USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 11
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CATCHELS MANN.A .:
DORMITORY OF MUHLENBERG COLLEGE.
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
ber of the first junior class in the newly estab- lished seminary. In the year 1867, after gradua- tion from the seminary, he was ordained to the office of the ministry by the Ministerium of Penn- sylvania, and immediately afterward accepted the position of principal of the Academic Department at Muhlenberg College and assistant professor of Greek in the college department, having pre- viously come to Allentown, while yet a student at the seminary, to assist in winding up the affairs of the Allentown Collegiate Institute and Mili- tary Academy, preparatory to the opening of the new college. During the war of the Rebellion he served in various capacities during portions of several years. As a member of the first faculty, and its secretary, he assisted the first president in the organization of the various departments. Later, he became professor of Latin and Greek, and in addition taught other branches in the Col- lege Department. The following are the positions he held prior to his election to the presidency : Principal of the Academic Department and assist- ant professor of Greek, 1867-73; professor of Latin, 1873-77 ; financial agent, 1876-77 ; profes- sor of Greek and Latin, 1877-81 ; Mosser-Keck Professor of Greek, 1881-86; president and pro- fessor of Greek, Moral Science and Evidence of of Christianity, 1886-1903. When therefore, he accepted the presidency of the college, he had practically passed through all the various depart- ments of the institution, had helped to formulate the courses of studies for the several departments, had passed through the period of trial and strug- gle incident to the early history of the institution, had secured large sums of money for current expenses and endowment, was thoroughly ac- quainted with the needs and work of the college, and had withal attained such a fine and ripened scholarship in general, but especially in the class- ics, that all interested in the future welfare of the college and acquainted with its needs, felt that he was the man providentially trained for the va- cant position, and he was unanimously and by ac- clamation elected by the board of trustees. Nor has the church made a mistake in the view taken in this matter ; for with the advent of the new ad-
ministration began a new period of wider influence and greater prosperity than the institution had previously enjoyed. His fine scholarship gave the institution an excellent reputation among other institutions of learning. The courses of studies were amplified and improved, the number of students was largely augmented, and the finan- cial condition was placed on a solid basis. Today, Muhlenberg College is known as one of the best institutions of learning in the Lutheran church in America, and is generally regarded as the rep- resentative Lutheran college. He was also active in bringing the institution into closer and more prominent relations with other colleges and uni- versities of the country through his active con- nection with the College Association of Pennsyl- vania, and as a member of the University Coun- cil of Pennsylvania by appointment of the Gov- ernor of the State. He lived long enough to see the beginning of that expansion for which he had been working for many years. Greater Muhlen- berg has been made possible through his efforts, self-sacrificing labors, and his wise plans for the best interests of the institution to which he de- voted his entire active life. On June 18, 1903, he laid the corner-stone of the new administration building of the college, on its new site, and in October of the same year he participated in the services connected with the laying of the corner- stone of Berks Hall, the first of a series of dorm- itories to be erected on the college grounds. But he was not allowed to see the completion of this new enterprise; for he died on November 28, 1903. After the death of Dr. Seip, the Rev. William Wackernagel, D. D., senior member of the faculty and professor of German, French, Spanish, and history, was appointed acting presi- dent of the institution to serve until a permanent president could be secured.
The vacancy in the presidency of Muhlenberg College, occasioned by the death of Dr. Seip, was filled in 1904 by the election of the Rev. John A. W. Haas, D. D., of New York City. He is a son of the late John C. Haas, for many years parochial school teacher and organist of Zion and St. Michael's Lutheran church, Philadelphia. Dr.
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Haas received his classical training in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and his theological training in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, graduating from the latter institution in 1887. During the years 1887 and 1888 he spent some time at the University of Leipzig, Germany. He was or- andained to the office of the ministry in the Lu- theran church and served a Lutheran congrega- tion in New York City until his election to the presidency of the college in 1904. On Wednes- day evening, June 22, 1904, he was inaugurated and assumed the duties of his office. On June 23, the new administration building was consecrated. On January 1, 1905, the work of the college was begun in the new buildings, in the western part of the city, where the college is now housed in its commodious and modernly equipped buildings and where its work is now carried on with every pros- pect of success for the future.
