Wheelock, John , 1754-1817
Biography
John Wheelock was born on January 28, 1754, in Lebanon, Conn.He was the eldest son of Eleazar Wheelock who was the founder and first president of Dartmouth College; John Wheelock succeeded his father as the College’s second president.
Wheelock began his higher education at Yale, then followed his father to Hanover, NH when his father founded Dartmouth and completed his studies there, where he was a member of the College’s inaugural graduating class in 1771.
In 1776, Wheelock became a leader of the United Committees, a group of disgruntled New Hampshire citizens angry at their lack of representation in the state legislature and the distance of the state capital; in retaliation for these slights, Wheelock and others led twelve New Hampshire towns to secede from the state and attempt to join Vermont. The next year, 1777, as the Revolutionary War raged, Wheelock briefly served in New York and Vermont as a lieutenant colonel in Colonel Bedel's Regiment.
Upon his father's death in 1779, John Wheelock assumed the presidency of the College, despite the fact that he was neither an academic nor a minister.
During his almost forty years as Dartmouth's president (1779–1815), Wheelock oversaw the construction of Dartmouth Hall and the founding of Dartmouth Medical School, the fourth-oldest medical school in the country; he also maintained the College’s fiscal solvency throughout the Revolutionary War, mainly through the Vermont legislature’s grant of 23,000 acres (93 km²) in Wheelock, Vermont.
During the latter half of Wheelock's tenure, he became embroiled in a dispute with Dartmouth’s Board of Trustees. Wheelock proceeded to convince the governor of New Hampshire to fill the Board with supporters and turn Dartmouth College into a state-controlled Dartmouth University. The original, private Board resisted and eventually sued. The case, Dartmouth College v. Woodward, went through various judicial courts, before the United States Supreme Court decided in the Board's favor in 1819, the result of a brilliant peroration by Dartmouth alumnus Daniel Webster, class of 1801, who had, ironically, graduated under Wheelock's tenure. However, by this time, Wheelock, who had been forced out of the presidency in 1815 by failing health and poor relations with the Board, had died.
Found in 673 Collections and/or Records:
Joseph Steward letter
Two page letter from Joseph Steward of Hartford to John Wheelock of Dartmouth College writer will send the paintings by Nathaniel Patten who will receive the compensation, also. Josiah Dunham would be the best one to superintend their framing. The paintings: J. Phillips' and E. Wheelock's.
Joseph Strong letter
In English.
Joseph Willard letter
In English.
Joshua Converse letter
Letter from Joshua Converse of Chesterfield, New Hampshire to John Wheelock in Hanover, New Hampshire, requesting permission to receive his diploma in absentia.
Joshua Dodge recommendation
Recommendation by Joshua Dodge of Hervery Wilbur of Haverhill, New Hampshire to the President and Trusteees, recommending Mr. Wilbur as "a candidate for the gospel ministry." Also digned by Isaac Tompkins, Ebenezer Dutch and Jonathan Allen.
Josiah Dunham letter
In English.
Josiah Dunham letter
In English.
Josiah Dunham letter
In English.
Josiah Dunham letter
In English.
Josiah Dunham letter
In English.
Josiah Little letter
In English.
Josiah Quincy letter
In English.
J.R. Chadbourne letter
In English.
Juda Dana letter
In English.
Judah Dana letter
Two-page letter from Judah Dana to J. Wheelock, telling him that he cannot understand the conduct of the Trustees and voices his admiration for Mr. (William) Allen who would make a good successor to Wheelock.
Judah Dana letter
In English.
Judge Jno. Davis letter
In English.
Judge Jonah H. Hubbard letter
In English.
Justus Forward letter
Three page letter from Justus Forward in Beliherston to J. Wheelock recommending two boys for admission to college.
L. Parks, J. Bartlett and A. Wright articles of agreement
In English.
Additional filters:
- Type
- Collection 612
- Archival Object 61