History of New Concord, (Muskingum County) Ohio United States of America

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William Rainey Harper, educator, was born in New Concord. Ohio, July 26, 1856; the oldest son of Samuel and Ellen Elizabeth (Rainey) Harper; grandson of Samuel and Sarah (White) Harper, and of William Rainey, who came from Ireland about 1831; and a descendant of Robert and Jennet Harper, who came to America from Ireland in 1795. He was graduated from Muskingum college in 1870, and spent the next three years in private study. He then entered the graduate department of Yale and after two years devoted chiefly to the study of Indo-European languages, he received the degree of Ph.D. in 1875. He was principal of Masonic college, Macon, Tenn., 1875-76; tutor in the preparatory department, Denison university, Granville, Ohio, 1876-79; and principal of the same, 1879-80. He was professor of Hebrew and the cognate languages in the Baptist Union theological seminary, 1879-86; principal of the Chautauqua college of liberal arts, 1885-91, and was elected principal of the Chautauqua system in 1891. In 1886 he was appointed to the chair of the Semitic languages in Yale and in 1889 was, in addition, chosen Woolsey professor of biblical literature. He was also instructor in Hebrew in the Yale divinity school In July, 1891, he closed his work at Yale to accept the presidency of the University of Chicago, and the head-professorship of the department of Semitic languages and literatures. In addition to these various duties in 1880 he conceived the idea of and instituted the Hebrew correspondence school, and in 1884 the American Institute of Hebrew was organized under his direction and incorporated under the laws of Illinois. This later became the American institute of sacred literature. He was elected a member of the American historical association and of other learned societies. The degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by Colby in 1891, and that of LL.D. by the University of Nebraska in 1893. He edited the Biblical World, the American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures (formerly Hebraica) and is joint author of numerous text-books including the following: Elements of Hebrew (1886); Introductory Method and Manual (1886); Inductive Greek Method (1888); Inductive Latin Method (1888); Elements of Hebrew Syntax (1888); An Introductory New Testament, Greek Method (1888); Hebrew Vocabularies (1890); Inductive Latin Primer (1891); Virgil's ?neid (1892); Virgil's ?neild and Bucolics (1893); C?sar's Gallic War (1893); Inductive Greek Primer (1893); Greek Prose Composition (1893); Xenophon's Anabasis, seven books, with notes and vocabulary (1893); and Cicero's Orations and Selections from the Letters (1898).

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of New Concord, (Muskingum County) Ohio

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