An early trustee, as well as a prominent Baptist and successful owner of a large stove works in Albany, John Finley Rathbone gave valuable timberlands worth $25,000 to the University in 1857 to help secure matching funds from the State of New York. When the match was met with Rathbone's gift, the first endowment was established to support the purchase of books and other library expenses at the University. Rathbone, who advanced to the rank of general during the course of his service in the Civil War, served as a trustee for more than 40 years and died in 1901 at the age of 82.
