The first secretary, Rev. William Andrew Smith, was another man of power, a self-made man, as such men are commonly called. He accepted the "call from on high" to do great things. He was endowed with a wonderfully fertile and active mind. When fully aroused in any cause his heart espoused, he was a power with the people and with deliberative bodies. Commencing active service for the College as Secretary of the Board, he lived to become the President of the College from 1847 to 1865. When he took charge of it, the College was at the lowest condition financially as well as in patronage, that it ever reached. Full of faith and zeal himself, he infused new life into it and animated its friends with fresh courage and zeal. Realizing that an endowment was absolutely essential, in 1855 he undertook to raise $100,000 for it, and succeeded. Of this endowment more will be said further on. [Illustration: REV. LEWIS SKIDMORE. _Original member of Board of Trustees._] Another self-made man among the corporators present was Lewis Skidmore. In native talent of a peculiar order, he was second to none of his associates. He had, however, none of the ambition of some of the others. For power of argumentation on any subject he took in hand, he was equal to the foremost. He said once, when asked at what college he had graduated, "I graduated at the anvil." When the hammer of his logic struck it shaped or shivered the object it struck. As punctual as a clock, the day before the Trustees were to meet, his rotund form would be seen about the same hour rising over the western hill as the sun was going down. Space will not allow particular reference to the other members of the Board. All of them were men of mark in their callings. Three of them--laymen, citizens of Mecklenburg county--were not members of the Methodist church. William O. Goode was a representative man. He was a member of the Legislature, and brought forward the College bill. He was a member of the State Convention of 1829 and of the Congress of the United States for several sessions. Nathaniel Alexander was a wealthy planter and a man of fine education, and represented his county in the Legislature more than once. John W. Lewis was a lawyer of prominence, and served as Treasurer of the College as long as he lived. The fact that these men were on the Board will show that sectarian bigotry was not so strong in olden times as some have been inclined to believe. Rev. John G. Claiborne served on the Board for many years faithfully and efficiently, and outlived all of the original members.