Lord, Nathan, 1792-1870

Lord, Nathan, 1792-1870

 

Dates

  • Existence: 1792 - 1870

Biography

Nathan Lord (born November 28, 1792, Berwick, Maine [U.S.] – died September 9, 1870, Hanover, New Hampshire [U.S.]), graduated from Bowdoin College in 1809, attended Andover Theological Seminary and was a U.S. Congregational clergyman and educator. Lord served as the College’s sixth president (1828-1863).

Lord was able to bring the college out of debt, improve the overall curriculum, and raise admission levels. He was a founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, and in 1833 was its Vice President. But his views on slavery changed dramatically; he came to see it as "not a moral evil", but "an ordinance of...God", which "providentially found a settlement in this country". These views and his opposition to the Civil War, which he blamed on abolitionists, brought a storm of controversy, earning him the enmity of several members of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees, including Amos Tuck (1835), a founding member of the Republican Party and close friend of Abraham Lincoln. Matters came to a head in 1863 when the Trustees were deadlocked on awarding an honorary degree to President Lincoln, and Lord broke the tie by voting against it. The Trustees issued a statement: "Neither the trustees nor the Faculty coincide with the president of the College in the views which he has published, touching slavery and the war; and it has been our hope that the College would not be judged a partisan institution by reason of such publications." Lord tendered his resignation. He continued as an active member of the Dartmouth College community, in Hanover, New Hampshire, until his death in 1870.

Found in 117 Collections and/or Records:

Absalom Peters letter

Mss 831364.1
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 831364.1
Date(s): 1831-06-14
Abstract

In English.

Absalom Peters letter

Mss 831456
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 831456
Date(s): 1831-08-06
Abstract

In English.

Amos Avery Brewster letter

Mss 828554
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 828554
Date(s): 1828-10-04
Abstract

In English.

Asa Dodge Smith letter

Mss 832468
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 832468
Date(s): 1832-08-18
Abstract

In English.

Asa Dodge Smith letter

Mss 863525.1
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 863525.1
Date(s): 1863-09-25
Scope and Contents

Three-page letter from Asa Dodge Smith in New York to Nathan Lord regarding his diffidence at accepting the presidency of Dartmouth College.

Caleb Mills certification

Mss 832466.1
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 832466.1
Date(s): 1832-08-16
Abstract

In English.

Calvin Ellis Stowe letter

Mss 833406
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 833406
Date(s): 1833-07-06
Abstract

In English.

Dartmouth College [Hanover, NH] to George and Charles Merriam [Springfield, MA], Letter

Mss 860119
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 860119
Date(s): 1860-01-19
Abstract

Lord lavishes praise on the 1859 edition of Webster's dictionary.

Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH) To Rev. Mr. Leavitt Strafford, VT, Letter

Mss 832656.1
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 832656.1
Date(s): 1832-12-06
Abstract

Writing about the availability of domestic help.

Dartmouth College Trustees resolution

Mss 841107.2
 Collection
Identifier: Mss 841107.2
Date(s): 1841-01-07
Abstract

In English.