| Show great dead william balney harper president of the university of chicago died jan 10 at his residence fifty ninth street and lexington avenue chicago death resulted from a cancerous growth in the intestines of more than a year s standing the end was peaceful and without pain all the members of the family were at the bedside whet the end came to all dr harper had spoken his farewell message his last words were god always helps sketch of dr harpers career william rainey harper was born in lew concord county ohio july 26 1866 hi parents samuel harper and ellen elizabeth balney harper were et scotch irish ancestry the boy grew to be the great educator wi the oldest of fi ch idren dr harper received hl early edu cation in college in his home village entering the college at the age of eight years he corn plated the course with honors and was graduated when 14 years old with the degree of A at the graduation exercises he delivered the commence ment day oration in hebrew the study of which even then had in tensely interested him following his graduation dr per remained at home for three years pursuing ats favorite studies and when 17 years of age entered the graduate department of yale sity and after two years the degree of doctor of then almost exactly thirty years ago he married the daughter of dent paul of the muskingum ngum college and although on 19 years 01 age began life as the principal of the mason ic college at macon tenn dr harper retained his position as head of the masonic college for one year only he resigned the principal ship to become a tutor in dellson university at ohio of which dr E benjamin andrews was then president dr harper was appointed principal of the preparatory department of the college in 1880 dr harper went to chicago taking the chair of hebrew and old testament exegesis of the baptist theological hemli ary at morgan park here he remained tor six years and not content with the regular duties of his position organized a summer school tor the study of hebrew taught the same language by mall and founded the american institute of hebrew the call extended to dr harper by the trustees of the morgan park seminary was extended with some misgivings and upon the advice of president andrews of denison and the president of their own seminary george W northrup in 1885 president harper became principal of the chautauqua college of liberal arts which position he re talked for six years one year after accepting this place he resigned his chair at the morgan park seminary and became professor of semitic languages in the faculty of the yale university he also be came professor of literature in the academic faculty he carried on the duties of his three positions with great success and vigor until 1890 he remained at the head of the chautauqua system until 1891 when he went abroad for a short season of travel and study immediately preceding this time plans in which president harper had taken an active part were in progress for the reviving of the chicago hersity which was at that time lead ing a precarious existence in J me 1891 dr harper assumed his duties of president of the sity of chicago his aim was to make the university one of the great est educational institutions in the world and his untiring energy and devotion to his scholastic ideals en abbed him to make his early wish a realization his views regarding higher aduca alon met with the approval of the greatest minds of the time and it Is almost entirely due to president har pers boundless energy that the en dow ments were secured for the hersity almost in a day after accepting the difficult task of rehabilitating the hersity dr harper gathered around him the brightest scholars in ameri ca and created a faculty of an ability equaling that of a university with a history of a ventury four children three sons and a daughter were born of bis union with miss ellen paul |
