Ira Condict (February 21, 1764 – June 1, 1811) was an American
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 ...
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
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Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
of Queen's College (now
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
) in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
), Condict was ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian faith. In 1794, Condict was appointed as Professor of Moral Philosophy at Queen's College in New Brunswick, and subsequently asked to serve as its third president following the resignation of William Linn. Because the college had closed in 1795, Condict served in a
pro tempore
''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to 'for the time being' in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a '' locum tenens'' ('placeholder'). The phrase is ...
capacity from 1795 to 1810, dedicating his efforts to providing theological instruction and administering the Queen's College Grammar School (now Rutgers Preparatory School) which remained open during this time. After a difficult fundraising effort led by Condict, Queen's College was reopened in 1807 and he presided over the laying of the cornerstone for the college's
Old Queens
Old Queens is the oldest extant building at Rutgers University and is the symbolic heart of the university's campus in New Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey in the United States. Rutgers, the eighth-oldest college in the United States, w ...
building on April 27, 1809.
Biography
Condict was born in
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange (known simply as Orange) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 34,447, an increase o ...
in 1764 to Daniel Condict (or Condit) and Ruth Harrison. His grandparents were Mary Dodd & Samuel Condict.
Condict's famous Revolutionary War patriot sister, Jemima Condict Harrison (of Daniel), and her spouse Major Aaron Harrison, wrote of American colonial life and of the Boston Tea Party.New Jersey Historical Society. http://www.jerseyhistory.org/findingaid.php?aid=0123
Condict graduated from the College of New Jersey (now
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
) with a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
(A.B.) in 1784. After being
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
in 1785 by the Reverend
John Witherspoon
John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense real ...
(then president of Princeton), Condict accepted a calling to serve as pastor to three
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 ...
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
: Upper Hardwick (now Yellow Frame in Fredon Township, New Jersey), Sussex Court House (now Newton), and Shappenock.
In 1794, Condict was installed at the First Reformed Church in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Pickersgill, Harold E.; Wall, John Patrick. ''History of Middlesex County, New Jersey: 1664-1920'' (New York: Lewis Publishing Company, 1921). This calling soon led to him being appointed as Professor of Moral Philosophy at the nearby Queen's College. Despite the college closing in 1795, Condict was appointed to serve as President pro tempore and he dedicated his efforts to the Queen's College Grammar School (now Rutgers Preparatory School) which remained open under Condict's leadership.
During his tenure in New Brunswick, Condit was known for operating a private circulating library, which a person could join as a member by paying modest annual dues. After his death, the library was sold. In 1807, Condict, along with Andrew Kilpatrick, renewed the efforts to reopen Queen's College, securing $12,000 in donations to construct what became Old Queen's (completed in 1823). Shortly after Queen's College reopened, the Board of Trustees offered Condict the full presidency, which he declined, returning to his professorship and to supervise instruction at the college. However, his tenure was short lived.
Condict died of yellow fever on June 1, 1811 in New Brunswick and was buried at the First Reformed Church Cemetery.
History of Sussex County, New Jersey
The history of Sussex County, New Jersey spans over 13,000 years from the time Paleo Indians arrived after the Wisconsin glacier melted to the present day, and the entire width of the American experience.
Before Europeans arrived, the area was a ...