USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > New Brunswick > Catalogue of the officers and alumni of Rutgers (originally Queen's College) : in New Brunswick, N.J, V. 1 > Part 2
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After the decease of the REV. DR. HARDENBERGH, the REV. DR. JOHN H. LIVINGSTON was elected to the presidency of the 'College, but he de- clined. In 1791 REV. DR. THEODORIC ROMEYN was elected to the same office, but he also declined.
REV. WILLIAM LINN, S.T.D. President pro tempore from 1791 to 1794; died, 1808.
He was born in Pennsylvania, February 22, 1752, and was graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1772. Three years later he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Donegal Presbytery, and in 1776 he
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served as a chaplain in the American army. In 1777 he was called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church at Big Spring, Pennsylvania. where he labored for a period of seven years. He then took charge of an Academy in Somerset county, Maryland, but after an experience of two years in teaching, settled again over a church in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. From 1787 to 1805 he preached in the Collegiate Church, New York, and while there he acted also as the President of Queen's College. of which he had been elected a Trustee in 1787. His interest and wis- dom in matters of education are also reflected in the fact that for twenty- one years previous to his death, in 1808, he served as one of the Regents of the University of the State of New York. Dr. Linn was "an ardent and impassioned preacher. On special occasions his performances were masterpieces." Of large and earnest sympathies, he became deeply inter- ested in politics as well as in the cause of education, and extended his influence in many directions.
REV. IRA CONDICT, D.D. President pro tempore from 1794 to 1810; died, 1811.
He was born at Orange, New Jersey, February 21, 1764. After his graduation from the College of New Jersey, in 1784, he studied theology under Dr. John Woodhull, of Monmouth, and was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1786. The Presbyterian Churches of Hardwick, Newtown and Shappenock enjoyed his services as pastor for six years until 1794, when he was installed over the Reformed Dutcli Church at New Brunswick. In 1794 he was appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy and Superintendent, with power to employ tutors in the College. The College remained closed from 1795 until 1807. Though actively engaged in his church work, Dr. Condict found time and energy to originate a new movement for the revival, in 1807, of the College. which, owing to financial embarrassments, had been obliged to suspend exercises for twelve years. Under his leadership the Trustees determined to raise, by the help of the Reformed Churches, $12.000 for the erection of a substantial and spacious building and to open the College imme- diately. Dr. Condict assumed the duties of President pro tempore, and instructed the highest class, which entered Junicr. In 1809 lie was regularly appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy and Vice President. Dr. Condict was indefatigable in soliciting subscriptions for the new building, and when $10,000 had been raised it was begun. This edifice. noble and beautiful in its proportions, now stands in the center of the campus which it adorns. Dr. Condict laid its corner-stone with his left hand, in consequence of suffering a temporary lameness in his right. Dying in 1811, he did not live to see the full fruit of his beneficent energies and sacrifices. Honored by being elected to the presidency. he. however, declined it, deeming "the office," says Justice Bradley, "incom- patible with the duties lie owed to his church, which he continued to perform in their fullest extent. The amount of strain on the mind and body of this eminent and faithful man must, at this period. have been
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immense. He had the pastoral care of one of the largest churches in the denomination. He taught the College classes, the Junior class in 1807-8, and the Junior and Senior classes in 1808-9 and 1809-10. He also, as a leading member of the Board of Trustees, was actively engaged in all the concerns of the College, especially in the efforts to collect funds for erecting the new building and causing the work duly to progress. He procured by his own exertions subscriptions, in the city of New Bruns- wick and its vicinity, to the amount of $6,370, during the year 1807, and continued his efforts in that direction during the time the College was building. Such an accumulation of labors and responsibilities was more than human nature could bear. Like his predecessor, Dr. Hardenbergh, he was destined to spend and be spent in the cause of the College. No wonder that his face, as it looks down upon us from yonder frame in the chapel, has a sad and wearied look. No wonder that the cord of life snapped under the tension, when he was yet in the very prime of his years and usefulness. Which of us has done what he did before reaching his forty-eighth year? Here again we see exemplified the great truth that 'life is measured by its work.'"
REV. JOHN H. LIVINGSTON, S.T.D. Appointed, 1810; died, January 20, 1825.
