Joseph Caldwell’s last years and the choice of David L. Swain, 1833–1837

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 9 dated events in the chronology →

1. December 1833 Trustees make the senior professor Caldwell's deputy and add an adjunct professor When Caldwell's illness first forced him to ask for help, the trustees gave the professor of longest standing, Elisha Mitchell, power to act in the president's place and created an adjunct professorship of natural philosophy and astronomy, filled by Walker Anderson. Mitchell served as acting president until Swain arrived. People: Elisha Mitchell, Walker AndersonSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 357
2. January 27, 1835 President Joseph Caldwell dies The university's first president died after years of a painful illness and was buried in the Chapel Hill village cemetery. The trustees' executive committee adopted a tribute on February 6, 1835, and the students resolved to wear badges of mourning. People: Haywood Williams Guion, Helen Hogg CaldwellSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 411
3. January 30, 1835 Hillsborough citizens meet to mourn university president Joseph Caldwell A town meeting chaired by Frederick Nash resolved to wear crape for thirty days in memory of Dr. Joseph Caldwell and asked the university's executive committee to have an alumnus deliver a eulogy at Chapel Hill before the next commencement. William M. Green offered the resolutions and Hugh Waddell spoke. People: Frederick Nash, William Mercer Green, Hugh Waddell, Joseph CaldwellSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, February 6, 1835, p. 3
4. by February 6, 1835 Elisha Mitchell becomes acting president of the university after Caldwell's death Senior professor Elisha Mitchell was appointed president of the University of North Carolina pro tem after Joseph Caldwell's death, so that classes went on without a break. People: Joseph CaldwellSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, February 6, 1835, p. 3
5. late June 1835 Trustees put off electing a university president and keep Elisha Mitchell in charge The university trustees, meeting in Raleigh to choose a successor to Joseph Caldwell, postponed the election until December, left Professor Elisha Mitchell as acting president, raised the president's salary to 2,000 dollars and appointed William H. Owen of Caswell tutor of languages. People: Elisha Mitchell, Joseph CaldwellSearch the index · Hillsborough Recorder, July 3, 1835, p. 3
6. November 1835 Philanthropic Society has a cast made of Caldwell's features In November 1835, at the Philanthropic Society's request, Caldwell's body was taken up so that the artist Alfred S. Waugh could make a plaster cast of his face. The bust made from it stands in Gerrard Hall.Search the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 414
7. January 1836 David L. Swain moves to Chapel Hill as university president Chosen to succeed the late Joseph Caldwell, former governor David L. Swain moved to Chapel Hill in January 1836 to become president and professor of national and constitutional law. He stayed at the university for the rest of his life, the longest term of any of its presidents. People: Joseph CaldwellSearch the index · UNC Wilson Special Collections Library: David L. Swain Papers #706 (finding aid)
8. by July 16, 1836 Sculptor Waugh's busts of William Gaston, Joseph Caldwell and Alfred Moore are placed in a university society hall A young foreign-born sculptor the paper calls Mr. Waugh completed busts of Judge William Gaston, the late President Joseph Caldwell and Alfred Moore, which stood in one of the society halls at the university. He gave one of them to the society that had made him an honorary member. People: William GastonSearch the index · Columbian Repository (Chapel Hill), July 16, 1836, p. 3
9. 1837 Trustees raise a sandstone monument to Caldwell on the campus The trustees adopted a design by Thomas Waitt, the master mechanic in charge of university repairs, for a shaft of local sandstone cut by J. B. Turney. It soon crumbled, and the marble slab meant for its Latin inscription arrived so badly cut that it was smashed, so the monument never bore a name. People: Frederick Nash, William McPheeters, Thomas WaittSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 414