis, Tenn.
His Excellency Governor Coke:
July 8, 1875
With sincere gratitude I acknowledge the honor tendered me by the
Directors of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, as set
forth in your letter of the 14th ult.
No occupation would be more acceptable to me than that which would
enable me to co-operate with you in the organization of a system for the
instruction of the youth of our country, in the two important branches
to which the colleges at Bryan are to be specially devoted.
I cannot too fully thank you for the generous confidence manifested
in offering me the presidency of those colleges, and it is but a fair return
that I should cordially confess that you have overrated my ability and
in the consciousness that I could not satisfactorily perform the duties
of the office, decline to accept it. As soon as my private affairs will
permit, I hope to revisit Texas at more leisure than when last among
you, and will be glad then to confer with you on the subject of an educa-
tional system for Texas; and as a volunteer, to render such service as
my small acquirements and shattered constitution may allow.
With best wishes for the directors personally and for yourself specially,
I am, with renewed expression of thankfulness, respectfully and truly,
Your friend
Jefferson Davis
The board of directors held its second meeting at Austin,
on July 15, 1876, and took up, once more, the matter of the
choice of a president for the college. As respects the choice
of officers, the Proceedings
of
the
Board,
has this to say:
The President of the Board, Governor Coke, then announced, that,
having corresponded with Ex-President Jefferson Davis in regard to his
acceptance of the presidency of the College, he having respectfully de-
clined, and proceeded to declare nominations for that and other offices
in order.
The office of Secretary was first in order, when William Falconer of
Bryan was elected for one year at a salary of five hundred dollars.
The Secretary was then directed to read over a list of the applicants
for the presidency, and after full and respectful consideration of their
separate claims, the Board proceeded to vote by ballot, and on the second
ballot Thomas S. Gaithright, receiving the majority of votes was declared
elected.
The records of the board's meeting of January 23, 1878,
record a further action involving Davis. A motion was passed,
as follows:
Resolved,
That the Hon. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, be requested
to attend the commencement exercises of the institution on the twenty-
sixth of June proximo, and deliver the annual address; and that the
President of this Board transmit a copy of this resolution, attested by the
Secretary, soliciting his acceptance and attendance.
The directors were to suffer a new disappointment. Search
of Texas newspapers of 1878 and of the Davis papers has not,
so far, uncovered any further reference to the matter. Accounts
in the state press of the A. and M. commencement of that year
are full and interesting, but contain no mention of Davis.
This incident is of interest not only as a page in the history
of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, but also
as characterizing an era. The sun of the Old South had set,
and the effort of the Directors of the A. and M. College to bring
Davis--symbol of the Old South--to the institution was but an
afterglow of the day that was fading. The Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas was to turn its face to the future
and have its life in a day which, then, was just dawning.
How to cite:
Charles F. Arrowood, "Election of Jefferson Davis to the Presidency of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas", Volume 49, Number 2, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v049/n2/contrib_DIVL4087.html
[Accessed Tue Dec 2 14:34:18 CST 2008]
