Benjamin Hallowell (educator)

First president of the Maryland Agricultural College (1799-1877)

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.
Died| September 7, 1877(1877-09-07) (aged 78)
Resting place| Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse cemetery
Spouse|

Margaret

(m. 1820; died 1876)​

Relations| Arthur Briggs Farquhar (nephew)
Children| 3, including Caroline Hallowell Miller

Benjamin Hallowell (August 17, 1799 – September 7, 1877) was the first president of the Maryland Agricultural College.[1]

## Early life[edit]

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

## Personal life[edit]

Hallowell met his wife Margaret, 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
* Caroline Hallowell Miller, wife of Francis Miller
* Benjamin Hallowell

He was friends with Henry Clay.[2]

## Career[edit]

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, where his nephew Arthur Briggs Farquhar would later attend.[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[edit]

Benjamin Hallowell's grave marker, Sandy Spring Friends Meeting House Cemetery

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

## References[edit]

1. ^ Callcott, George H. (1966). A History of the University of Maryland. Baltimore, Maryland: Garamond/Pridemark Press. pp. 54–67.
2. ^ a b c d e f "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.

Academic offices

Preceded by

No President

|  President of the Maryland Agricultural College
1859  | Succeeded by

Charles Benedict Calvert (acting)

* v
* t
* e

Chancellors and Presidents of the University of Maryland, College Park

Presidents|

* Benjamin Hallowell (1859)
* Charles Benedict Calvert # (1859–1860)
* John Work Scott † (1860)
* John M. Colby (1860–1861)
* Henry Onderdonk (1861–1864)
* Nicholas Worthington (1864–1867)
* George Washington Custis Lee † (1866)
* Charles Minor (1867–1868)
* Franklin Buchanan (1868–1869)
* Samuel Register (1869–1873)
* Samuel Jones (1873–1875)
* William Parker (1875–1882)
* Augustine Smith (1883–1887)
* Allen Dodge # (1887–1888)
* Henry Elijah Alvord (1888–1892)
* Richard Silvester (1892–1912)
* Thomas Spence # (1912–1913)
* Harry J. Patterson (1913–1917)
* Albert F. Woods (1917–1926)
* Raymond A. Pearson (1926–1935)
* Byrd (1935–1954)
* Thomas B. Symons # (1954)
* Wilson Homer Elkins (1954–1970)

Chancellors|

* Charles E. Bishop (1970–1974)
* John W. Dorsey # (1974–1975)
* Robert Gluckstern (1975–1982)
* William Kirwan # (1982)
* John Brooks Slaughter (1982–1988)

Presidents|

* William Kirwan (1989–1998)
* Gregory L. Geoffroy # (1998)
* C. Daniel Mote Jr. (1998–2010)
* Nariman Farvardin # (2010)
* Wallace Loh (2010–2020)
* Darryll Pines (2020– )

# denotes acting president or chancellor – † denotes elected but never served
Note: from 1920 to 1970, the president of College Park campus was also the leader of each of the other campuses in the University of Maryland system

Authority control databases

International|

* FAST
* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Israel
* United States

Academics|

* CiNii

Other|

* SNAC

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