Background
Ebenezer Adams was born on October 22, 1765 in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, United States, the son of Ephraim and Rebecca Locke Adams. There were eighteen other children, and his father was a man of only moderate means.
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Ebenezer Adams
Edit ProfileEducation
A singing-school teacher once told Adams that his voice was so rasping that he "better save it to saw wood with"; nevertheless, he continued practicing and in time became a fairly good singer. He showed the same persistency in the matter of an education. Though he had to wait until he was twenty-one years old, he then began preparing for college at the local academy. At the age of twenty-two he entered Dartmouth and graduated with honors in the class of 1791.
Career
In 1792 Adams became preceptor of the academy at Leicester, Massachussets, where he remained until 1806. He was no mere pedant, but a leading citizen of the town, serving as justice of the peace and as its first postmaster. From Leicester he went to Portland, Maine, where he taught in an academy.
In 1808 he became the first professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. Apparently the trustees of Dartmouth had had their eyes on him for some years, for in 1804 when they elected his former teacher, John Hubbard, professor of mathematics and philosophy, they stipulated that in case Hubbard declined, the chair was to be offered to Adams. In 1809 they elected the latter to the chair of languages, and at Hubbard's death, a year later, Adams became his successor. He remained at Dartmouth the rest of his life, relinquishing his chair to his son-in-law, Ira Young, in 1833, and becoming professor emeritus.
During his term of service occurred the celebrated dispute between the State and the college. In 1816 the legislature passed an act amending the original charter, changing the name of the college to "Dartmouth University, " increasing the number of trustees, and providing for state control through a board of overseers. Under the new arrangement certain of the old trustees were removed, President Francis Brown and Professors Adams and Shurtleff, the only two permanent professors, were deposed, and the "University" organized and opened. Although excluded from the college buildings, the old faculty held its ground and continued the college in a hired hall, contending that the action of the legislature was illegal. They were finally upheld by the United States Supreme Court in the famous "Dartmouth College Case. "
In addition to his varied services to the college, he found time for philanthropic and religious work, being president of the Bible Society in New Hampshire, interested in the Colonization Society, which he judged the only hope of removing the evil of slavery, and active in the cause of foreign missions and temperance.
Achievements
Membership
In 1812 Adams was elected a fellow member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1813 he became a member of the American Antiquarian Society.
Personality
Adams was described by a pupil as well-proportioned, broad-shouldered, with a commanding presence and amiable countenance. He was bold, earnest, energetic; persevering, artless, and honest as the day. He said exactly what he meant. His vision was clear, strong, and accurate. Imagination was never active; oratory was not his forte.
Connections
On July 9, 1795, he married Alice, the daughter of Doctor John Frink of Rutland, Massachussets, who died June 20, 1805, leaving five children.
On May 17, 1807 he married Beulah, the daughter of Timothy Minot of Concord, Massachussets, by whom he had two children.
References
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Born
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Died
August 15, 1841 (aged 76) -
Resting place
Dartmouth College Cemetery, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States -
Nationality
American