Woods, Leonard, 1807---1878, , Massachusetts 1807 1878 Male Clergyman Presbyterian College President college president and clergyman, was born in Newbury, Massachussets His father, Leonard [q. v. ], was an influential member of the early faculty of Andover Theological Seminary; his mother, Abigail Wheeler, was a woman of marked character and ability.
Upon graduating from Phillips Academy, Andover, Leonard entered Dartmouth, but after less than one term removed to Union College, Schenectady, N. Y. , where he was graduated with the degree of bachelor of arts at the head of his class in 1827.
Prof. Charles Carroll Everett [q. v. ] pictures him in college (post, p. 7) as of light, spare form, of almost feminine softness of feature allied with manly firmness, resolution and capacity for rather uncommon muscular performances.
He chose to enter the ministry, however, going to Andover Theological Seminary, where he completed his course in 1830.
In addition to giving some instruction, he prepared Lectures on Christian Theology (2 vols. , 1831 - 33), a translation of the work of G. C. Knapp.
Career
His feats in the composition of Greek iambics and hexameters were regarded as remarkable.
Upon his graduation President Eliphalet Nott [q. v. ] predicted that he might become a distinguished linguist or mathematician or a man of general literature (Everett, p. 9).
The next two years he spent as Abbot Resident at Andover, living the life of a scholarly recluse and devoting ten hours a day to his books.
In 1830 he was licensed to preach by the Londonderry Presbytery, and in 1833 was ordained by the Third Presbytery of New York, having preached acceptably at the laight Street Church.
Theological Seminary.
In 1839, before he reached the age of thirty-two, he was chosen the fourth president of Bowdoin College, in which position he remained for twenty-seven years--the longest administration in the history of Bowdoin, except that of William De Witt Hyde [q. v. ].
He relied very largely on the honor of the young men under his charge and often made a deep impression upon the students by his own attitude and character.
At one time, for example, he had certain intemperate students join with him in a pledge of total abstinence for the remainder of their course.
He was likewise instrumental in winning for the college the reversionary interest in the estate of James Bowdoin, displaying in the long drawn out litigation remarkable legal learning and acumen.
In Paris he dined with Louis Philippe, where it is recorded "he interested the king, and charmed the queen, and captivated the princesses" (Ibid. , p. 45).
He spent some hours at the Vatican with Pope Gregory XVI, conversing in Latin and winning the Pope's admiration both for his scholarship and his charm.
This experience broke his health and spirit, and for the rest of his life he was an invalid.
His motto was "First, that what is true is useful, and, secondly, that it ought to be uttered whether it is useful or not. "
[Nehemiah Cleaveland and A. S. Packard, Hist.
of Bowdoin College (1882); L. C. Hatch, The Hist.
of Bowdoin College (1927); E. A. Park, The Life and Character of Leonard Woods, D. D. , LL. D.
(1880); C. C. Everett, Leonard Woods, A Discourse (1879); Union Alumni Mo. , Jan. 1916; Gen. Cat.
of the Theological Sem. , Andover, Massachussets, 1808-1908 (n. d. ); Boston Transcript, Dec. 26, 1878. ]
Religion
He was catholic in his tastes and studies, but the center of all his hopes and interests was in religion.
Connections
At Oxford he met Stanley and Newman and other leaders of the Oxford movement, writing "Dr. Pusey has treated me as a brother" (Park, post, p. 44).
