Benjamin Hallowell (educator)

Benjamin Hallowell (August 17, 1799 – September 1877) was the first president of the Maryland Agricultural College.[1]

Benjamin Hallowell
Benjamin Hallowell (c. 1850s)
President of
Maryland Agricultural College
In office
1859–1860
Personal details
Born(1799-08-17)August 17, 1799
Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedSeptember 1877(1877-09-00) (aged 78)
Resting placeSandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse cemetery

Early life

Benjamin Hallowell was born in 1799.[2] He went to school at the Westtown Boarding School.[2]

Personal life

Hallowell met his wife, the sister of William Henry Farquhar, at Westtown School. They married around 1820 and she died in 1876.[2] Together, they had three children:[2]

  • Henry C. Hallowell
  • Carrie H. Miller, wife of Francis Miller
  • Benjamin Hallowell

He was friends with Henry Clay.[2]

Career

In November 1819, he started his first official teaching position at Fair Hill Boarding School in Montgomery County, Maryland.[3] In 1824, Hallowell opened a boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia.[4] His most famous student was Robert E. Lee who studied at the school for a month before entering West Point.[5]

Hallowell was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1854.[6]

On October 4, 1859 Hallowell was appointed as the first president of the Maryland Agricultural College. He would only accept the appointment on condition that the College not use slaves and he would not accept a salary. He helped to develop the College's curriculum, which included Ancient Languages, Modern Languages, Natural Sciences, English, and Mathematics. After one month of serving as the president, he resigned due to illness.[7][8]

Death

Hallowell was buried at the Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse cemetery.[2]

References
  1. Callcott, George H. (1966). A History of the University of Maryland. Baltimore, Maryland: Garamond/Pridemark Press. pp. 54–67.
  2. "Benjamin Hallowell". Alexandria Gazette. September 10, 1877. p. 2. Retrieved June 29, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Hallowell, Benjamin (1884). Autobiography of Benjamin Hallowell. Philadelphia, U.S.: Friends' Book Association. pp. 45–46.
  4. Hallowell, Benjamin (1884). Autobiography of Benjamin Hallowell. Philadelphia, U.S.: Friends' Book Association. p. 95.
  5. Hallowell, Benjamin (1884). Autobiography of Benjamin Hallowell. Philadelphia, U.S.: Friends' Book Association. p. 103.
  6. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  7. "Benjamin Hallowell". University Presidents. University of Maryland. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  8. Callcott, George H. (1966). A History of the University of Maryland. Baltimore, Maryland: Garamond/Pridemark Press. pp. 145–151.
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