The present faculty consists of the Rev. John A. W. Haas, D. D., president and professor of Religion and Philosophy; the Rev. William Wackernagel, D. D., (University of Pennsyl- vania ), professor of German, French, Spanish and history : the Rev. John A. Bauman, Ph. D. ( Muh- lenberg) of the class of '73, professor of mathe- matics, astronomy, metereology and librarian : George Taylor Ettinger, Ph. D. (University of New York) of the class of '80, dean and secre- tary of the faculty, professor of Latin and Peda- gogy ; the Rev. Solomon E. Ochsenford, D. D. (Muhlenberg), of the class of '76, professor of English language and literature, and social science : W. H. Reese, M. S., instructor in natural and applied sciences ; John A. Lear, A. M., M. D. (University of Pennsyl- vania). professor of biology; Robert C. Horn, A. M., of the class of 1900, in- structor in Greek ; the Rev. Stephen A. Repass, D. D. (Roanoke), professor of Christian evi- dence : Henry H. Herbst, A. M., M. D. (Uni- versity of Pennsylvania), of the class of '78, pro- fessor of physical culture ; William A. Hausman, Jr., B. S., M. D. (University of Pennsylvania), of the class of '99, instructor in biology.
five hundred young men, many of whom have already become eminently successful in the varied spheres of life which they have entered, either professional or commercial. More than twenty- five hundred young men have either wholly or partly received their education in this institution, and have been more or less influenced by the spirit that pervades its work. Thirty-six years is a short period of time in the history of an institu- tion of learning, being sufficient merely to organ- ize fully its various departments, and to set its operations in motion, and the men who have graduated from it must be comparatively young, many only in the beginning of their careers in practical life. Yet many of the sons of Muhlen- berg have already distinguished themselves as presidents of institutions of learning, professors in theological and literary institutions, as pastors of important parishes, as superintendents and officers of public institutions, as authors, editors, and writers for the religious and secular press, as legislators, and men of prominence in other walks of life.
The future of Muhlenberg College is assured. At its new location, with modern and well- equipped buildings, and with better facilities for its legitimate work, it will be able to expand its work, extend its influence, and carry on its work more successfully than at any period of its his- tory.
THEODORE L. SEIP, D. D. An enumera- tion of the men of Pennsylvania who have con- ferred honor and dignity upon the state which has honored them, would be incomplete were there failure to make mention of Dr. Theodore L. Seip. His life record forms an important chapter in the history of educational development in the Lehigh Valley, while his influence in this work was not restricted to his own state. It was far-reaching and beneficial, for not only was he one of the founders and promoters of Muhlenberg College, but he was also one of the originators of the idea of public education that has become known to the country through the term of university extension lectures. He was for thirty-six years connected
Muhlenberg College-has graduated more than3 with what became one of the leading Lutheran
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
educational institutions of the country, and for seventeen years was its president. - Dr. Theodore Lorenzo Seip was born in Eas- ton, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1842, a son of Rett- ben L. and Sarah A. Seip. He was of German lineage, representing a family that was founded in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, in the early part of the nineteenth century. Among his pa- ternal ancestors were those who served in the Revolutionary war and the war of 1812. His maternal grandfather, William Henry Hemsing, removed from Philadelphia to Allentown, Penn- sylvania, in order to accept the position of teacher and organist in a parochial school. He married Margaretta Spinner, of Salisbury, Pennsylvania, and they began their domestic life in the Livings- ton Mansion, which now forms the east wing of Muhlenberg College. Subsequently they removed to Easton, where Mr. Hemsing spent his remain- ing days as a teacher, exercising strong influence in the educational development of his adopted city. Mr. Hemsing carefully trained his daugh- ter, the future Mrs. Seip, in both English and German, and especially in music. One of the biographers of Dr. Seip has said of his mother : "She was gifted with high mental and moral en- dowments, a strong character, was firm in her conviction of truth and duty, and not easily influ- enced by the isms of the times. The molding in- fluence of such a mother had most to do in form- ing the life and character of her son, although his ·father discharged his paternal duties faithfully and was prominent among his fellow citizens, hav- ing been chosen by them for local positions of honor and trust by reason of his intelligence and fitness for the place." The instruction of the schools, private and public, which Dr. Seip at- tended in his native place, Easton, was supple- mented by home instruction in religion, morals and music, taught him by his devoted mother.
