DOCUMENT RESUME ED 107 169 HE 006 484 AUTHOR Cowley, W. H. TITLE Notes on the Life of John Monteith, 1788-1868. PUB DATE 20 Mar 75 NOTE 61p.; Appendixes may reproduce poorly due to legibility of original document EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$3.32 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS College Administration; Colleges; *Edcational History; Faculty; *Higher Education; *Religious Organizations; *Social Action; *Social Change; Students; Trustees; Universities IDENTIFIERS Monteith (John); University of Michigan ABSTRACT John Monteith played a leading role at Hamilton College during the 1820's in an upheaval that paralleled those of the 1960's. The subject matter of the two conflicts differed greatly, but both involved the same groups of combatantsadministrators, faculty members, students, trustees, and external organizers. This review of Monteith's career brings some illuminating and authoritative answers to many questions about what happened at Hamilton during its nearly disastrous early history. The paper also touches on antebellum influences of organized religious bodies and their feuding factions on colleges and universities, and the social reform movements in the United States during Monteith's lifetime. Appendixes 1 and 2 reproduce relevant pages from 1875 and 1941 published histories of the University of Michigan at whose antecedent institution Monteith held 7 of the 13 blueprinted professorships and also its presidency. Appendix 3 has been typed from an 1833 pamphlet written by President Henry Davis of Hamilton College describing an episode in Monteith's stay there. Appendix 4 reviews the beginnings of Hamilton College. Appendix 5 consists of footnotes and supplementary data. (Author/KE) r 1111 --I NOTES ON THE LIFE OF JOHN MONTEITH, 1788-1868 .1 N.H. Cowley Palo Alto, California S EDUCATION . '. .. ,.. A E PNT ..,\ March 20, 175 ,.. NOTES ON THE LIFE OF JOHN MONTEITH,1788-1868 W.H. Cowley Whilom President of HamiltonCollege These notes coordinate informationabout John Monteith Theolo- sent me by PresidentJames I. McCord of the Princeton gical Seminary with materials thatI've been accumulatingfor many years. Both have been supplementedby a dozen or so books borrowed from the StanfordUniversity Library. At the outset some remarks arein order about thesigni- Ameri- ficance of Mr. Monteith'scareer in the history of both First, can higher educationand of American Protestantism. during Mr. Monteith played aleading role at Hamilton College the 1820s in an upheavalwhich paralleled those of the1960s largely triggered by thesuccessive donneybrooks at.the Uni- versity of California,Berkeley. The subject' matter of the involved two series of conflictsdiffered greatly, but both faculty mem- the same groups ofcombatants -- administrators, As a stu- bers, students, trustees,and external organizers. about what dent of academic government,I've long been curious early his- happened at Hamilton duringits nearly disastrous brought illu- tory, and this reviewof Monteith's career has questions. minating and authoritative answersto many of my Second, working up andwriting this memorandumhas filled a number of gapsin my knowledge ofthe antebellum influences factions upon of organized religiousbodies and their feuding 3 4 Page 2 colleges and universities. I've been investigating thistopic for more than two decades, but I've neverpublished anything about it because of its compleAity andfrustrating confusions. Aow I'm much better prepared to redothe chapter on the sub- ject that I wrote nearly 15 years agofor a book that-: despite much persuasion from several sources --I've been un- willing to publish. Third, I've considerably augmented myknowledge of the social reform movements swirlingabout in the United States during Monteith's lifetime. He joined some of them,and be- yond doubt all of them helpedmould his thoughts andactions. This additional comment explainsthe five appendices. The first two reproduce relevant pagesfrom 1875 and 1941 pub- lished histories of the Universityof Michigan at whose ante- of cedent institution (theCatholepistemiad or University Michigania) Monteith held sevenof the 13 blueprintedprofes- sorships and also its presidency. The third has beentyped of from an 1833 pamphlet writtenby President Henry Davis Hamilton College describing anepisode in Monteith's stay in there. It constitutes partof a long footnote printed 7-pt. type and hence hasbeen typed for ease ofreading rather than photocopied. The fourth reviews thebeginnings The of Hamilton College withemphasis upon its government. fifth consists in what mostwriters include as footnotes or Cumshaw because, as supplementary data. I employ the name the body the name denotes, they arebonuses' which, if used in 4 Page 3 of the manuscript, would breakits