Dr. Henry Daniel Cogswell, born in Tolland, Connecticut, March 3, 1820, is a man of both vision and distinguished heritage. The Cogswell family descends from Alfred the Great and Charlemagne and emigrated to America in 1635 from England. Dr. Cogswell cherishes his family crest and motto, “Nec Sperno Nec Timeo,” which means, “I neither despise nor fear.” As his ancestors numbered among America’s pioneers, so is Dr. Cogswell’s own life one of pioneering and service.

Today, March 19, 1887, Dr. and Mrs. Cogswell executed a trust deed setting apart real property (valued at approximately one million dollars) to establish and endow Cogswell Polytechnical College in Califorina, United States of America.It is, as far as is known, the first school of its kind west of the Mississippi River. The purpose of the College as a nonprofit charitable trust is well expressed in the words of Dr. Cogswell in his presentation address to the first Board of Trustees, which he and Mrs. Cogswell have selected. He spoke, in part, as follows:

“Educated working men and women are necessary to solve the great labor problems that will arise in the future. For the purpose of this education, there is room and need for technical schools in all quarters of our country. For the purpose, then, of providing boys and girls of the state a thorough training in mechanical arts and other industries, we have made the grant, as set forth in these papers, providing for the founding and maintaining of Cogswell Polytechnical College.”