University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

petitioned for land to found a college. Although Governor William Hull and Woodward promulgated an act in 1809 to establish public school districts, this preliminary endeavor yielded negligible results. Woodward, aspiring to categorize knowledge (which he termed "encathol epistemia"), discussed this with Thomas Jefferson in 1814. In 1817, Woodward drafted a territorial act for the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, which included thirteen professorships, or didaxiim. The act was enacted on August 26, 1817, with Richard appointed vice president and John Monteith as president. Woodward sought funding from the Zion Masonic Lodge, which contributed $250, leading to a total of $5,000 raised for the university. The cornerstone for the first schoolhouse, situated near the intersection of Bates Street and Congress Street in Detroit, was laid on September 24, 1817, and by the following year, a Lancasterian school, taught by Lemuel Shattuck, and a classical academy were operational. Additional schools were …