Why 1638, and not 1636.

A good many people, puzzled to see the statue of John Harvard the inscription "Founder, 1638," have asked that the matter be explained. It has always been known that Harvard was founded in 1636, and that it was John Havard who endowed the money and gave the college its name The facts are that in 1636 the General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts voted a sum of money towards the founding of a school or college. In 1638 John Harvard died and left half of his property to the school which had been founded two years before.