When sixteen years of age Dr. Seip became a student in Weaversville Academy, then under the presidency of Professor H. F. Savage, and while in that institution he took up the study of Latin and Greek. Throughout his life his deep interest in the languages continued, and for many years he devoted his talents to teaching these subjects.
His education was continued in the preparatory department of Pennsylvania College at Gettys- burg, in which he matriculated in October, 1859, and in October, 1860, he entered the freshman class of the college, being graduated in 1864. He made rapid advance in his studies, although suf- fering at times from ill health which on more than one occasion threatened to terminate fatally. However, he recovered and was graduated with honors. While in college he became a member of the Phrenakosmian Literary Society and the Phi Kappi Psi Greek letter society. He was pursuing his studies at Gettysburg when, in 1863, General Lee invaded Pennsylvania and fought the memor- able battle near the college town. Dr. Seip joined the college company and was mustered into the United States service with Company A, Twenty- third Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. After spending one night in Camp Curtin, at Harrisburg, he was detailed for duty at headquarters with the staff of Major General D. N. Couch, then in com- mand of the Department of the Susquehanna, with whom he served until the company was mustered out after the armies had recrossed the Potomac river. He spent the spring vacation of 1864 in the service of the United States Christian Commission in Tennessee and Georgia, having charge of the office and work of the commission in the hospitals in Murfreesboro. He was after- ward sent to the front with General Sherman. who was fighting his way to Atlanta, and ter- minated his services at Resaca, Georgia, where he administered alike to the wounded of both armies.
On the expiration of his term of services with the United States Christian Commission, Dr. Seip returned to Gettysburg to complete his college course. In the meantime he had planned to de- vote his life to the Christian Ministry and in Oc- tober, 1864, entered the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He was present at the inauguration of the faculty and the opening of the seminary, being a member of the first class that received the full three years course in that institution. In the spring of 1865. through the instrumentality of Rev. Dr. Krauth. he was appointed an agent of the United States Sanitary Commission and was sent on a tour of
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
inspection of the work of stations in the armies under General U. S. Grant, on the James and Appomattox rivers in Virginia. On the comple- tion of that tour he returned to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he delivered many public addresses concerning the work, and organized ladies' aid societies in all the towns and villages to assist in furnishing supplies to sick and wounded. His work in this connection was ter- minated with the surrender of General Lee. He afterward completed his course in the Theo- logical Seminary and was graduated in June, 1867, being ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and adjacent states at its meeting in Salem church, Lebanon, Penn- sylvania, June 19, 1867.
