To James Madison from Henry B. Bascom, 19 March 1827
From Henry B. Bascom
Union Town P. 19. Mar 1827.
Mr. Madison,
In the name, and by order, of the Board of Trustees, of “Madison College,” recently established, in this Borough—I am instructed to say, That in consideration of your distinguished public & private worth, as a Citizen of the United States—they have taken the liberty, without consulting you, of calling this Institution by your Name. I am directed to tender you the high consideration of the Board—and beg you, to accept from me, individually, assurances of my perfect esteem. Very respectfully
H. B. Bascom.1
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. Henry Bidleman Bascom (1796–1850), born in Hancock, New York, was a Methodist minister who rode circuits in Ohio and Tennessee before becoming chaplain of the U.S. Congress, 1824–26, on Henry Clay’s nomination. He served as president of Madison College, a newly organized Methodist school in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, from 1827 to 1829 and as agent for the American Colonization Society, 1829–31. Bascom was professor of moral science at Kentucky’s Augusta College, 1832–42, and subsequently president of the state’s Transylvania University, 1842–49. In 1850 he was elected bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.