Dr. Livingston was a man of noble character, of extensive and accurate learning, and of large and commanding influence. He was, however, mainly interested in his theological professorship, which he held in con- nection with the presidency ; and indeed he did little more in the College than "to preside on public occasions and sign diplomas." It was during his period of office that the literary exercises of the College were, in 1816, again suspended, and not resumed until 1825. The causes of this were financial distress and divided counsels. He was the son of Henry Liv- ingston and Sarah Conklin, born at Poughkeepsie, May 30, 1746, gradu- ated at Yale College in July, 1762. In May, 1766, he sailed for Holland, and studied theology at Utrecht. Licensed by the Classis of Amsterdam, June 5, 1769; made Doctor of Theology by the University of Utrecht in May, 1770; returned to New York, September, 1770, hav- ing been ordained a pastor of the church in that city by the Classis of Amsterdam; preached there until New York was occupied by the British in September, 1776; preached at Kingston, Albany, Pough- keepsie, and neighboring places during the Revolution; returned to New York soon after the evacuation, November 25, 1783; appointed Professor of Theology by General Synod, October, 1784; inaugurated in the city of New York, May 19, 1785; taught in New York and Flatbush, Long Island, until 1810, when he removed to New Brunswick, New Jersey, having been appointed President of Queen's College. He died in New Brunswick, January 20, 1825.
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REV. PHILIP MILLEDOLER, S.T.D. Appointed, 1825; resigned, 1840; died, 1852.
He was born at Rhinebeck, New York, September 22, 1775, th only son of John and Anna Milledoler, who had emigrated frue Geneva Switzerland, some years before; graduated at Columbia College io 1702 : ordained by the Synod of the German Reformed Church May 17, 1794; called to the German Reformed Church in Nassau Street the same year ; became pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia in 1800; called to the Presbyterian Church in New York, with special care of the Rutgers Street Church, in 1805; in 1813 called to the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church in New York, where he remained until he was appointed Professor of Didactic Theology and President of Rutgers College in 1825. He died on Staten Island in 1852, on his seventy-seventh birthday. Dr. Milledoler was distinguished for his early and fervent piety, for catholic sympathies which led him to take an active part in many of the benevolent enterprises of his day, and above all for an unction in prayer that seemed akin to inspiration.
ABRAHAM BRUYN HASBROUCK, LL.D. Appointed, 1840; resigned, 1850; died, 1879.
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He was born in Kingston, N. Y., November 29, 1791. After a course of preparation in the Kingston Academy, he entered Yale College in 1806 and was graduated with high honors from that institution in 1810. His law studies were pursued at the Law School at Litchfield, Connec- ticut, which was in charge of Judge Gould, and then considered the best institution of the kind in the United States. In 1814 he began the practice of his profession in Kingston. Here he soon acquired dis- tinction for legal knowledge, commanding abilities and unflinching in- tegrity. Elected a representative in Congress in 1825, he became intimate with Edward Everett, whom he subsequently welcomed to New York, with a public address when the latter delivered his great oration on Washington. From 1840 to 1850 he was the honored President of Rutgers College. By his Lectures on Constitutional Law, his genial manners, his generous hospitality, and his happy influence exerted on manifold public occasions, he contributed greatly to the prosperity of this venerable institution. After his resignation he removed to Kingston, where he became President of the Kingston Bank, the founder of the Ulster County Historical Society, and an energetic advocate of many public and patriotic interests. The degree of Doctor of Laws was con- ferred upon him both by Union and Columbia Colleges. Mr. Hasbrouck was always studious in his habits, reading daily some Latin author, and eagerly devouring the latest and most valuable publications on a great variety of topics. It is said that hardly a quotation could be made from an English author that he could not at once identify and find in the original work. His intellect, clear and powerful to the last, expressed
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his "longing to be at rest," and he passed away triumphant in faith, full of years and honors. He died at Kingston, New York, February 23, 1879. It is worthy of mention that the College is indebted to Mr. Has- brouck for many of the noble trees that now adorn the campus. He was at much pains in having them planted and cared for; and to-day they stand the beautiful monuments of his forethought for coming genera- tions. "Whoso planteth a tree, laboreth for posterity."
