LaGrange College was chartered in 1830 by the Legislature of Alabama as an institution of high order for men and was attended chiefly by students from the southern states. The college was burned on April 28, 1863, by Federal cavalry commanded by Colonel Florence M. Cornyn under General Granville Dodge. Its presidents were Bishop Robert Paine from 1830 to 1846, Dr. Edward Wadsworth from 1846 to 1852, James W. Hardy from 1852 to 1853, Rev. Smith Moore for 3 months in 1853, Dr. R. H. Rivers from 1854 to 1855, Rev. Felix Johnson from 1855 to 1858, and Col. J. W. Robertson from 1858 to 1862.