Benjamin Rush Strong, a wealthy financier who had attended UT, died in Daytona Beach, Florida, in March 1915. He was the father-in-law of Anna Monroe Strong, who had been on the Home Economics faculty from 1902 to 1906 and the brother of Robert N. Strong, who had been a UT professor of mathematics.
Shortly after Strong’s death, UT was notified that he had made the university the major beneficiary of his estate, valued at between $175,000 and $200,000. The will directed that $30,000 be set aside for the construction of a new women’s dormitory, of brick and with marble ornamentation, to be named for his mother, Sophronia, and that a flower garden be planted and maintained in conjunction with the dormitory. His will also provided that $35,000 be used to purchase, “as soon as practicable [sic] . . . a farm or tract or tracts of land lying in Knox County” for use by the Agricultural Department for its experimental and demonstration work. In addition, the revenue from rental of No. 24 Market Square Mall was to be used in part to fund the “Benjamin Rush Strong Medal” and also in part to fund the purchase of a medal to be awarded at “Lincoln Memorial University, Maryville College, Greeneville and Tusculum College, Carson and Newman College, and Berea College.” UT was also the residuary legatee, with those funds being used to establish the Benjamin Rush Strong Loan Fund.
Three of Strong’s relatives (Gideon Strong, Major Joe Borches, and Minnie Monday), however, charged mental incompetence and brought suit on behalf of all the heirs at large, seeking to have the provisions of his will set aside. Extended litigation followed, in which there were two mistrials. By the final compromise settlement reached in 1919, just before a third trial was to commence, UT received $65,000—$35,000 for purchase of a farm for the College of Agriculture and $30,000 for a women’s dormitory—and certain real estate properties (among them No. 24 Market Square, then occupied by the J. H. Webb Company). Provisions for the issuing of the medal were agreed to, as was the establishment of the Benjamin Rush Strong Loan Fund. Estimates of the final value of the bequest vary from $150,000 to $208,000.
In addition to his gift to UT, Strong’s will provided funds for erection of a schoolhouse in each of seven counties near Knoxville.