HON. THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, LL.D. Appointed, 1850; died, 1861.
The son of Gen. Frederick Frelinghuysen, and great-grandson of Rev. Theodorus J. Frelinghuysen, was born in Franklin township, Somerset county, New Jersey, March 28, 1787. The home of his boyhood was at Millstone, New Jersey. He attended the Grammar School of Queen's College, and afterward the Academy at Basking Ridge; was graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1804; studied law with Hon. Richard Stockton, of Princeton ; practiced law at Newark, New Jersey : was Attorney-General of the State from 1817 to 1829; United States Senator, 1829-1835; Chancellor of the University of the City of New York, 1839-1850, and President of Rutgers College from 1850 to his death, which took place April 12, 1861. President Frelinghuysen was a wise counselor and an eloquent orator. He was successful at the Bar, in the Senate and in the presidency of literary institutions. His patriotism was intense, as his action in 1812 and again in 1861 proved. He was nominated for Vice President of the United States by the Whig convention of 1844, which nominated Henry Clay for President. Mr. Frelinghuysen was a man of simple and ardent piety, ever laboring to win souls for Christ. He loved the Church of God, and served long and faithfully in the eldership.
REV. WILLIAM HENRY CAMPBELL, D.D., LL.D.
Became President, 1863, and resigned June, 1881, but continued to act as President until his successor was inaugurated, June 20, 1882; died, 1890.
Dr. Campbell was known many years in the States of New York and New Jersey as a thorough-going Biblical preacher-remarkable for his use of strong, terse, Saxon English, and intense earnestness in presenting Divine truth. Nor was he less distinguished as a clear, vigorous and successful educator. He was born in Baltimore, 1808, and was grad- uated from Dickinson College in 1828, and three years later from the Theological Seminary at Princeton. His first settlement was at Chit- tenango, from 1831 to 1833, after which he labored for six years as principal of Erasmus Hall, at Flatbush, Long Island. From 1839 to 1841 he preached at East New York, whence he removed to Albany and assumed charge of the Third Reformed Church. In 1848 he returned
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to educational pursuits by accepting the principalship of the Albany Academy. Three years later, in 1851, he was called to the Professorship of Biblical Literature in the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, and while in this position he filled, gratuitously, the Professorship of Belles-Lettres in Rutgers College during a period of twelve years. In 1863 he accepted, after much persuasion, the presidency, and entered with exceptional enthusiasm and ability upon his work, both of teaching and securing a larger endowment fund for the institution. During his administration over two hundred thousand dollars were raised; six new professorships established; the number of students doubled, and the following buildings erected : a large Geological Hall, a beautiful Chapel, an Astronomical Observatory, a new Grammar School, and certain useful structures on the experimental farm. These works tell their own story of diligent wisdom, and render a well-earned fame secure. With an appreciation full of liberality, individual members of the Board of Trustees, by their own personal subscription, provided means for the future support of Dr. Campbell during his lifetime. The willingness of Dr. Campbell to teach "The Evidences of Christianity," and to preach in turn in the College Chapel, was accepted by the Trustees, which teaching and preaching ceased upon his becoming pastor of the Suydam Street Reformed Church in New Brunswick. He was the founder of this church (1885) and continued as its pastor until his death, which occurred December 7, 1890.
MERRILL EDWARDS GATES, PH.D., LL.D.
Inaugurated President of Rutgers College, June 20, 1882; signed, 1890.
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His father, Seth M. Gates, in Congress from 1839 to 1843, and throughout a long life, was widely known and honorably distinguished for his services in the cause of liberty, justice and Christianity. Through his mother he is descended from Jonathan Edwards. He was born at Warsaw, New York, April 6, 1848; and was graduated from the University of Rochester, at Rochester, New York, in 1870, having taken the highest honors, in successive years, in Mathematics, Latin and Greek, and the English Essay Prize of the Senior year. Before his graduation he accepted the principalship of the Albany Academy, declining a very favorable offer to enter journalistic work, made by a prominent New York editor, who had noticed his literary work in college. During the twelve years of his principalship the Albany Academy extended its course of study from eight years to twelve, covering much of the work of the college course ; while the number of boys and young men in attend- ance increased from 70 to 300. In 1872 he spent some montlis in England. visiting Rugby and Oxford, as educational centers. In 1875 he was elected Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, an institution nearly a century old, consisting of a law school and a college. Declining this position, he continued at Albany, notwithstanding repeated offers of college professorships, and more lucrative positions in his profession or
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in business. In 1879-80, he spent a year in travel and study abroad. He visited France, Italy, Egypt, Palestine and Greece, spending two months at Athens. In 1880 the University of the State of New York conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and in June, 1882, both Princeton College and the University of Rochester gave him the degree of Doctor of Laws. The same degree was conferred upon him by Columbia University in 1891 and by Williams College in 1893. Columbia University also gave him the degree of L.H.D. in 1887.
