Chauncey Colton (August 30, 1800April 15, 1876) was an educator, author and clergyman.
History
Chauncey Colton was born in
Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,853 at the 2020 census.
History
Longmeadow was first settled in 1644, and officially incorporated October 17, 1783. The town was originally farm ...
to Gad and Ann Colton. He began his studies at Monson Academy, as a sophomore, he went to Amherst College and his final year he attended
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
. In the spring of 1827, Colton and classmate Francis Fellowes established
Mount Pleasant Classical Institute Mount Pleasant Classical Institute, was a boarding school for boys in Amherst, Massachusetts. It operated for five years from 1827 to 1832, and served ages 4–16. It was founded by Amherst College graduates Chauncey Colton D. D. and Francis Fel ...
at Amherst. Colton stayed at Mount Pleasant as associate principal until 1830. He was ordained Deacon in The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, Diocese, on July 28, 1830. He was deacon at St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, New York. In the summer of 1830, he was rector of St. Paul's, Rochester, New York. In Washington, D. C. he became rector of Trinity church. He was ordained Presbyter in the same church in 1831. In 1832, he married Ann Coxe daughter of U.S. Representative from New Jersey William Coxe Jr., Coxe also served as Mayor of Burlington, New Jersey. They had six children.
In September 1833, he was the founder and president of Bristol College in
Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...
, which combined manual labor and study. One of the students of
Mount Pleasant Classical Institute Mount Pleasant Classical Institute, was a boarding school for boys in Amherst, Massachusetts. It operated for five years from 1827 to 1832, and served ages 4–16. It was founded by Amherst College graduates Chauncey Colton D. D. and Francis Fel ...
named John C. Zachos followed Colton to Bristol College. Colton remained there from 1833 to 1836. He received an honorary
Doctorate of Divinity
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...
from
NYU
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
in 1835. NYU was four years old. While at Bristol he published the book ''The Religious Souvenir''. He then accepted the Professorship of Pastoral Divinity in the Theological Department of Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. He was Professor of Homiletics. Again, Zachos followed Colton to
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is ...
. Attending the institution at the time were future president
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...
and Supreme Court justice
Stanley Matthews
Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while sti ...
. Zachos and Colton were close, when Zachos moved to Cincinnati to live with classmate Matthews, Colton followed. Colton took control of the Trinity Church in Cincinnati, for nearly a year."Topping, Eva Catafygiotu" ''John Zachos Cincinnatian from Constantinople'' The Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin Volumes 33-34 Cincinnati Historical Society 1975: p. 49
In 1841, Abolitionist Salmon P. Chase and Colton were on the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Ohio. According to Western Episcopal Observer edited by Colton, he helped Zachos establish the Mr. Zachos Select School. Now in Cincinnati, he also established St. John's College and Academy with Zachos. Zachos was still attending graduate school and continued to study medicine. He taught mathematics oratory and other courses at the institution. Colton was the President and taught Latin. In 1847, he published, ''Effective Public Speaking: An Oration, Delivered Before The Burritt Literary Society of Farmers College Ohio''. Zachos published a poem by Colton in his book ''The New American Speaker'' entitled The Price of Eloquence.
In 1851, Colton became a missionary in the south, he moved to
Holly Springs, Mississippi
Holly Springs is a city in, and the county seat of, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the southern border of Tennessee. Near the Mississippi Delta, the area was developed by European Americans for cotton plantations and was d ...
. He was the Principal of St Thomas Hall Military Boys School, and associate rector of Christ Church. Bishop Polk was a fan of the Western Episcopal Observer he began to circulate it in his Diocese during the forties. Polk was one of the largest slaveholders in the south he was a proponent of educating slaves. In 1854, Colton was assistant to Bishop
Leonidas Polk
Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk (April 10, 1806 – June 14, 1864) was a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and founder of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, which separated from the Episcopal Ch ...
Hungars Church
Hungars Church, also known as Hungars Parish Church, is a historic Episcopal church located at Bridgetown, Northampton County, Virginia. Since 1828, when an additional church was constructed about nine miles away in Eastville (which is now also ...
, Northampton County, Virginia for the next ten years. He remained in Virginia during the civil war. At 68, he was rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church (Cumberland, Maryland) until 1872. The next four years of his life he spent with his wife and son, R. Francis Colton in Jenkintown Penn. In 1874, starting in January for 11 months he was in charge of Saint Stephen's Church Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania. He died of an acute infection of the spinal cord in
Jenkintown, Pennsylvania
Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Center City Philadelphia.
History
The community was named for William Jenkins, a Welsh pioneer settler.
Jenkintown is located just ...
New England Historic Genealogical Society
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845.
NEHGS provides family history services through its staff, original scholarship, website,"Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters" ''The New-England Historical and Genealogical Register 1877 Volume 31' Printed By David Claff & Son: p. 436
Literary works
* The Religious Souvenir 1837
* The Christian Hearer 1838
* Public Speaking: An Oration, Delivered Before The Burritt Literary Society of Farmers College Ohio 1847