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 130 Collections and/or Records:
A.B. Bullions letter
Two-page letter from A.B. Bullions in Troy, New York to Nathan Lord, suggesting Thomas Goodwillie as worthy of a D.D. degree from Dartmouth.
Absalom Peters letter
In English.
Absalom Peters letter
In English.
Amos Avery Brewster letter
In English.
Asa Dodge Smith letter
In English.
Asa Dodge Smith letter
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
In English.
Calvin Ellis Stowe letter
In English.
Dartmouth College [Hanover, NH] to George and Charles Merriam [Springfield, MA], Letter
Lord lavishes praise on the 1859 edition of Webster's dictionary.
Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH) To Rev. Mr. Leavitt Strafford, VT, Letter
Writing about the availability of domestic help.
Dartmouth College Trustees resolution
In English.
David D. Stewart letter
In English.
D.P. Janes letter
In English.
Edmund Randolph Peaslee letter
In English.
E.R. Fairchild letter
In English.
George W. Perkins letter
In English.
Hanover, NH, to Edward [Gould] , Letter
Not attending the meeting of the ABCFM (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions) in Portland Maine.
Hanover [NH], to Rev. Jacob Cummings, Stratham, New Hampshire, Letter
Corrects Cummings' impressions of [Daniel] Clark, members, Dartmouth Class of 1834, and later a judge and U.S. senator from New Hampshire. Lord describes Clark being caught at Holton House, a local brothel, consorting with prostitutes. Lord notes that Clark encouraged other students to participate and discusses his contraction of a venereal disease. He also describes the punishment of Clark and the other students.
Harvey Jewell letter
Three-page letter from Harvey Jewell in Boston to Nathan Lord, transmitting copy of resolution adopted at meeting of the Boston Alumni, January 6, 1864, in which they express their deep respect and hearty affection for addressee.
Jared Sparks letter
In English.