The Washington & Lee and University of Virginia Telescope Debate
There is still considerable uncertainty and confusion about the exact
circumstances that led Leander McCormick to present his twenty-six inch
refracting telescope to the University of Virginia. The pieces of this
puzzle consist mainly of newspaper articles and correspondences
throughout the post Civil War period, approximately from 1867 to 1878
when he formally offered the telescope to the Rector and Board of
Visitors at UVa.
The McCormick family has always been held in the highest esteem in its
native Rockbridge County in western Virginia. Viewed as the local
celebrities, local papers such as the Lexington Gazette noted donations
made by the McCormick brothers to institutions in the area, including
Washington College which became Washington and Lee University, and
announced their occasional visits to their family homestead to visit
family and old friends. It came as no surprise that Leander J. McCormick
was considering Washington College as a possible location for the
donation of what would have been the largest refracting telescope in the
world. McCormick and Washington College president, Robert E. Lee, were
acquaintances who exchanged occasional letters and sent each other books
and newspapers to keep one another abreast of the happenings in their
respective locations. They had begun correspondence by 1868. Exactly
when McCormick first mentioned the possibility of donating the telescope
to Washington College to Lee is unknown.
In January 1870, seven trustees of Washington College each pledged $1000
to the endowment of an astronomical observatory, including college
president Lee. This might indicate that they had knowledge of
McCormick's conditions for the donation of the telescope, which
consisted of the raising of funds for the building of the observatory
and the funds to purchase necessary equipment and hire a proper staff to
use the telescope for research.
Colonel Charles S. Venable served as a mathematics professor at the
University of Virginia for over thirty years following his service for
the Confederate Army in the Civil War. Venable served on Lee's staff
during the war and it is possible that Venable learned of McCormick's
offer through Lee. It is also possible that McCormick began considering
the University of Virginia after corresponding with Joseph
Henry at the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, D. C. In either case, Venable had been in
contact with McCormick by May 1870 attempting to determine what would
convince McCormick to donate the telescope to the University of
Virginia. In spring of 1869, UVa Rector, Benjamin Barbour, had sought
information on the costs involved and benefits possibly derived from
constructing an astronomical observatory. Though he made no mention of
McCormick's offer, it suggests that he may have known of Venable's
correspondences with McCormick.
Though McCormick had made no formal commitment to Washington College,
the trustees of the college seemed confident that they could raise the
funds and secure the donation of the telescope. Over the course of the
summer and fall of 1870, the Trustees formed several committees to
correspond with McCormick, to begin raising the estimated $100,000 it
would take to properly endow the observatory and to help secure the
donation for Washington College in any way possible. They carefully
articulated that, at that time, McCormick had still not committed
himself to the selection of their institution, but they continued to act
with confidence. President Lee died in the spring of that year and the
name of the institution was changed to Washington and Lee University in
October 1870. In the spring of 1871, the Trustees formed a committee to
select a site for the telescope.
By late 1870, the Lexington Gazette had picked up the possibility of
McCormick's donation and kept track of it for much of the next
decade. Interviews of McCormick's family still located in Rockbridge
County and unnamed "reliable sources" from Washington and Lee
fueled occasional newsclips and furthered the belief that Lexington
would soon be receiving the finest telescope in the country. The Gazette
also ran stories from Chicago and New York papers mentioning the
construction and future donation of McCormick's telescope. The Gazette
reported having seen the plans of the proposed observatory at the home
of Washington & Lee trustee J. D. Davidson, though it is unclear
what plans had been drawn up at that point.
The Great Chicago Fire on 1871 proved a major set back for the
McCormicks, who lost their entire factory and as well as their
homes. The Lexington Gazette reported that Leander McCormick had not
allowed work on the telescope to cease, but some accounts claim that the
telescope McCormick originally commissioned went to the U. S. Naval
Observatory and then after recovering from the fire, he reordered
the lenses for the telescope to be ground by Alvan Clark & Sons in
1876.
