Mercer University – In 1828 Josiah Penfield, a deacon in the Savannah Baptist church, offered to give $2,500 for the purpose of educating worthy young men for the ministry, provided the Baptist Convention would raise a similar sum. More than the required amount was subscribed by the delegates to the Milledgeville convention in March, 1829, a charter was obtained the following December, and in January, 1833, the school was opened with Rev. B.M. Sanders as principal. It was located in Greene county, where the village of Penfield now stands, and the buildings consisted of two double cabins, which answered for both school-rooms and dormitories. The school was called Mercer Institute, in honor of Rev. Jesse Mercer, who did a great deal toward placing the enterprise on a solid footing. His own donations amounted to something like $40,000 and by his efforts and example others were induced to contribute to its support. In 1837 the institution was chartered as a college and in May, 1838, the first board of trustees of Mercer university was elected. It was one of the few institutions of its kind that did not suspend operations during the Civil war. Toward the close of that conflict a resolution was adopted to admit disabled Confederate soldiers without charge for tuition and a large number of young men availed themselves of this generous opportunity to acquire an education. About 1870 the city council of Macon offered to give nine acres of ground, in a desirable locality, and $125,000 if the university should be removed to that city. The offer was accepted by the board of trustees and in October, 1871, the university was opened at Macon. Before the new buildings contemplated were all erected the panic of 1873 came on and caused a suspension of further operations in that direction, so that it was about 1880 before the school was comfortably quartered in its new location. The institution now has about a dozen good buildings, the main one of which is one of the finest school buildings in the South. The university embraces three departments: Liberal Arts, Theology, and Law, in each of which the course of study is arranged along the lines adopted by the leading universities of the country. Since its first opening over 1,000 young men have graduated at Mercer, many of whom have become noted in the ministry of the Baptist church, as well as in other lines of human activity.