Samford University

gift, $4,000, was given by Julia Tarrant Barron and both she and her son also gave land to establish the college. The university also honors the Reverend Milo P. Jewett and Edwin D. King as founders. King and Barron derived much of their wealth, with which they supported the college, from the people they enslaved. The university was established after the Alabama Baptist State Convention decided to build a school for men in Perry County, Alabama. The college's first nine students began studies in January 1842 with a traditional curriculum of language, literature and sciences. In those early years, the graduation addresses of several distinguished speakers were published, including those by Thomas G. Keen of Mobile, Joseph Walters Taylor, Noah K. Davis and Samuel Sterling Sherman. In October 1854, a fire destroyed all of the college's property, including its only building. While the college was still recovering from the fire, the Civil War began. Howard College was converted to a military hospital by the Confederate …