The next major mention of the telescope occurred in June 1877 when
Washington & Lee Trustees met, concluded that McCormick had again
intimated his intention of donating the telescope to Washington &
Lee and trustee James D. Davidson moved that official words of
appreciation be sent to McCormick and their official acceptance of the
gift. Unfortunately for Washington & Lee, their enthusiasm extended
itself a little too soon.
The following December 17th, Leander McCormick wrote making his formal
offer of the Clark twenty-six inch refracting telescope to the
University of Virginia. The following day the Lexington Gazette
published an article describing continuing efforts to raise the
necessary endowment for the telescope. The following two months produced
much debate as the reality of what happened slowly came to light at
Washington & Lee University.
Early in January 1878, a Boston dispatch picked up by the Lexington
Gazette reported that Cyrus McCormick was no longer giving the telescope
to Washington and Lee because they were unable to provide funds, so he
planned to grant it to another higher education institution in
Virginia. The Gazette immediately refuted the article, starting with the
fact that it was Leander, not Cyrus, McCormick who intended to donate
the telescope. The Gazette declared that the telescope would be located
in Lexington, "despite the endeavors of jealous rivals to defeat
that purpose—But whether recognized or not, a suitable building will
be erected here for the generous gift of our distinguisehd countyman,
Mr. L. J. McCormick, who no doubt smiles at these efforts through the
press to influence him in the bestowal of his gifts." Unfortunately
for Washington & Lee and residents of Lexington, the newspaper was
unaware of the offer made to and accepted by the University of Virginia.
The following week, Leander McCormick sent a letter to Washington &
Lee trustee James D. Davidson, requesting that he set the trustees
straight on what had transpired between the two of them and why he had
elected to donate the telescope to UVa. McCormick wrote of conversations
he had with Davidson in which Davidson described the dire financial
situation of Washingon & Lee and how Davidson believed that no
Virginia institution would be able to raise the necessary funds given
the financial difficulties of the whole region that characterized the
South of the Reconstruction Era. McCormick reiterated his desire to
locate the telescope in Lexington, thought that after their
conversations that it would be impossible and McCormick spoke with
Col. Venable shortly thereafter, who argued that $30,000 could be raised
through the State Legislature, with further funds being donated by
alumni and the University. McCormick had also replied to a letter from
General Lilley, another Washington & Lee trustee hoping to determine
what it would take to secure the donation, and told him that he had
already granted the telescope to UVa.
Meanwhile, the University of Virginia wasted no time going to the State
Legislature in search of funding. The Lexington Gazette accused UVa in a
February 1st editorial of trying to undermine Washington & Lee's
efforts to acquire the telescope. General Lilley immediately began a
campaign to hold McCormick accountable for claims he made of giving the
telescope to Lexington and sought accounts from people who had read
telegrams or letters from McCormick mentioning the telescope.
Davidson replied to McCormick's letter by arguing that he had spoken to
McCormick as a friend and not as a representative of Washington &
Lee. Regardless, Davidson agreed to present McCormick's letter to the
Board of Trustees and maintained that he thought it best that McCormick
know the true nature of Washington & Lee's financial situation.
A writer for the Lexington Gazette attempted to quell anger by reporting
that it was better for a neighboring Virginia institution to receive
than a Northern university. The Lexington Gazette continued to hope that
the telescope was on its way to Lexington, particularly after the State
Legislature denied UVa any funds at the beginning of March
1878. Southern Collegian, a Lexington collegiate newspaper, chastised
McCormick for having offered the telescope to the University of Virginia
without any notification to Washington & Lee University
officials. By this time, it was a moot point. The University of Virginia
had already begun its fundraising effort and was well on its way to
receiving the telescope.
The last official word on the matter at Washington & Lee University was at the Board of Trustees meeting on June 25, 1878, where Davidson read the correspondence between McCormick and himself, which was entered into the record and closed the discussion of an astronomical observatory at Washington & Lee University.
