Cornelius Conway Felton (November 6, 1807 – February 26, 1862) was an American educator. He was regent of the

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, as well as professor of Greek literature and

president of Harvard University The president of Harvard University is the chief academic administration, administrator of Harvard University and the ''Ex officio member, ex officio'' president of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard Corporation. Each is appoin ...

Early life

Felton was born in

West Newbury, Massachusetts West Newbury is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Situated on the Merrimack River, its population was 4,500 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Originally inhabited by Agawam people, A ...

. He was the brother of Samuel Morse Felton Sr., the half-brother of John B. Felton and the uncle of Samuel Morse Felton Jr. He graduated from

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in 1827, having taught school in the winter vacations of his sophomore and junior years. During his undergraduate years, he was also a member of the Hasty Pudding.

Career

After teaching in the Livingstone High School of

Geneseo, New York Geneseo is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Livingston County, New York, Livingston County in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, United States. It is at the south end of the five-county Rochester metropo ...

, for two years, he became tutor at Harvard in 1829, university professor of

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in 1832, and Eliot Professor of Greek Literature in 1834. In 1860 he succeeded James Walker as president of Harvard, which position he held until his death. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1854. Felton edited many classical texts. His annotations on

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's text of the ''Iliad'' (1833) are especially valuable. ''Greece, Ancient and Modern'' (2 vols., 1867), forty-nine lectures before the

Lowell Institute The Lowell Institute is a United States educational foundation located in Boston, Massachusetts, providing both free public lectures, and also advanced lectures. It was endowed by a bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell Jr., who died in 1836. T ...

, is scholarly, able and suggestive of the author's personality. Among his miscellaneous publications are the American edition of

Sir William Smith Sir William Smith (20 May 1813 – 7 October 1893) was an English lexicographer. He became known for his advances in the teaching of Greek and Latin in schools. Early life Smith was born in Enfield in 1813 to Nonconformist parents. He attende ...

's ''History of Greece'' (1855); translations of Menzel's ''German Literature'' (1840), of Munk's ''Metres of the Greeks and Romans'' (1844), and of

Guyot In marine geology, a guyot (), also called a tablemount, is an isolated underwater volcanic mountain (seamount) with a flat top more than below the surface of the sea. The diameters of these flat summits can exceed . Guyots are most commonly fo ...

's ''Earth and Man'' (1849); and ''Familiar Letters from Europe'' (1865).

Death

He died of "disease of the heart" while at his brother's house in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

, en route to a meeting of the

in Washington, D.C. He was buried at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...

Legacy

A historical marker in the town of West Newbury marks Felton's birthplace.

References

Publications

* ''Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society'' (Boston, 1866)

External links

*
Biography, part of a series of Harvard's Unitarian Presidents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Felton, Cornelius Conway 1807 births 1862 deaths Presidents of Harvard University People from Saugus, Massachusetts People from West Newbury, Massachusetts Harvard University faculty Hasty Pudding alumni