The Founding of Western Reserve College
Case Western Reserve University was created by the merger of two institutions established in the 19th century: Western Reserve University (WRU) and Case Institute of Technology (CIT). WRU, the older of the two institutions, was founded in 1826 in Hudson, Ohio. Its original name was Western Reserve College.
Western Reserve College was granted its charter by the state of Ohio 2/7/1826. However, efforts to establish a college in northeast Ohio began as early as 1801 when Reverend Joseph Badger prepared a petition to the territorial legislators for a charter to found a college. The petition was denied.
Two years later Ohio was admitted to the union as the 17th state. In the first session of the General Assembly the Erie Literary Society was formed. Though it was called a literary society the charter allowed for the formation of an academy or college. The incorporators opened a school in Burton in 1805 and intended to create a college. The institution lasted nearly 20 years but never developed a college. David Hudson was a leader in the project. He was authorized by the legislature to organize the incorporators into a board of trustees.
Early leaders did not give up in their efforts to establish a college. In the early 1820’s a series of meetings was held by the Grand River Presbytery and the Portage Presbytery and on 6/3/1824 a committee on location was appointed. Aurora, Cleveland, Euclid, Hudson and Tallmadge were considered as locations for a college. In January of 1825 Hudson was chosen because of its central location in the Western Reserve and the citizens of Hudson offered $7,150 in subscriptions, including a pledge of $2,000 by David Hudson. In March, work began on drafting a charter. The bill was first presented to the legislature in December.
According to university historian Frederick C. Waite, when word reached Hudson in January that the bill might be defeated,
After several months of negotiations and changes, the charter was approved. While the college was established as a secular institution, it was heavily influenced in the early years by its Presbyterian and Congregationalist leaders.“Mr. [Caleb] Pitkin mounted his horse and rode through snowy roads fifty miles to Brownhelm to get Judge Brown, and these two rode together nearly a hundred miles to the state capital. The tradition is that after two days of endeavor Judge Brown advised Mr. Pitkin to return home and look after his church, saying that dealing with legislators was a job for a sinner, not for a minister.”
The incorporators held a three-day meeting in March, 1826. Caleb Pitkin was elected president of the board and William Hanford was elected secretary. The cornerstone was laid for the first building (Middle College) on 4/26/1826. The beginning was modest. Classes were first taught at nearby Tallmadge Academy for 3 students in the fall of 1826 - the College building not being completed yet. The first classes were held in Hudson in fall 1827.
David Hudson, founder of the town of Hudson, was a leader in the early efforts to establish a new college. He was a farmer and served as justice of the peace. He established the first school in Hudson and served on the board of the Erie Literary Society. He was an incorporator and served as trustee of Western Reserve College 1826-1836. He died in Hudson 3/17/1836.
Caleb Pitkin, 1806 graduate of Yale College, was a clergyman. In addition to his involvement in establishing the College, he served Western Reserve College on the Board of Trustees 1826-1864. He was president of the board 1826-1830, and vice president 1834-1835 and 1852-1864. He died in Hudson 2/5/1864.
Sources
For more information about the founding of the university, see the list of published histories on our CWRU Archives Sources page. In addition to the published histories, information comes from Western Reserve College records in the Case Western Reserve University Archives.
