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

Early life

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

Personal life

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

Caroline Hallowell Miller Caroline Hallowell Miller (August 20, 1831 – September 2, 1905) was an American educator and suffragist. She organized the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association in 1889, and was its first president. Early life Caroline Hallowell was born in ...

, wife of Francis Miller * Benjamin Hallowell He was friends with

Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...

Career

In November 1819, he started his first official teaching position at Fair Hill Boarding School in

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

. In 1824, Hallowell opened a boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia, where his nephew Arthur Briggs Farquhar would later attend. His most famous student was

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

who studied at the school for a month before entering West Point. Hallowell was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1854. 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.

Death

Benj-Hallowell-Grave-Marker-Sandy-Spring

Hallowell was buried at the

Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse The Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse is a historic building located at Sandy Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. It is a large, Flemish bond brick, Federal-style Quaker Meeting House built in 1817. The meetinghouse is on two acres deeded by ...

cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallowell, Benjamin 1799 births 1877 deaths Hallowell family People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania Presidents of the University of Maryland, College Park Westtown School alumni