Richard W. Ringgold, the principal of the school from 1832 to 1854,
seems to have been a man of ability, and under him the number of
students so much increased that in 1843 it was resolved to rebuild the
college on the old site and to revive the college course. As a result,
the present main building was erected, the corner-stone laid with
imposing ceremonies on May 4, 1844, and the college was reopened in its
own edifice on January 1, 1845. In 1849, a class of four was graduated,
and in 1854, two additional buildings were erected; one for the
Principal's residence and the other for dormitories and recitation
rooms.

The college continued prosperous during the second administration of
Rev. Dr. Waters from 1854 to 1860; but in the presidency of his
successor, Rev. Andrew J. Sutton, came the Civil War, depriving the
college of its Southern constituency and distracting men's minds from
learning. After the Rebellion, an unfortunate selection of teachers and
laxness of discipline caused the college to lose still more ground, and
Wm. J. Rivers, Principal from 1873 to 1887, had much to do to build it
up again. He was a faithful and diligent teacher, and under him the
moral tone of the college was improved and the course of instruction
enlarged. The present head, C.W. Reid, Ph.D., is still further advancing
the cause of the institution and a new career of prosperity seems
opening before Maryland's oldest college and the only one on the Eastern
Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

St. John's College, like its sister institution, founded on a
non-denominational basis, started out under even fairer auspices.[9] It
was granted, by the State, Governor Bladen's mansion and four acres of
land surrounding it, was made heir to the funds of King William's
School, and secured £9,000 from private beneficence in the first two