The Dawn Settlement, the first of the three established, may be said to have had its beginning in the organization of a school called the British and American Institute.[602] The purpose to found such a school seems to have been cherished by the missionary, the Rev. Hiram Wilson, and his coworker, Josiah Henson, as early as 1838; but the plan was not undertaken until 1842.[603] In that year a convention of colored persons was called to decide upon the expenditure of some fifteen hundred dollars collected in England by a Quaker named James C. Fuller; and they decided, under suggestion, to start "a manual-labor school, where children could be taught those elements of knowledge which are usually the occupations of a grammar-school; and where the boys could be taught, in addition, the practice of some mechanic art, and the girls could be instructed in those domestic arts which are the proper occupation and ornament of her sex."[604] It was decided to locate the school at Dawn, and accordingly three hundred acres of land were purchased there, upon which were erected log buildings and schoolhouses, and soon the work of instruction was begun. It was "an object from the beginning, of those who ... managed the affairs of the Institute, to make it self-supporting, by the employment of the students, for certain portions of their time, on the land."[605] The advantages of schooling on this basis attracted many refugee settlers to Dresden and Dawn. The Institute also gave shelter to fugitive slaves "until they could be placed out upon the wild lands in the neighborhoods to earn their own subsistence." [602] Drew, _A North-Side View of Slavery_, p. 308. [603] _The Life of Josiah Henson, formerly a Slave, as narrated by Himself_, 1852, p. 115. See also _Father Henson's Story of His Own Life_, 1858, p. 171. Mr. Drew ascribes the honor of the original conception of this Institute to the Rev. Hiram Wilson. (See _A North-Side View of Slavery_, p. 311.) Mr. Henson, after asserting that he and Mr. Wilson called the convention of 1838, continues, "I urged the appropriation of the money to the establishment of a manual-labor school...." (_Father Henson's Story of His Own Life_, p. 169.) It appears that both Wilson and Henson were placed on the committee on site. As they were friends and coworkers, it is safe to accord them equal shares in the undertaking. [604] _Father Henson's Story of His Own Life_, p. 169. [605] _The Life of Josiah Henson, formerly a Slave, as narrated by Himself_, p. 115.