In 1785 he proposed to Edmund Randolph and Thomas Jefferson, that the revenue of the stock in those companies be used for the establishment of two schools, one upon each river, for the education of poor children, particularly those whose parents had fallen in the struggle for liberty.  The idea was a noble one, yet Washington’s call to the large service of the College of William and Mary as its Chancellor, and to the country as its President, prevented him from carrying it out.  He carried out the spirit of his idea by giving fifty pounds a year for the instruction of poor children in Alexandria, and by making large provision for the education of the sons of soldiers.  In 1783 he honored a Princeton commencement by his presence, and bestowed upon the College a gift of fifty pounds.  A tour through Georgia in 1790 gave him opportunity to visit and approve of the Academy of Augusta.  About the same time the indomitable Kirkland, missionary to the Iroquois, was trying every source of influence and money in behalf of an academy in Oneida County, New York, to be located near the old Property Line, where both the sons of the settlers and the children of the forest might be educated.  His visit to Philadelphia secured a generous benefaction from Washington, and at the same time his influence and that of others, so that Congress appropriated $15,000 yearly to “instruct the Iroquois in agriculture and the useful arts.”

Washington had now matured his idea of a national university.  He was ready to lay it before the country, and to be the first contributor to its endowment.  Virginia was taking new interest in its schools and the influence of William and Mary College was widening:  there was a demand for more thoroughly equipped academies.  The school at Augusta, which the Revolution had been the means of christening Liberty Hall, had become prominent.  In 1796 Washington settled upon Liberty Hall as the proper recipient of the one hundred shares in the James River Company to augment its endowment.  In accepting the gift the name of the academy was changed, and the trustees were able to sign themselves, “the trustees of Washington Academy, late Liberty Hall.”  Washington was greatly touched by the honor, and ascribed his ability to make the donation to “the generosity of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

The institution prospered.  About 1802 a new charter was granted with larger powers, under the name of Washington College.  John Robinson, a soldier of the Revolution under Washington, gave, in emulation of his illustrious commander, his entire estate to Washington College; from it the trustees realized $40,000 toward the endowment.  The stock of the James River Company, which Washington transferred to the College, to-day yields an income of six per cent, on $50,000, and, after prospering years, the College has now a productive endowment of $600,000, and a property worth $800,000.  The country has passed through many critical periods since Washington’s day, and the Union is stronger than ever.  The old College is a witness to the all-healing power of time and kinship, for its name has again been added to:  it is Washington and Lee University now; and thus is joined with the name of the Father of His Country the name of one whom the South has ever loved, whom the North long since forgave, and whose memory the country will ever cherish.