Prior to this time Dr. Seip had been called to enter upon what became his real life work, that of college education. A plan had been formed for the organization of Muhlenberg College by the gentlemen who had charge of the Allentown Col- legiate Institute, and Dr. Seip was selected to aid in the instruction and discipline of the students of the latter school until its affairs could be closed with the end of the school term, June 27, 1867. The call came to him unsolicited, and he entered upon his duties on the 25th of April of that year. May 21st he was elected principal of the academic department, and also provisional professor of Ger- man until a regular professor could be secured for Muhlenberg College, which was to be opened in the following September. At the solicitation of President Muhlenberg, and on the advice of the faculty of the Theological Seminary, he accepted the call and declined the pastorate of St. John's church at Quakertown, which had been offered him. He was made assistant professor of Greek in the college, in addition to the principalship of the academic department, and he also gave instruc- tion in English literature. During the absence of the regular professor he also taught classes in mathematics. He served as principal of the academic department of Muhlenberg College until June, 1872, when he was chosen to the chair of the Latin language and literature, and was also continued in the Greek department. He thus labored in the institution as a teacher until Feb-
ruary, 1876. A crisis in the history of the college was impending, and Dr. Seip at that time was called to enter another field of activity. The in- stitution had become embarrassed financially, and the management realized the absolute necessity of furnishing immediate funds, else the suspen- sion of the institution would follow. On the 18th of January, 1876, the board of trustees elected Professor Seip to act as financial agent, relieving him temporarily from the duties of his professor- ship. He entered upon his new work in Febru- ary, 1876, and for almost a year and a half dis- charged the duties of the position. His efforts proved the salvation of the school. About thirty- three thousand dollars were secured for endow- ment and current expenses through the labors of Professor Seip, who visited many homes and in- dividuals in behalf of Muhlenberg, and also de- livered many addresses to different congregations, soliciting funds to meet the necessary expenses of the school.
After his return to the college, and follow- ing the retirement of Dr. Muhlenberg from the presidency, Professor Seip was given charge of the classes in advanced Greek, and was also continued as Latin professor. From 1877 until 1880, inclusive, he was professor of the Greek and Latin languages, and in the latter year he was chosen to the chair of Greek. It was due to his efforts that this chair was endowed by Messrs. James K. Mosser and Thomas Keck, who through the influence of Dr. Seip gave twenty thousand dollars in money, which sum was subsequently in- creased to thirty thousand dollars. This endow- ment was accepted by the board of trustees at a special meeting July 20, 1880, when Professor Seip was elected Mosser-Keck professor of the Greek language and literature. He also remained in charge of the advanced classes in Latin, and occupied the chair until December, 1885. At the June meeting of the board of trustees in that year, President Sadtler, the successor of Dr. Muhlen- berg, had tendered his resignation, and on the 5th of November, 1885, Dr. Seip was elected to the presidency, entering upon the duties of that posi- tion on the Ist of January, 1886. He was inaug- urated January 6, 1886, in St. John's Evangelical
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Lutheran church and entered upon the work with renewed energy, consecration and zeal. He had .been a teacher in almost every department of the college, and thus brought to his new labors thor- ough, comprehensive and practical understanding of the work, its needs and its possibilities. He watched with an eager scrutiny every opportunity for the advancement and improvement of the in- stitution over which he so ably and successfully presided. He surveyed the whole ground, cx- amined with the utmost care and precision every point, and when he was satisfied in his own mind that the way was clear to undertake or inaugurate any improvement, he laid his plan, well matured and fortified at every point, before the committee of the board. Honest, upright and conscientious in principle and purpose, he was a safe man. To Dr. Seip, above all others, belongs the credit of the forward step that was taken at the meeting of the trustees in June of 1892, when three new profes- sons were added to the faculty. He was also largely instrumental in making the quarter-cen- tennial of Muhlenberg College such a grand suc- cess. It was one of his great ambitions to see the erection of more modern and better equipped buildings for the college, and he lived to witness the commencement of that work. At the time of his death no other had been so long connected with the institution, and Muhlenberg College to- day largely stands as a monument to his life work.
