John Henry Clewell

Background

John Henry Clewell was born on September 19, 1855 in Salem, North Carolina, United States. His father, John David Clewell, was of Huguenot ancestry; his mother was Dorothea Shultz.

Education

John Henry passed through the elementary schools of Salem and entered the Moravian College and Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated, receiving the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity in 1875 and 1877 respectively. He planned to enter the Moravian ministry but before doing so he spent two years at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was ordained as a deacon of the Moravian church in 1879. In 1900 he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy degree from his alma mater.

Career

In 1879 Clewell went to Ohio to take charge of the Uhrichsville church. While serving here he also founded the Port Washington (Ohio) church in 1880, and became a presbyter in the Moravian church. In 1884 he was called to the place of his birth to become the assistant principal of Winston-Salem Academy and College, a Moravian institution for girls; in 1888 he became principal, and later president. For twenty-five years he labored in this institution, traveling extensively in the West and the South in the interest of the school. In 1899 he went to Europe to attend the General Synod of the Moravian church.

He was so successful in raising the academic standards of Winston-Salem and in building it up generally that he was offered the presidency of the Moravian Seminary and College for Women at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and accepted the position in 1909.

His problem at Bethlehem was to develop a strong institution in spite of restricted financial resources. This he succeeded in doing through a working arrangement with Lehigh University whereby certain members of its faculty were able to give a portion of their time to teaching in the Moravian College for Women. He remained president of the school to the time of his death. In 1902 he published his History of Wachovia in North Carolina, which is an account of the Moravian church in this region for a period of 150 years.

Achievements

• Clewell played an important role in the education of women in the United States for almost forty years. Under his direction, Salem Female Academy prospered and by 1892 there were over three hundred girls in attendance. Among his other outstanding achievements in the South was the organization of the Association of Presidents of Women’s Colleges in the S.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Moravian Easter, Salem, North Carolina (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from The Moravian Easter, Salem, North Carolina ...)

  • History of Wachovia in North Carolina, 1752-1902

    (A detailed history of the settlement of the Winston-Salem...)

  • The Memorabilia of Fifty Years, 1887 to 1927.
  • Moravian settlement in North Carolina.

Religion

John Henry Clewell was a member of the Moravian church.

Connections

In June 1882 Clewell married Alice Cornelia Wolle of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, by whom he had five sons.

Father:

John David Clewell

Mother:

Dorothea Shultz

Spouse:

Alice Cornelia Wolle

References

• History of the Moravian Church: The renewed Unitas Fratrum, 1722-1957