AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PENNSYLVANIAN
sented, I carried a check for nearly six thousand dollars to the trustees in triumph. In numerous papers I pointed out the relations which had existed between the state and the University and did much to bring about their restoration. When I became Governor, by the Act of May 15, 1903, an appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars was made for the maintenance of the University, thus setting a precedent which has been followed since. It has gradually come about that in almost all of the efforts of the institution before the legislature and the councils of the city I have been called upon to be a spokesman. Before I became a trustee the University always traced its origin to a pamphlet written by Franklin in 1749, but I succeeded in proving that it really began with a charity school for which a building was erected in 1740, thus adding nine years to its life at the other end and making it antedate Princeton. Since my presentation of proofs to the trustees the catalogues have all borne the date of 1740. When I entered the board of trustees, at the head of the institution sat the Provost, Dr. William Pepper, in his time and in various lines of work one of the most capable men in the city. As a physician, he had a large and lucrative practice. Short in stature, with little flesh, with light eyes and a nose curving slightly, he had a bland smile and a most persuasive manner. Politicians gave him the credit of rivaling the ablest in political skill. As a physician he entered the sick chamber, smiled on the woman patient, gave her confidence, made her better and charged her $500. Mrs. Haldeman, of Harrisburg, daughter of Simon Cameron, always kept his portrait hanging in her parlor. Indefatigable and persistent, he was ever at work and died young. He could go to sleep whenever he chose and sitting in his carriage talking would say, “Excuse me for five minutes,” and drop off into a nap from which, at the appointed moment, he aroused. The original American Pfeiffer came among the German peasants to Lebanon
