William Henry Purnell

Background

William Henry was born on February 3, 1826 on a farm in Worcester County, Maryland, United States, which had been owned by five generations of ancestors. He was eldest of six children of Moses and Maria (Bowen) Purnell.

Education

After preparatory training in Buckingham Academy, Berlin, Maryland, William Henry Purnell entered Delaware College (now the University of Delaware), where he was graduated in the class of 1846. He then read law with Judge John R. Franklin in Snow Hill.

Career

Purnell was admitted to the bar in 1848. In 1850 he was appointed prosecuting attorney of Worcester County and upon the death of Judge Franklin, was chosen to succeed him in 1853 as deputy attorney-general of Maryland. He held this office until 1855. Finally, he was elected comptroller of the state treasury.

He joined the American or Know-Nothing party and in its state convention, 1857, received thirty-four votes on the first ballot in the contest for nomination for governor. When Thomas Holliday Hicks was finally nominated for the office, Purnell was nominated to succeed himself as state comptroller. He was elected and reelected in 1859. In 1861 he was appointed deputy postmaster of Baltimore by President Lincoln.

Following the battle of Bull Run, Purnell hurried to Washington and secured permission to organize a military force. The "Purnell Legion, " as it later was called, was composed of one regiment of infantry, two companies of cavalry, and two batteries of artillery. With a commission as colonel, he had succeeded in recruiting 700 men when he was ordered by General McClellan to join the troops under General Lockwood at Salisbury, Maryland, for the purpose of opposing a Confederate force which was reported forming on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. When later the Legion was ordered back to Baltimore it numbered 1, 240 men.

In 1862, Purnell resigned his command, devoting himself during the remainder of the war to his duties in the post office and to political affairs. From 1864 to 1866 he was chairman of the Union Party state central committee. President Johnson reappointed him deputy postmaster of Baltimore in 1866, but the Senate rejected the appointment. Johnson then gave him a recess appointment to the post of assessor of internal revenue at Baltimore, which he held until the rejection of his name by the Senate in February 1867.

After his retirement from politics he practised law in Baltimore until 1870, when he was elected president of Delaware College. During his presidency (1870 - 85), he was also professor of English literature and language and of mental, moral, and political science, and for a time taught Latin. He proved very successful as a college executive and teacher. By the Delaware public-school law of 1875, which he had earnestly advocated, he was made ex-officio president of the Delaware board of education. He continued as a trustee of Delaware College for the remainder of his life.

In 1885 he became principal of the Frederick Female Seminary, now Hood College, Frederick, Maryland, and later became president of New Windsor College in Carroll County, Maryland. In 1897, he returned to Delaware College as instructor in elocution and oratory, which post he held until his death.

Achievements

• William Henry Purnell was known as he raised a military unit for the Union cause, known as Purnell's Legion, in the United States Civil War. Serving as the first president of Delaware College, he favored coeducation and was mainly responsible for securing favorable action by the Board for the admission of women in 1872.

Politics

During the early part of his career, Purnell was a Whig, but later joined the American or Know-Nothing party.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• According to E. N. Vallandigham, his colleague: "His scholarship was certainly not that of a modern specialist but he was a somewhat widely read lover of good letters, and a public speaker of more than common charm and force".

Connections

On June 13, 1849 Purnell married Margaret Neill Martin. She died September 3, 1895. Five of their ten children died in childhood; a daughter, Caroline Martin Purnell, became a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Father:

Moses Purnell

Mother:

Maria (Bowen) Purnell

Spouse:

Margaret Neill Martin

Daughter:

Caroline Martin Purnell

References

• The History Of Education In Delaware (1893)
• Newark, Delaware: Past and Present
• History of the State of Delaware 1908 Hardcover