In September, 1890, Dr. Gates resigned the presidency of Rutgers to become President of Amherst College. He continued in the latter position until 1899. He was Chairman of the United States Board of Indian Commissioners, 1889-99, and since his resignation from the presidency of Amherst he has been Secretary of that Board. He is also identified with many literary and philanthropic societies and lectures and writes on religious, social and educational themes. His administra- tion as President of Rutgers was marked by a large increase in the Faculty and endowments of the College. The curriculum was extended and the library greatly enlarged. Two large buildings, the State Labo- ratory and Winants Hall, were erected during his presidency.
AUSTIN SCOTT, PH.D., LL.D.
Inaugurated as President, February 4, 1891; resigned, January 1, 1906.
Dr. Scott was born at Maumee, near Toledo, Ohio, August 10, 1848. He graduated from Yale College with the degree of A.B. in 1869. After a year of post-graduate study at the University of Michigan he received the degree of A.M. He then studied three years at the University of Berlin and Leipzig, receiving his Ph.D. from the latter University in 1873. During the same years he was engaged with Mr. George Ban- croft in the preparation of the tenth volume of his "History of the United States." He also carried dispatches to Washington which contained the decision of Emperor William as arbitrator between Great Britain and the United States in regard to the Northwestern boundary. Dr. Scott was Instructor in German at the University of Michigan (1873-5). He- collected and arranged materials for Bancroft's "History of the Consti- tution of the United States" (1875-82), at the same time acting as associate in History at Johns Hopkins University. He there organized a seminar of American History and conducted it from 1876 until 1882.
In 1883 Dr. Scott was made Professor of History, Political Economy and Constitutional Law at Rutgers. On November 25, 1890, he was elected President of the College and was inaugurated February 4, 1891. He conducted its affairs with great ability and devotion for fifteen years. until January 1, 1906, when his desire to devote a larger part of his time and abilities to the work of teaching and writing led him to relinquish the duties of the executive. During his administration the College Extension Department was organized and successfully carried on, the teaching of the English Bible was introduced into the curriculum,. and in other respects the educational side of the College was enlarged. On
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the property side the improvement during these years was very marked. Two of the handsomest college buildings were erected. Mr. Robert F. Ballantine of Newark, for many years a Trustee of the College, was the generous donor of a well-equipped gymnasium, and Mr. Ralph Voorhees gave the College a new library. The ground for both of these buildings was the gift of Mr. James Neilson. Van Nest Hall was improved, chiefly by the liberality of Mrs. Ann Bussing of New York. The house adjoining the preparatory school was purchased and put into use for the younger scholars. The campus was also greatly improved and beautified. By the generosity of Mr. James Neilson, the students have the use of the Neilson Athletic Field.
It was from Dr. Scott's initiative that the Alumni Endowment Fund was begun in the first year of his administration, a fund which not only promises ever increasing advantage to the college treasury but which binds a large number of loyal alumni to their Alma Mater. Large additions were also made in this period to the general endowments of the institution by the liberality of Mr. Robert Schell, Miss Helen M. Gould, Mr. Peter Donald and others. By no means the least of Dr. Scott's accomplishments were the adjustment of the long-standing account with the State and the passage of a new law governing the State appro- priations to the College.
Since his resignation as President, in 1906, Dr. Scott has continued to perform the duties of the Voorhees professorship of History and Political Science with eminent success.
REV. WILLIAM HENRY STEELE DEMAREST, D.D. Inaugurated as President, June 20, 1906.
