310 ECONOMIC ESSAYS IN HONOR OF JOHN BATES CLARK 
Your letter of September 29th in re Economics in Dickinson College 
has given me much trouble, and yet I want to thank you for the 
trouble you gave me, as it has developed something of considerable 
interest to me. 
I took it almost for granted that no Economies has been taught here 
so early as you suggested. However, 1 have recently come into pos- 
session of the trustee minutes of that date, and I put them and our 
Alumni Record side by side and have found some things of interest. 
Henry Vethake from 1821-29 was a professor in Dickinson College, 
mathematics and natural philosophy apparently being his major inter- 
est—though he published “Political Economy” articles in the Encyclo- 
pedia Americana. So much came from the Alumni Record. The 
trustee minutes showed nothing on the subject at the time of his 
election nor for several years after; but in 1826 an action of the Board 
of Trustees permitted certain theological students being trained in 
Carlisle to attend lectures inter alia in “poltical economy.” In 
November of the same year is this minute in the trustee book: 
‘Resolved, that to the professorship of Mr. Henry Vethake be added 
that in political economy, ‘which was agreed to” The above seems 
to me to show that Henry Vethake, professor of mathematics and 
science, had interest in political economy and probably gave lectures 
in it prior to its being formally added to the style and title of his 
professorship in Dickinson College. 
You ask how long the subject was taught in the College, and I 
should expect that it closed with Professor Vethake’s departure in 
1829. The College for a time went into eclipse, but was reopened four 
years later and has continued its work ever since. 
I shall be grateful to you if you will let me know where you saw 
it stated that Mr. Vethake lectured on political economy here in the 
College. 
It appears from the above letter that Vethake became professor 
of Political Economy inter alia in 1826, so that Dickinson College 
has the distinction of having founded a chair in Political Economy 
only a year or two after Dr. Cooper’s chair was instituted at 
South Carolina College. In view of Vethake’s own statement, it 
is also beyond question that the subject was taught at Dickinson 
College in 1822, three years before Dr. Cooper had begun to 
lecture. 
As was stated above, when Vethake left Dickinson in 1829 he 
returned to Princeton and was Professor of Natural Philosophy 
from 1830 to 1832. During this period he continued the instruc- 
tion in Political Economy begun at Dickinson. There is in our 
library An Introductory Lecture on Political Economy delivered 
at Nassau Hall, January 31, 1831, by Professor Vethake, pub-