James Strong (college president)
| James Strong | |
|---|---|
| 1st President of Carleton College | |
|
In office 1870–1903 |
|
| Succeeded by | William Henry Sallmon |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 29, 1833 Brownington, Vermont, U.S. |
| Died | February 24, 1913 (aged 79) Rice, Minnesota |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Beloit College Union Theological Seminary |
| Religion | Congregationalist |
Dr. James Woodward Strong (September 29, 1833 - February 24, 1913), theologian and scholar, was the first president of Carleton College. Despite lifelong illness and injury, Strong was a highly active man throughout his life, juggling multiple professional and personal occupations.
Strong was born on September 29, 1833 in Brownington, Vermont, one of three sons of Elijah Gridley Strong and Sarah Ashley Partridge. Despite ill health as a child, James began his working life at the age of fourteen with a yearlong assistantship in a printing office. He followed this service with two years in the Burlington bookstore of Edward Smith, during which time he also began studying Latin, a critical element of advanced study in a 19th-century education. At the age of 17, Strong took a position teaching school in a mountain school district, the start of his professional life in academia.
In 1851, he accompanied his family to Beloit, Wisconsin, where his parents opened the old Beloit House as a temperance hotel. On arrival there, James enrolled in the preparatory department of the Beloit Academy, continuing as a student in the college department in 1854. He graduated at the head of his class in 1858. During his years of study he also taught in local schools, and in 1856 was chosen Beloit's first superintendent of schools. He also served as secretary of the State Teacher's Association and of the Library Association. He had also learned telegraphy during his time in Beloit, in 1853 taking charge of the local railway telegraph office. Strong brought his younger brother William to assist him in that office, launching William's career in the railroad business. (William would eventually become president of the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad.) In 1858, James served in the telegraph office in Madison, and at the same time he was a legislative reporter for Milwaukee newspapers.
In 1859, Strong began study at Union Theological Seminary in New York. His eyesight having become quite poor, his classmate Eugene Avery read lecture notes to him for his first two years. Strong married Mary Davenport in Beloit on September 3, 1861. Mary's help reading texts was invaluable and enabled him to complete his work and graduate from the seminary in 1862. Strong would rely on Mary for such help for the rest of his professional life.
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