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Show ill Council House, Early Home of the University State, Massachusetts, and later received both his A. B. and A. M. degrees from Union College, New York. While traveling in Europe in 1852, Mr. Spencer sent to the University an extensive library of German, French, Italian, and English books. Dr. Bernhisel "was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and the first representative to Congress from the Territory of Utah. In college, he was a classmate of Simon Cameron, the leading senator from Pennsylvania for years. Among his personal friends were Thaddeus Stevens and Dr. Kane, the Arctic explorer. Through his efforts, the first postal service between Utah and the Missouri River was established, and by appointment of Brigham Young, he went to New York and purchased a $5,000.00 library for the Territory. The books were shipped across the plains in 1851, and during that year, the first public library in all the West "was opened. Orson Pratt was a noted mathematician and astronomer and his book on "Biquadratic Equations" was published in juondon, and was used by some of the English and French universities. Much might be said of the intellectual acquirements of all of these men. They were scholars in the true sense of the term. The University of Deseret or "Parent School" as it was first called "was opened November 11, 1850, in the home of John Pack, which was located in the Seventeenth Ward on the corner of West Temple and First North streets. Professor Orson Pratt was in charge, and with him were Orson Spencer and Dr. Cyrus W. Collins, the former teaching courses in history, the latter offering" courses in the natural sciences. Sessions of the school "were held in the "parlor," and immediately across the small hall was the store of Livingston & Kinkead. The first texts used at the University were the Lindley Murray English readers as well as copies of the Noah Webster "Spelling book for Schools." The tuition was payable in advance, and in lieu of cash, wheat, potatoes, flour, building stone, and lumber were taken. Some one has humourously remarked that in those days, the teachers' salaries instead of being drawn on a bank, "were drawn on a wheel barrow.. In April, 1850, the Regents of the University addressed a letter to the citizens of Utah "in all the "world," calling upon them to send whatever they could at the expense of the Church all the books, maps, charts, scientific apparatus, etc., that they could possibly get hold of. The letter says that "Facilities for acquiring- knowledge from every portion of the globe will be secured to this institution, and correspondence will be kept up with persons in the service of the University living in London, Edinburgh, Paris, Rome, Copenhagen, and Calcutta. "Religion, politics, literature, discrepant prejudices, private and public rights of individuals in large communities, all can here meet on this loftiest platform of nature's heights, and enjoy the highest order of freedom and individuality, so long sought after by the great and good of all ages. The rim of this wonderful basin descends from the snowy heights of the clouds almost to the level of tropical head in the time of summer. The composition of the soil surpasses that of the vale of the Nile. The elements only need to be modified and compounded by the hand of art, in order to become productive beyond the conception of the most credulous. "Graduates of colleges, and students of law, medicine, and theology may here receive weekly lectures gratis, and no person will be denied the benefits of the University for want of pecuniary means." The letter just quoted indicates the broad and comprehensive viewpoint that the people took in early days as to the meaning of education. 'lVr" |