Baynard Rush Hall (1793-1863) was an American academic and Christian minister. A native of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, he served churches and academic institutions in the East for most of his life. However, he was a resident of

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

for several years, during which time he served as the first faculty member of what today is

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

.Carmony, Donald F., and Herman J. Viola, eds
The New Purchase: Or, Seven and a Half Years in the Far West
By Baynard Rush Hall. ''

Indiana Magazine of History The ''Indiana Magazine of History'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by the Indiana University Bloomington Department of History. Established primarily as a venue for historical documents of interest, particularly on Indiana' ...

'' 62.2 (1966): 101-120.

Biography

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1793, Hall was educated at

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

and

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

; after completing his studies at the seminary, he was ordained to the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

ministry. While working as a printer before entering Union, Hall had learned of opportunities in what was then the Western United States, and in 1823 he moved his family to

southern Indiana Southern Indiana is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern third of the U.S. state of Indiana and borders the states of Illinois to the west, Kentucky to the south, and Ohio to the east. Spanning the state's southe ...

. After spending a year living with relatives near

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

and preaching occasionally, he was chosen to become the first teacher at the Indiana State Seminary in Bloomington, which was founded in 1820 but had not yet begun to operate. For two years beginning in 1825, Hall taught all of the classes, which consisted largely of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

classes. In the first year, he taught twelve scholars and was paid a salary of $250, along with goods worth an additional $150 as compensation for occasional preaching in Presbyterian churches.Clark, Thomas D. ''Indiana University Midwestern Pioneer: The Early Years''. Vol. 1. Bloomington and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

: Indiana UP, 1970. Hall was firmly a

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, teaching that the study of classical philosophy and languages formed the basis of the best education. Between 1827 and 1829, the institution changed substantially, starting with the hiring of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

resident John Hopkins Harney to teach the

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

s and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. The

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

changed the name from "Indiana State Seminary" to "Indiana College" in 1828, and one year later it hired Andrew Wylie of

Washington College Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" name ...

in Pennsylvania to be the first president. The ecclesiastical affiliations of the three men produced controversy among Bloomington residents: like Hall, Wylie was a Presbyterian minister, and Harney was a member of a Presbyterian church. Many locals complained that a single professor was sufficient for the institution, and when they learned of Harney's religious affiliation, a large number of non-Presbyterians angrily protested the trustees' choice.Williams, Gayle.
Andrew Wylie and Religion at Indiana University, 1824-1851: Nonsectarianism and Democracy
. ''

'' 99.1 (2003): 2-24. The choice of yet another Presbyterian as president sparked renewed charges of religious favoritism against the board of trustees, even though it was composed of members of six different denominations. Personal conflicts among the three faculty members soon led to Harney's dismissal and Hall's resignation; Hall moved back to the East, where he remained active as an educator and as a religious leader until his death. Even excepting religious matters, Hall's time in Indiana was difficult. He saw himself as a "big-bug" and out of place as an educated Easterner in Indiana, where most people were illiterate; according to legend, he brought the first piano to Bloomington,Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory. ''City of Bloomington Interim Report''. Bloomington: City of Bloomington, 2004-04, 104. and he saw himself as the first Indiana resident in the history of the world who understood Ancient Greek. In turn, local residents looked at the Seminary and its educated population with suspicion. Hall managed to form a positive relationship with at least one local resident, craftsman and blacksmith Austin Seward; writing about pioneer ways in Bloomington later in his life, Hall lavished praise on Seward's practical and artistic abilities. Ultimately, he was determined to make himself a Hoosier at heart. After returning eastward, Hall published multiple books before his 1863 death. One of them, entitled ''The New Purchase'', consisted of an account of pioneer life in Indiana. Despite confusion resulting from Hall's intentional fictionalization of many names and places, leading Indiana historian David Banta has called ''The New Purchase'' a better account of Indiana pioneer life than any other publication. Another was '' Frank Freeman's Barber Shop''; published in 1852, it was written in response and opposition to ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

''.Hall's Frank Freeman

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, n.d. Accessed 2012-10-06. Hall's house in Bloomington, built in 1835, still stands in the city's McDoel Gardens neighborhood, within which it is the oldest extant building.

References

External links

Portrait
, via Indiana University Libraries Digital Projects & Services {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Baynard Rush 1793 births 1863 deaths American classical scholars Presbyterian Church in the United States of America ministers Indiana University faculty Princeton Theological Seminary alumni Union College (New York) alumni Writers from Indiana Writers from Philadelphia American proslavery activists 19th-century American clergy