Dr. Demarest was born at Hudson, New York, May 12, 1863. He is tlie son of the Rev. David D. Demarest, D.D., LL.D., for thirty-three years Professor of Pastoral Theology and Sacred Rhetoric in the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. His mother was Catharine L., daugliter of James Schureman Nevius, Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey. President Demarest is the first alumnus of Rutgers College to become its President. Ancestrally, his connection with the College is almost co-extensive with its history. He has himself been a Trustee since 1899 and was Secretary of the Board from 1904 until 1906. His father was a Trustee of the College from 1858 until his death in 189S and Secretary of the Board from 1866. His maternal grandfather was a Trustee from 1825 until 1858 and Secretary from 1825 until 1830. His great-grandfather, the Rev. Henry Polhemus, was Trustee from 1800 until 1816 and his great-great-grandfather, the Hon. John Schure- man, was a Trustee from 1782 until 1795. Thus, the members of this family have already given to the institution more than a century of faithful service. It is not surprising that with such an ancestry, Presi- dent Demarest brings to the duties of his office not only great devotion but a thorough appreciation of the true relation of the College to its con- stituency and a rare executive ability.
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His boyhood and young manhood were spent in New Brunswick. He graduated from the Grammar School in 1879 and from the College as the first honor man of the class of 1883. After teaching in the Grammar School two years, he entered the Theological Seminary and graduated in 1888. Being licensed to preach by the Classis of New Brunswick and ordained by the Classis of Orange, he had successful pastorates in the Reformed Churches of Walden, N. Y. (1888-1897) and Catskill, N. Y. (1897-1901). The General Synod of 1901 elected him Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. He thus returned to the service of the institution to which his father gave the best years of his life. Dr. Demarest con- tinued in his professorship five years. During the last of these years he was also acting President of Rutgers College. The Trustees elected him President of the College February 8, 1906, and he was inaugurated June 20, 1906, in the presence of the largest assembly of alumni and friends which has ever attended a college function at New Brunswick. Rutgers conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1901.
The opening years of President Demarest's administration have been marked by a very vigorous life in the old college. The adjustment of the relations with the State, accomplished before the end of Dr. Scott's administration, has already borne fruit in increased appropriations for the work of the Scientific School. These have made possible the estab- lishment of short courses in agriculture during the winter months, the broadening of the work in Ceramics and the generous equipment of the new engineering building. Through the liberality of Prof. John C. Smock the College Farm has been greatly enlarged. The total value of the gifts to the College, aside from State appropriations, since the inauguration of President Demarest, is at least $100,000. The most noteworthy of these is the gift of the Neilson Campus by Mr. James Neilson of New Brunswick, an alumnus of the class of 1866 and for many years an honored Trustee. This comprises nearly all the unoccupied land lying between the Queen's campus and that of the Theological Seminary. One of the houses in this tract has been bought by the College and made the residence of the President. On another part of it, a large building has been erected for instruction in engineering. This is in part the gift of Mr. Andrew Carnegie. Plans are now being prepared for a Chemistry building. The Neilson Campus is being graded and beautified and is ready for the further uses of the College. New professor- ships have been established and the work in various departments has been developed. Through the founding of several local Alumni Associa- tions, loyalty to their Alma Mater has been increased among the graduates and the interest of the Reformed Church in the College, founded by its ministers and elders, has been strengthened through the choice of one of its ministers as President.
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VICE-PRESIDENTS AND FACULTY.
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
APPOINTED.
1810 REV. IRA CONDICT, D.D. *1811
1812 REV. JOHN SCHUREMAN, S.T.D. *181S
1833 REV. JACOB JONES JANEWAY, D.D. ₹1839. *1858
1839 THEODORE STRONG, LL.D .. *1863. .* 1869
1864 GEORGE H. COOK, PH.D., LL.D. *1889
1890 REV. THEODORE S. DOOLITTLE, D.D., LL.D. *1893
FACULTY.
It is impossible, with the scanty information at our command, to make a list of the Faculty of Queen's College which is altogether satisfactory. The dates of service of the early tutors and professors are in a few cases somewhat conjectural and the subjects of their instruction entirely lacking. On this account notes have been placed at the bottom of the page to indicate the reason for inserting names and dates.
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