Bexley Hall
From KCpedia
Bexley Hall was built with money obtained by Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine and was named in honor of Lord Bexley. It was designed by architect Henry Roberts and was built in 1839. It received its first occupants in 1844 and was originally created to serve as a separate building for the Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Ohio.
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Before Bishop McIlvaine
Prior to 1833, Bishop Philander Chase was in charge of the theological seminary and was often criticized for the lack of theological education associated with the institution. During the 1831-1832 school year, there were three young men on record as being "theological students", none of them from Ohio. In fact, only eight men are known to have received theological instruction under the direction of Bishop Chase and William Sparrow, before the coming of Bishop McIlvaine in 1833.
McIlvaine's Contributions (1833-1861)
Bishop McIlvaine was responsible for organizing the seminary and program for theological education as a part of the Kenyon College curriculum. Among his first efforts was his call for a separate building for the theological department. In 1834, he traveled to England in search for sufficient funds for the erection of the new building for the theological seminary, the accommodation of new theological students, and a theological library. He remained there for one year and returned the following June after having received about $12,600, what he called, "truly Christian and affectionate kindness, hospitality, and cordial cooperation."
After a four-year delay, the cornerstone of Bexley Hall was laid on October 23, 1839. This was considered a great occasion and was celebrated appropriately. At three in the afternoon, a large group gathered and joined together in the singing of “I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord”. Following the song, Bishop McIlvaine delivered an address, the audience sang “O Spirit of the living God” and then the Bishop pronounced the benediction. In his closing words he said:
"What wonderful changes may not be anticipated before these walls shall have become antiquated! What fulfillments of glorious promises and prophecies! … The Lord be gracious to this Seminary, and grant that when the day of Jubilee shall come, and all kindreds and nations shall have heard the trump, and gathered themselves unto the Lord, the labors and prayers of the sons of this institution, for the glorious consummation, may come up for a memorial before God, bearing witness that they stood in their lot, and stayed not their hand from the toil or the danger."
The building made very slow progress and did not receive occupants until January 18, 1844, when its first occupant, George W. DuBois, moved in, even though the building wasn’t fully finished.
There were prayer meetings in Bexley Hall every Sunday evening, usually in a student’s room or in the chapel. Bishop McIlvaine strongly promoted the spiritual lives of the Bexley Hall students and, as head of the school, led the way by example.
Bishop McIlvaine is credited for having vastly increased the number of ministers in the State of Ohio. Ten years before his efforts, there had only been three officiating Episcopal ministers besides the Bishop, while by 1836, there were forty-six. Of these forty-six, fourteen were graduates of the Seminary. In 1846, twenty-five out of the seventy-four Ohio clergymen were from the seminary and by 1848, twenty-seven out of seventy. By 1861, there were thirty-two out of eighty-six; one third of Ohio’s clergymen came out of Bexley Hall.
In 1854, there was a large increase in the number of theological students in Bexley Hall, which ultimately called for its long overdue completion in 1861. There are two reasons given for the sudden rise in the number of students in Bexley Hall: The first was the “vigorous and systematic effort put forth to bring men to Bexley Hall," and the second was the closing of the theological seminary at Alexandria, Virginia at the breakout of the Civil War.
Post-1861
Bexley Hall has changed quite a great deal from its establishment in the mid 1800’s. Today it serves as one of the College’s art buildings and Middle Path ends at its doors on north side of campus.
Resources in the Kenyon College Archives
- Bexley Hall -- Collected Materials (Oversize)
- Smythe, George Franklin. Kenyon College: Its First Century. Gambier, Ohio: Kenyon College, 2001. Original edition: New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press for Kenyon College, 1924. [ISBN 0-9623250-4-X / Find in Kenyon's Library]
