Joseph Denison
Encyclopedia
Joseph J. Denison was a Methodist pastor; the first President of Kansas State University
; and a founder of Manhattan, Kansas
, having volunteered to go to Kansas Territory with the New England Emigrant Aid Company in 1855 to fight against the extension of slavery.
Denison was born in Bernardston, Massachusetts
and raised in Colrain, Massachusetts
. He graduated from Wesleyan University
in 1840, and then served as a Methodist pastor in Massachusetts until 1855.
, that he should move to Kansas Territory to help establish a new town for the New England Emigrant Aid Company. On March 13, 1855, Denison joined a party of Company members leaving Boston, and made his way to Kansas Territory
, which was soon to boil over with violence. (See Bleeding Kansas
.) Over the next several years Denison was part of a small group that settled and built the abolitionist town of Manhattan, Kansas, at the union of the Kansas River
and the Big Blue River
in the Flint Hills
.
By 1857 Denison and Goodnow, along with others, hatched a plan to create a Methodist college in Manhattan. In April 1857, at a meeting of the Methodist Church Conference, a plan for the college was properly inaugurated. The following year, on February 9, 1858, Manhattan's "Blue Mont Central College
" was incorporated by act of the Kansas Territorial Legislature and Territorial Governor James Denver. By 1860, a large building was erected and the school was open and operating, with Denison as President. However, the institution was already struggling financially.
was admitted to the United States in 1861, one of the first things the new state Legislature planned to do was to establish a state University. After two years of political wrangling, on February 16, 1863, the state accepted Manhattan's offer to donate the Blue Mont College building and grounds, and established the state's Land-grant university
at the site – the institution that would become Kansas State University
.
At the first meeting of the state Board of Regents on July 23, 1863, Denison was hired as the first President of Kansas State Agricultural College. He served in this position for ten years. During his term, Denison managed a number of important accomplishments, including establishing a faculty and acquiring valuable land that would later become the center of the university. Under his direction, the school attracted Benjamin Franklin Mudge
as Chair of the geology department; Mudge led his Kansas State students on fossil-collecting expeditions to Western Kansas as part of the Bone Wars
. Despite Denison's accomplishments, the state asked for his resignation in 1873.
After leaving Kansas State, Denison was hired as President of Baker University
, a Methodist school in Baldwin City, Kansas
. He held this position from 1874 to 1879, before retiring to work with the Methodist church in the town he helped settle, Manhattan. He died on February 19, 1900, in Manhattan, which had by then grown into a thriving college town of 3,500.
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
; and a founder of Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
, having volunteered to go to Kansas Territory with the New England Emigrant Aid Company in 1855 to fight against the extension of slavery.
Denison was born in Bernardston, Massachusetts
Bernardston, Massachusetts
Bernardston is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,155 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
and raised in Colrain, Massachusetts
Colrain, Massachusetts
Colrain is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,813 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :Colrain was first settled in 1735 as "Boston Township No...
. He graduated from Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
in 1840, and then served as a Methodist pastor in Massachusetts until 1855.
Founder of a town and college
In 1855, Denison was convinced by his brother-in-law, Isaac GoodnowIsaac Goodnow
Isaac Tichenor Goodnow was an abolitionist and co-founder of Kansas State University and Manhattan, Kansas. Goodnow was also elected to the Kansas House of Representatives and as Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state, and is known as "the father of formal education in Kansas."-...
, that he should move to Kansas Territory to help establish a new town for the New England Emigrant Aid Company. On March 13, 1855, Denison joined a party of Company members leaving Boston, and made his way to Kansas Territory
Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....
, which was soon to boil over with violence. (See Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
.) Over the next several years Denison was part of a small group that settled and built the abolitionist town of Manhattan, Kansas, at the union of the Kansas River
Kansas River
The Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
and the Big Blue River
Big Blue River (Kansas)
The Big Blue River is the largest tributary of the Kansas River. The river flows for approximately from central Nebraska into Kansas, where it intersects with the Kansas River east of Manhattan. It was given its name by the Kansa tribe of Native Americans, who lived at its mouth from 1780 to...
in the Flint Hills
Flint Hills
The Flint Hills, historically known as Bluestem Pastures or Blue Stem Hills, are a band of hills in eastern Kansas stretching into north-central Oklahoma, extending from Marshall County, Kansas and Washington County, Kansas in the north to Cowley County, Kansas and Osage County, Oklahoma in the south...
.
By 1857 Denison and Goodnow, along with others, hatched a plan to create a Methodist college in Manhattan. In April 1857, at a meeting of the Methodist Church Conference, a plan for the college was properly inaugurated. The following year, on February 9, 1858, Manhattan's "Blue Mont Central College
Blue Mont Central College
Blue Mont Central College was a private, Methodist institute of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States. The college was incorporated in February 1858, and was the forerunner of Kansas State University.After Kansas became a U.S...
" was incorporated by act of the Kansas Territorial Legislature and Territorial Governor James Denver. By 1860, a large building was erected and the school was open and operating, with Denison as President. However, the institution was already struggling financially.
University President
When KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
was admitted to the United States in 1861, one of the first things the new state Legislature planned to do was to establish a state University. After two years of political wrangling, on February 16, 1863, the state accepted Manhattan's offer to donate the Blue Mont College building and grounds, and established the state's Land-grant university
Land-grant university
Land-grant universities are institutions of higher education in the United States designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890....
at the site – the institution that would become Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
.
At the first meeting of the state Board of Regents on July 23, 1863, Denison was hired as the first President of Kansas State Agricultural College. He served in this position for ten years. During his term, Denison managed a number of important accomplishments, including establishing a faculty and acquiring valuable land that would later become the center of the university. Under his direction, the school attracted Benjamin Franklin Mudge
Benjamin Franklin Mudge
Benjamin Franklin Mudge was an American lawyer, geologist and teacher. Briefly the mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts, he later moved to Kansas where he was appointed the first State Geologist. He led the first geological survey of the state in 1864, and published the first book on the geology of Kansas...
as Chair of the geology department; Mudge led his Kansas State students on fossil-collecting expeditions to Western Kansas as part of the Bone Wars
Bone Wars
The Bone Wars, also known as the "Great Dinosaur Rush", refers to a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh...
. Despite Denison's accomplishments, the state asked for his resignation in 1873.
After leaving Kansas State, Denison was hired as President of Baker University
Baker University
Baker University is a private, residential university located in Baldwin City, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools...
, a Methodist school in Baldwin City, Kansas
Baldwin City, Kansas
Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States about south of Lawrence and west of Gardner. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,515. It is part of the Lawrence, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. He held this position from 1874 to 1879, before retiring to work with the Methodist church in the town he helped settle, Manhattan. He died on February 19, 1900, in Manhattan, which had by then grown into a thriving college town of 3,500.
Legacy
- Two buildings have been named Denison Hall on the Kansas State University campus. The first burned down in 1934 and the second was demolished in 2005. There is currently no building named in his honor on the K-State campus.