Thomson and his successors were vocal in other political debates of the time, such as slavery and the expansion of the United States. In 1857, Edward Thomson denounced the argument that southern Christians "should retain their slaves in obedience to state laws forbidding manumission," saying that "the soft and slippered Christianity which disturbs no one, is not the Christianity of Christ." The Ohio Wesleyan Female College was established in 1853. In 1857, the female college moved to Monnett Hall, named for school benefactress Mary Monnett Bain. In 1877, the female college merged with the University, which became coeducational. Monnett Hall remained the center for women's housing on campus well into the 20th century. The Monnett Garden, which now stands between Sanborn Hall and Austin Manor, was constructed in 1990 to honor the former Monnett Hall. Since the college was exclusively geared towards the needs of men from the very start, the Ohio Wesleyan Female College was chartered on April 1, 1853, also located in Delaware, Ohio. It graduated 411 graduated by its formal union with Ohio Wesleyan University on August 11, 1877. Since that date, the institution has been continuously and exclusively co-educational. Early in its inception, the corporate powers of the college were vested in a board of twenty-one board members, the vast majority, seventy percent, at that time being laymen. In 1849, the number of the trustees, was increased to thirty-one. The first president of the college after its formal charter, was Edward Thomson. He served the college until 1860 when moved to a position of a publication editor for a journal in New York city. He was succeeded by Frederick Merrick, elected in 1860 and serving until 1873 when he resigned on account of poor health. Between 1873 and 1876, Lorenzo McCabe, a senior professor at the college, administered the interim presidency until a new appointment  The third president was Charles Payne, who was elected in 1876. Under his presidency, the number of students doubled and the university assets increased to $500,000. He had a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian. Payne resigned in 1888 when he accepted the position of corresponding secretary of the Methodist Church in Ohio to which he was elected. In the early years, the main central building for teaching purposes encompassed the former Mansion House. It was a Colonial style building, a former sanatorium, which was utilizing the fact that sulfur water was springing naturally from the grounds near the building.