Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nihil who wrote (46897)	2/16/2000 10:16:00 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 71178

Why do you do this to me? Are you testing my patience? <edit> Or my speed? Four minutes. :) >>What's in a name? Would 'Ial' sound as sweet? The following information about Elihu Yale was extracted from the talk by Yale archivist Judith Schiff and retired professor Bruce Stowe on April 5 at Sterling Memorial Library. * Although he never came to New Haven, Elihu Yale was the grandson of Ann Boyd Yale Eaton, whose second husband was Theophilus Eaton, one of the founders of New Haven Colony. * A devout "son of the Church of England," Elihu Yale made his gift of books to the "Academy of Dissenters" in New Haven in the hopes that if the Congregationalist ministers there became better educated about religion, their allegiance would change. Apparently, his strategy worked. In 1722 the Yale College rector and two principal tutors were fired by the Congregationalist trustees for their Anglican leanings, and several other area ministers went back to the Church of England because of what they'd read in the books donated by Elihu Yale. * After returning from India, Elihu Yale divided his time between his mansion in London, where he was known as the "Nabob of Queen Square," and the old family estate of Plas-Grono, near Wrexham, Wales, where he was named high sherriff. * Elihu Yale named Yale College as one of the beneficiaries to his vast fortune in his will. However, his wife, reportedly unhappy that Elihu Yale had an affair with another woman, had the will broken in the House of Lords, so Yale College inherited none of its namesake's wealth. * While the school's first New Haven building was named after Elihu Yale, it wasn't until it was formally chartered in 1745 that the institution was officially designated as Yale College. * In Welsh, the name "Yale" was originally spelled "Ial." The family took its name from the Ial region of Wales, where the country's armed forces were traditionally brought together. * In Wales, "Elihu" would have been pronounced with a long "i" and the accent on the second syllable; however, the name is often pronounced with a short "i" and the accent on the first syllable.<< yale.edu

To: nihil who wrote (46897)	2/16/2000 10:24:00 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

More on the history of Yale, if anyone cares. >>Elihu Yale never set foot in New Haven, and there's no evidence that he ever attended college (See related story). Yet, because of his gift to a struggling "Collegiate School" in a far-off New England colony, that institution found a permanent home in the Elm City, and the Yale name has been linked with quality higher education for nearly three centuries.<< >>How Yale became Yale. In some respects, it is surprising that Elihu Yale agreed to serve as benefactor for a college run by Congregationalist ministers in the New World, noted Schiff in her talk. Although he was born in Boston and his step-grandfather had helped found New Haven Colony, Elihu Yale was raised in Britain, and was both an ardent member of the Church of England and a loyal supporter of the Crown. He was, however, an extremely wealthy man, who had amassed his fortune in India while working for the East India Company. Therefore, he was one of the people who was approached by Jeremy Drummer, an agent who was in England representing the Connecticut and Massachusetts colonies. Drummer persuaded Elihu Yale to donate 32 books to the Collegiate School (as it was then known) in 1713. Just a few years later, dissatisfied with the school's site in Saybrook, Connecticut, the trustees of the Collegiate School began searching for a new home for the institution, preferably one with a central facility. In a bidding war with Hartford, the citizens of New Haven pledged 2,000 English pounds to the Collegiate School if it would relocate there. In order to raise additional funds for this building, in 1718 the school's trustees asked Cotton Mather, a Harvard alumnus who was unhappy at having been passed over for the presidency of his alma mater, to approach Elihu Yale on behalf of the so-called "Academy of Dissenters" in New Haven. In his letter, Mather suggested to the childless Elihu Yale that "if what is forming at New Haven might wear the name of YALE COLLEGE, it would be better than a name of sons and daughters. And your munificence might easily obtain for you such a commemoration and perpetuation of your valuable name, which would indeed be much better than an Egyptian pyramid." Elihu Yale responded by sending a gift of three bales of goods, 417 books, a portrait of King George I ("to remind them of their duties to the king," noted Schiff) and a set of royal arms, which was later destroyed during the American Revolution. The bales of goods included 25 pieces of garlic (a kind of cloth), 18 pieces of calico, 17 pieces of worsted goods, 12 pieces of Spanish poplin, 5 pieces of plain muslin, and 2 pieces of black and white silk crepe. "The black crepe was to make the tutors' robes," said Lorimer at the April 5 ceremony. The sale of the textiles raised 562 English pounds for construction of the Collegiate School building, which was promptly renamed Yale College. "Although it may not seem like much today, Elihu Yale's gift was the largest received by Yale College for the next 100 years," said Lorimer.<< yale.edu