Incorporation of Richmond College
At a meeting of the Virginia Baptist Education Society on June 3, 1839, members appointed a committee to consider the possibility of seeking a charter of incorporation. A motion was passed to appoint a committee of nine to seek a charter for the college at the next legislature. Colonel Hudgins, Jesse Snead, Archibald Thomas, Dr. A. Snead, Clement F. Read, William Sands, James Sizer, L. W. Allen, and Richard Reins were authorized to present the petition to the General Assembly of Virginia. The society also appointed a committee to raise a $10,000 endowment to support faculty at the Seminary.On November 18, 1839, the Education Society Board appointed 38 individuals to serve as the first Board of Trustees of Richmond College. On March 4, 1840, the General Assembly passed an act of incorporation. The property of the Baptist Seminary was not tendered to the trustees of Richmond College until January 1843. The transfer was delayed by the initial requirement for the establishment of a $50,000 permanent endowment. At the time of transfer, buildings and grounds were valued at approximately $20,000, the library held 700 volumes. There were three teachers and 68 students, 21 of whom were ministerial beneficiaries.
The seal of the new Richmond College was designed by Andrew Broaddus. The design incorporated an eye looking down from a cloud upon an open volume illuminated by a lamp above it. "The eye may represent human sagacity or divine omniscience, according to the fancy of the observer." The name "Richmond College" is above the cloud with the date of its incorporation. At the bottom of the seal, the legend reads, "Verbum vitae et lumen scientiae."