As Dr. Seip labored on year after year, his ability and the work that he accomplished drew to him the attention of the educational world, and various college degrees were conferred upon him, including that of Doctor of Divinity, received from the University of Pennsylvania in 1886. He was chosen a member of various associations tend- ing to advance the interests of education, includ- ing the American Institute of Christian Philos- ophy, the American Society of Church History, the American Society for the Extension of Uni- versity Teaching, the Society of Science, Letters and Arts of London, England, and other bodies, whose membership was composed of the scholarly men of the world. Not long after he assumed the presidency of Muhlenberg College he took steps to bring the institution into closer relations with
other colleges and universities of the country, and he was largely instrumental in founding the Col- lege Association of Pennsylvania in 1887, which has grown to include the Middle States and Mary- land. He was the first chairman of its executive committee, and was continued in the office until he declined re-election. He was the vice-presi- dent and presided in the absence of the president at the meeting in the University of Pennsylvania in 1889, and he was chosen to read a "History of the Organization of the College Association of Penn- sylvania," which was published in pamphlet form, by the J. B. Lippincott Company in 1887. He was also appointed to prepare and read a paper at it- meeting in Princeton College on the "Taxation of College Property," an ethical treatment of the subject. Following his inauguration as presi- dent of Muhlenberg College he inaugurated a movement to hold an annual course of free lec- tures in the college chapel, open to the public, thus formally doing work for the community which has since been attracting attention else- where under the name of the University Exten- sion work. These lectures have been given every year since by men eminent in their specialties, who as friends of the college have contributed their services gratuitously.
Dr. Seip was not only a teacher, but an orator, as well as an author, and became widely known in church and educational circles, many of his ad- dresses having been printed including those on "Education," "A Sketch of Muhlenberg College," Baccalaureate sermons and Reformation ad- dresses. He possessed the happy faculty of ex- pressing his thoughts in a clear and forcible man- ner, having a natural and easy style, an elegant and copious diction, a unique and lucid construc- tion and, in consequence, the productions of his pen were always read with pleasure and profit. Although he never accepted a pastorate, Dr. Seip became well known as a preacher, frequently fill- ing various pulpits. His sermons were prepared with the same care and precision that marked his preparation for the work of the classroom. He was logical in his reasoning, a deep thinker, and clear and forceful in his presentation of any sub- ject. He appealed to the intellect as well as to
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the heart of the people, and preached Christ rather than dogmas. He was, however, a firm believer in the doctrines of his denomination, and for a number of years, by appointment of the Synod, served as a member of the examining committee. He was, because of his knowledge of Greek, the examiner in Greek exegesis from 1886 until his death. During the same time he was a member of the executive committee of the Synod, and he was also elected for a number of years by the Min- isterium of Pennsylvania as a delegate to the Gen- eral Council, and never failed to attend its meet- ings. From 1895 to 1898 he was the president of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. He was usu- ally chosen the presiding officer of the Second District Conference of the Pennsylvania Synod, and presided with dignity and grace, his decisions being fair and just. In the city in which he made his home he was honored and esteemed as few men have been, and, as occasion offered, he was called upon to deliver public addresses, among the more notable of which was that delivered in memory of President Garfield. He was made chairman of the committee on resolutions on that occasion, and in 1885, at a public meeting of the citizens of Allentown called to take action on the death of General Grant, he presided by invitation of his fellow citizens, and delivered an address on the "Life and Death of General Grant," which was afterward published by request.
Dr. Seip was twice married. He first wedded Emma Elizabeth Shimer, of Bath, Pennsylvania, who was confirmed in the same class that made her husband a member of the church. She died in 1873, and in 1877 Dr. Seip married Miss Re- becca Keck, of Allentown. His four children were born of the first marriage-Howard Shimer Seip, A. M., D. D. S., of Allentown ; Rev. Frank Muhlenberg Seip, A. M., who died in 1898; Annie Elizabeth Seip, who died in 1904 ; and Theodore Lorenzo Seip, who died in infancy in 1873.
The home life of Dr. Seip was ideal, and he held friendship inviolable. His courteous cul- tured manner, combined with the kindliness of his disposition, won him not only the esteem but also the love of pupils and associates, and Muhlen- berg College will long bear the impress of his
individuality. Its growth and development he made his life work. At times he received tempt- ing offers from other institutions, but these he always declined. His ambition was not for per- sonal honor or gain, but for the growth and ex- tension of the influence of the school with which he became identified at its organization, and with which he continued until his death. He cham- pioned the highest Christian education, and with such success that his name came to be held in high honor while he lived, and his untimely death was regarded with a sorrow which was at once general and sincere.
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