Jane Lathrop Stanford Papers

STANFORD UNIVERSITY FUND

THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS

Mrs. Jane L. Stanford Gives Valuable Property to the Leland Stanford, Jr., University, and Will Have a Few Million Left for Heirs - Gifts Accepted.

San Francisco, Dec. 11. - Mrs. Jane L. Stanford has executed and delivered to the board of trustees of the Leland Stanford, Jr. university, two deeds of grant and one deed of gift. One of the deeds of grant covers all of the real estate heretofore given to the university, including the university campus of about 9000 acres. The other deed of grant covers the Stanford residence upon California Street, which is eventually to be used for educational purposes.

The deed of gift covers bonds and stocks heretofore given and certain securities not included in former grants. The grants are confirmatory in character and are made under the provisions of the Stanford university constitutional amendment, which legalized grants and gifts made to the university. This amendment was adopted in order to set at rest any question as to the validity of the original endowment and to prevent legal technicalities from interfering with future donations to this educational institution, which was founded by Mr. and Mrs. Stanford as a memorial to their only son.

The deeds delivered practically cover the grants made in the original endowment, which, however, is more than doubled in value, chiefly owing to the remarkable business ability displayed by Mrs. Stanford in the management of the vast interest left in her charge by the death of her husband. By these grants she has conveyed to the Leland Stanford, Jr., university, for the benefit of the people of California, about $18,000,000 in stocks and bonds, $10,000,000 to $12,000,000 in real estate, including the university buildings and equipments. All of the bonds are first mortgage and the stocks, with scarcely an exception, are what are known as gilt edge securities.

F. F. Lieb of San Jose, president of the board of directors, received the deeds on behalf of the board, and also took formal possession of the bonds and other personal property. Messrs. Charles G. Lathrop, Joseph D. Grant and Timothy Hopkins, resident trustees, were also present. The legal features of the donation were conducted by Mrs. Stanford's attorneys, Crothers & Crothers.

Notwithstanding that she has now given the equivalent of over $25,000,000 to the Leland Stanford, Jr., university, making it one of the richest institutions of the kind in the world, Mrs. Stanford has not impoverished herself, but is understood to still retain several millions for her personal use and to provide for the various members of her family. It is believed that the amount of her endowment to the university, which she aided in founding, exceeds in amount any similar gift in history.