continuity. Many of them have significant -- and all of them pertinent --information. One final introductory word: in locating and organizing the source materials of this memorandum Mr.Michael Korff, Stanford graduate student, has ably andperspicaciously as- sisted me. Family Sarah Lecky Monteith, wife of DanielMonteith, gave birth to their son John on AugustS, 1788, in Gettysburg, Pennsyl- vania.1No information in hand tells whether ornot they had other children, how long they livedin_cettysburg...or when and why they moved from close to thesouth-central border of-Penn- sylvania to Trumble County in thenortheastern corner of Ohio. The Monteiths were Scotch-IrishPresbyterians, but.when mem- bers of the family -- and which ones --migrated to America remains to be investigated. Monteith's first marriage(June 21, 1820) ended upon the early death of his bride, SaraSophia Granger of the Ohio county (Portage) adjacent toTrumble. A little over a year later he married AbigailHarris of Florence, Ohio,about 30 miles west of Cleveland. The date of the wedding, August30, 2 Monteith's trip east from 1821, suggests that it occurred on 1Gates, 1878. Refer to bibliography forfull citations. 2Gates, 1879. Page 4 Detroit to begin his career as a professor atHamilton Col- lege. el 1 From this union nine children were born, but the papers in hand account only for John Jr., George,Charles, Edwin H., and Sarah. The last named married a Colonel N.B.Gates at some unspecified age, place,and date. Her letters to a Rev. Dr. William E. Schenck of the PrincetonTheological Seminar (PTS hereafter) dated December and January 1878-79constitute invaluable sources of information aboutMonteith's early life. Education No presently availableinformation tells when and where Monteith had his primary education,but his daughter's letters for admission to Jefferson Collegehe report that in preparing ISM studied Latin on his own. He graduated in the Class of1434,7 aged 25, having earned his way as atutor in 'Virginia and 2 Maryland during two absencesfrom the College. More informa- tion about his undergraduatelife and also about that of his classmate, George Junkin, maybe in the archives of Washington and Jefferson College whose twoforerunning institutions merged in 1865. Upon their graduationthe two classmates went their separ- ate ways: Junkin, at that time a communicantof the Associated 1Gates, 1878. 2 Gates2 1879. 6 Page 5 Reformed Presbyterian Church, left for New York City tostudy with John M. MaSIDA, Provost of ColumbiaCollege and concur- 1 rently pastor of the Murray Street Church. Monteith, a mem- ber of the predominant wing of the Church,matriculated a year later at PTS. It had opened in 1812 with a singleprofessor, Archibald Alexander. By the time of Monteith's arrival Samuel Miller had joined Alexander, and the seminaryenrolled just over a dozen students. Monteith's daughter in both her letters reportedthat while at PTS (1813-16) he had tutored twoof Professor Alex- ander's sons. I can find noconfirmation of this in the bio- graphy of Alexander written by his sonJames, nor, indeed, any 2 mention of Monteith anywhere in the volume. Michigan, 1816-1817 Licensed as a missionary in the springof 1816, Monteith accepted a few weeks later an invitationfrom the Protestant Society of Detroit "to introduce thegospel" in Michigan. Governor Lewis Cass and two associatessigned the invitation, and Monteith set out for Detroitwhose populatiOns he found upon his arrivalo, tobe about 1,200 exclusive ofthe military garrison continuing on since the racenttermination of the War of 1812. About half of the civilians wereFrench-speaking 1Starr, Volume X. See also Cumshaw No.1. 2Alexander. 7 Page 6 Roman Catholics. He preached his first sermon on Sundayafter- noon June 30th1and returned briefly to Princeton the follow- ing spring to be ordained by the New BrunswickPresbytery. The Rev. George S. Woodhull, Princeton minister andlong-time trustee of Princeton University (the College of NewJersey until 1896), preached the sermon and ProfessorAlexander gave 2 the charge. Back in Detroit later that year Monteithcontin- ued as the pastor of the first Presbyterianchurch (called the Protestant Church) organized in the Territory ofMichigan. The Catholepistemiad, 1817-1821 On August 26, 1817, the legislatureof the Territory es- tablished the "Catholepistemiad, orUniversity ofMichigania:"3 Three members of the Michigan bar preparedthe enabling act providing for the creation of "thirteendidaxum or professor- ships." To six of these the authoritiesnamed Gabriel Richard, a resident Sulpicianpriest recently from France, and tothe other seven it named Monteith. One of the seven, the didaxum of catholepistemia, carried withit the presidency of the in- stitution.4 1Elyria Democrat. 2Elyria Democrat. 3Ten Brook