1840 – Letterhead showing the first buildings of Wesleyan College in Middletown, Connecticut, which it purchased from Alden Partridge when he moved what was to become Norwich University to Northfield, Vermont
MIdd.etown, Connecticut: 1840. Envelope or Cover. This four-page stampless folded letter, which measures 15.5” x 9.5”, was sent by Stephen P. Baugh at Wesleyan College in Middletown, Connecticut, to a friend Sylvester Smith (perhaps a student at Yale) in New Haven. It is datelined 25 April 1840 and bears a circular Middletown postmark of the same date along with a “6” rate mark.
Although the faintly written text of the letter is mundane, the letterhead is significant for its untitled vignette of Wesleyan’s first two buildings, which it had purchased from former Army Captain Alden Partridge after he returned his American Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy to Norwich, Vermont. As the letterhead is untitled, it is possible that it was transferred to Wesleyan along with the sale of the buildings.
. Very good. Item #010810Partridge, who had been the Superintendent of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point first established his private academy in Northfield after being removed from West Point following a revolt by entrenched faculty and their Congressional supporters. Partridge feared that reliance upon West Point could lead to military tyranny. Instead, he believed that the school should produce well-rounded citizen-soldiers and include physical training, liberal arts, agriculture, modern languages, and science in addition to engineering and military subjects.
He established his new academy at Norwich, Vermont in 1819 to do so, but moved it to Middletown, Connecticut, in 1835, hoping he could secure a contract with the Navy, obtain financial backing from the city, and attract students from the more populous Middle Atlantic states. There, he built the two attractive sandstone buildings shown on this stationery. In 1829, after the State of Connecticut refused to grant him a charter, Partridge returned his school to Norwich and after receiving a state charter in 1834 was renamed Norwich University. After a fire destroyed much of the school in 1866, it relocated to Northfield but retained its name in honor of its first location.
Not satisfied, Partridge began a national campaign to establish similar schools throughout the country, and by 1853, he had founded an additional 17 military schools. His curriculum found favor with Vermont Representative Justin Morrill, the leading proponent of agriculture education, and in 1862 Congress passed the Morrill Act which provided for land-grant funding to establish state colleges that incorporated agriculture, engineering, and military science into their curriculum. In time, the military components of these schools were federally standardized and became the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), of which Aldin Partridge is recognized as the father.
(For more information, see school histories of Norwich and Wesleyan Universities.)
At the time listing, no other examples of letterhead depicting these two buildings are for sale in the trade. The Rare Book Hub and ASBA show none have appeared at auction, and OCLC shows no institutional holding, although there are probably some at either Norwich or Wesleyan.
.Price: $150.00