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Volume 6 Relation of U.B/EUB Virginia Conferences to Shenandoah University Dec. 26, 2013
institution shall be proffered the Board, and other inducements offered sufficient in the minds of the
Board to warrant the undertaking” [1883 Minutes, p. 19].
The Board of Trustees elected an Executive Committee consisting of M. J. Hinkle, Chairman;
A. P. Funkhouser, Secretary; and H. H. Hanger. This Committee was instructed to accept a proposition
made by the Board of Directors of the Joint Stock Company of Shenandoah Seminary to rent the school
for the year starting September 3, 1883, for the sum of $200, to be paid quarterly. The Board of
Directors agreed to put a new roof on the “L” of the Seminary Building. However, this offer was not
accepted by the Executive Committee, and the Board of Directors mentioned in their Minutes of August
1883 that they “regretted that the school could not be transferred to the Conference Board of Trustees”
but that they felt in no way bound to hold the property longer.
The Conference Executive Committee met in an emergency session in Dayton on September 4th,
1883, to gain control of the school, which was scheduled to open the following day. The Board of
Directors also met that afternoon and offered their last proposal20:
The Board of Directors of Shenandoah Seminary will rent the said property to said Committee
provided that Rev. A. P. Funkhouser and wife have nothing to do with the Seminary property
or running the Seminary.
The Conference Executive Committee refused this offer and gave their reasons in a letter to the
Board of Directors:
The Committee would respectfully report that after an honest and earnest effort to comply with
its instructions, the said Board of Directors of Shenandoah Seminary, in action taken this day,
present conditions which not only conflict with our powers, but also hinder and trammel the
Committee in the exercise of their best judgment in the management and running of the
school—and also take from one of the committeemen the powers invested in him by our
Conference. It is our further opinion that the effort to control and thwart this Committee by
outside influences, in the interest of personal favoritism, would render fruitless any attempt by
us to conduct a successful school the coming years. We therefore reject the additional
propositions made to us this day in Dayton, Va.
The main reason for rejecting this proposition was, of course, the statement “that A. P.
Funkhouser and wife have nothing to do with…running” the school. Since the Executive Committee (of
which Rev. Funkhouser was Secretary) was empowered by the Conference Board of Trustees to operate
the school, it was impossible to accept these terms.
The Board of Directors met in the evening of September 4th and, having received
the final refusal of the Executive Committee to accept their terms, decided to rent the
Seminary to Rev. G. P. Hott [for 1883-84]. Rev. Hott (pictured at the right, the photo
taken from the 1904 U.B. Yearbook) was at that time the pastor at Dayton Circuit and
had been serving as a professor and “first assistant” to the Principal.
3. Shenandoah Institute, 1884-1900
The Virginia Annual Conference met at Lacey Springs, Va., in 1884. After learning of the
inability of the Conference Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors of the Joint Stock Company to
20 Minutes of the Board of Directors, 1883. 10
Miller, et al., on History of S.C., 1875-1950
institution shall be proffered the Board, and other inducements offered sufficient in the minds of the
Board to warrant the undertaking” [1883 Minutes, p. 19].
The Board of Trustees elected an Executive Committee consisting of M. J. Hinkle, Chairman;
A. P. Funkhouser, Secretary; and H. H. Hanger. This Committee was instructed to accept a proposition
made by the Board of Directors of the Joint Stock Company of Shenandoah Seminary to rent the school
for the year starting September 3, 1883, for the sum of $200, to be paid quarterly. The Board of
Directors agreed to put a new roof on the “L” of the Seminary Building. However, this offer was not
accepted by the Executive Committee, and the Board of Directors mentioned in their Minutes of August
1883 that they “regretted that the school could not be transferred to the Conference Board of Trustees”
but that they felt in no way bound to hold the property longer.
The Conference Executive Committee met in an emergency session in Dayton on September 4th,
1883, to gain control of the school, which was scheduled to open the following day. The Board of
Directors also met that afternoon and offered their last proposal20:
The Board of Directors of Shenandoah Seminary will rent the said property to said Committee
provided that Rev. A. P. Funkhouser and wife have nothing to do with the Seminary property
or running the Seminary.
The Conference Executive Committee refused this offer and gave their reasons in a letter to the
Board of Directors:
The Committee would respectfully report that after an honest and earnest effort to comply with
its instructions, the said Board of Directors of Shenandoah Seminary, in action taken this day,
present conditions which not only conflict with our powers, but also hinder and trammel the
Committee in the exercise of their best judgment in the management and running of the
school—and also take from one of the committeemen the powers invested in him by our
Conference. It is our further opinion that the effort to control and thwart this Committee by
outside influences, in the interest of personal favoritism, would render fruitless any attempt by
us to conduct a successful school the coming years. We therefore reject the additional
propositions made to us this day in Dayton, Va.
The main reason for rejecting this proposition was, of course, the statement “that A. P.
Funkhouser and wife have nothing to do with…running” the school. Since the Executive Committee (of
which Rev. Funkhouser was Secretary) was empowered by the Conference Board of Trustees to operate
the school, it was impossible to accept these terms.
The Board of Directors met in the evening of September 4th and, having received
the final refusal of the Executive Committee to accept their terms, decided to rent the
Seminary to Rev. G. P. Hott [for 1883-84]. Rev. Hott (pictured at the right, the photo
taken from the 1904 U.B. Yearbook) was at that time the pastor at Dayton Circuit and
had been serving as a professor and “first assistant” to the Principal.
3. Shenandoah Institute, 1884-1900
The Virginia Annual Conference met at Lacey Springs, Va., in 1884. After learning of the
inability of the Conference Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors of the Joint Stock Company to
20 Minutes of the Board of Directors, 1883. 10
Miller, et al., on History of S.C., 1875-1950
