Justin Smith Morrill was born 200 years ago in Strafford, Vermont. He represented Vermont in the U.S. Congress for 44 years, first as a representative (1855-1867) and then as a senator (1867-1898).Senator Morrill is known as the father of the land grant university system. He authored the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act which provided federal funding for land grant colleges and universities. But he never attended college himself. Many land grant universities today have a Morrill Hall in honor of Senator Morrill, such as this one at UVM.
Senator Morrill is in the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame.
In 1848-1851, before he became a Member of Congress, Mr. Morrill constructed the Morrill Homestead in Strafford. This has been a National Historic Landmark since 1960, and is well worth a visit. There is a modest fee for the house tour, but the self-guided grounds tour is free and there is an interesting interpretive display about Senator Morrill's life and accomplishments in the carriage barn. The site is open only part of the time, so be sure to check the official web site for hours of operation.
The grounds of the Morrill Homestead are beautiful, and one of the many interesting things they contain is this:
The map of the grounds identifies it only as a "kettle." The photo above is from the Friends of the Morrill Homestead web site and the caption there says only: "This cistern is a favorite hangout for frogs in the summer." I think it is a potash kettle.Back on the subject of land grant universities, many employees of northeast Farm Credit are graduates of one of the land grant universities in New England, New York and New Jersey. It is no surprise that Yankee Farm Credit has many UVM graduates, as well as graduates from the University of New Hampshire, the University of Maine and Cornell University. Elsewhere in northeast Farm Credit, there are also graduates of Rutgers University.
Most land grant colleges and universities are public institutions, but there two exceptions. Cornell University is part public and part private. The other exception may surprise you—the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Yankee Farm Credit is pleased to also have a graduate of MIT on its staff, Farm Tax Assistant Randy Smith in our Newport office.
