The Geauga Seminary (also known as Western Reserve Labor Seminary) was a

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...

school in

Chester Township, Geauga County, Ohio Chester Township is one of the sixteen townships of Geauga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 10,256. Geography Located in the northwestern corner of the county, it borders the following townships and municipal ...

. President

James Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until Assassination of James A. Garfield, his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an as ...

attended the Seminary.

History

The school was founded in 1842 by the Western Reserve Free-Will Baptist Society and the first building was constructed in 1843. Its charter prohibited any discrimination based upon race or gender. Early professors at the school included

George H. Ball George Harvey Ball (1819-1907) was an American academic, pastor, writer, and founder of Keuka College in New York. Early life and education George H. Ball was born in 1819 near the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec to American parents from Massachuse ...

and

Ransom Dunn Rev. Ransom Dunn, D.D. (July 7, 1818 – November 9, 1900) (nickname: "the Grand Old Man of Hillsdale") was an American minister and theologian, prominent in the early Free Will Baptist movement in New England. He was President of Rio Grande Coll ...

, both Free Baptist clergymen from New England. President

met his wife

Lucretia Garfield Lucretia Garfield (''née'' Rudolph; April 19, 1832 – March 13, 1918) was the first lady of the United States from March to September 1881, as the wife of James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States. Born in Garrettsville, Ohio ...

(Randolph) while attending Geauga. When the school closed in 1853, most of its assets were acquired by

Hillsdale College , mottoeng = Strength Rejoices in the Challenge , established = , type = Liberal arts college , religious_affiliation = Not affiliatedBaptist (historical) , endowment = $900 million ( ...

in Michigan, another Free Will Baptist institution. The Seminary building was demolished in 1927.Chester Township: Gateway to Geauga, Nov 8, 2012 by Ty Pilarczyk http://geauganews.com/chester-township-gateway-to-geauga/

Notable people affiliated with Geauga

James A Garfield and Lucretia RudolphRevise

, Freewill Baptist pastor and teacher at Geauga Seminary *

George T. Day George T. Day (1822–1875) was a Free Will Baptist writer, publisher, pastor and professor. George Tiffany Day was born in Concord, New York, in 1822. Day worked in textile mills as a child, and his parents moved to Scituate, Rhode Island, and ...

, principal of Geauga Seminary, writer, professor at

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the Campus of Bates College, campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of th ...

Orlando J. Hodge Orlando John Hodge (1828–1912) was a legislative leader in two U.S. States. Youth and military Orlando J. Hodge was born November 25, 1828, in Hamburg, New York. He was a fifth-generation American, with most of his ancestors living in Connecti ...

, Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives *

, Freewill Baptist pastor and teacher at Geauga Seminary *

Charles Gordon Ames Charles Gordon Ames (3 October 1828, Dorchester, Massachusetts - 15 April 1912) was a United States Unitarian clergyman, editor and lecturer. Biography He was a foundling, adopted by his parents when he was three years old. Ames spent his early y ...

, Unitarian clergyman, editor and lecturer. *

Robert Vaughn (Australian politician) Robert Matterson Vaughn (1833 – 14 April 1908) was an Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. Vaughn was born in Ohio, United States of America, son of Jesse Vaughn, a farmer, and his wife Betsy, Matterson. ...

Stephen A. Walker Stephen Ambrose Walker (November 2, 1835 – February 5, 1893) was an American lawyer from New York. He was most prominent for his service as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1886 to 1889. Life Walker was born ...

, principal of Geauga Seminary for a year, lawyer,

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York counties: New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan. Established by ...

, 20th President of the United States *

, First Lady

References

{{authority control Defunct private universities and colleges in Ohio Educational institutions established in 1842 Free Will Baptist schools Seminaries and theological colleges in Ohio Educational institutions disestablished in 1927 1842 establishments in Ohio