George Frederick Magoun (1821 – January 30, 1896"Obituaries", ''The New York Times''. January 31, 1896. Available fro

/ref>), a member of the Iowa Band of Congregationalist ministers, was the first president of

Iowa College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

(now Grinnell College), where he served as college president from 1865 to 1885.Grinnell College Libraries
Presidents of Grinnell College
. Accessed May 10, 2008.

Life

George Magoun was born in

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

in 1821, where he attended Bath Academy before entering

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

. He graduated from Bowdoin in 1841. After Bowdoin, he taught at schools in

Galena, Illinois Galena is the largest city in and the county seat of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, with a population of 3,308 at the 2020 census. A section of the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Galena Historic District. The ci ...

and

Platteville, Wisconsin Platteville is the largest city in Grant County in southwestern Wisconsin. The population was 11,836 at the 2020 census, up from 11,224 at the 2010 census. Much of this growth is likely due to the enrollment increase of the University of Wisc ...

from 1844-1846. Magoun continued his studies at

Andover Seminary Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts. Affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ. It was the product of a merger between Andover Theological ...

and completed his divinity degree in 1847. Now an ordained Congregationalist minister, Magoun and other members of the Iowa Band moved to the Midwest to establish congregations. Magoun led congregations in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

and

Lyons, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt Cl ...

, also studying law in

Burlington, Iowa Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of, Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 23,982 in the 2020 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in 2000. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area, which includes ...

. He became a founding trustee of

, then located in Davenport. In 1854 and 1855, as the town's relations with the college worsened, Magoun and other trustees pushed to move to the new town of

Grinnell, Iowa Grinnell is a city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,564 at the time of the 2020 census. It is best known for being the home of Grinnell College. History Grinnell was founded by settlers from New England who were ...

. At the end of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

in 1865, Magoun was inaugurated as the college's first president.Jones, Alan
"A Brief History of Grinnell College"
pp. 10-17. Accessed May 10, 2008. Magoun was a liberal president, permitting the teaching of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

despite his personal disagreement with Darwin's work. As the first college president, he attempted to realize his vision for a college in the West:

The best cure for 'prairie-mindedness' is found in that spiritual-mindedness which creates scholars because it requires a knowledge of the deep things of our own nature and of God... A College prompts to great moral enterprise, nay it is itself a great moral enterprise.

In 1870, George Magoun married Elizabeth Earle, an 1860 graduate of

Mount Holyoke Seminary Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

who taught at Mount Holyoke from 1860 to 1867.Five Colleges Archives Digital Access Project
Stow, ''History of Mount Holyoke Seminary''
, "Chapter XXII: Catalogue of Officers of Mount Holyoke Seminary, of Anniversary Speakers, and of Pastors", p. 350. Accessed May 10, 2008 In Grinnell, Elizabeth Earle Magoun was one of the founders of the town's oldest women's club, the "Busy Woman's Club", founded in 1870 and renamed in honor of Mrs. Magoun in 1896. During Magoun's tenure as president, the college grew significantly; in 1882, there were two buildings and nearly 400 students. Despite a

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

that year that destroyed the campus and killed two students, by the time of Magoun's 1884 retirement, three new buildings had been built. George Magoun was succeeded by

George A. Gates George Augustus Gates (January 24, 1851 - November 20, 1912) was an American Congregational minister and university administrator. He was the president of Grinnell College from 1887 to 1900, Pomona College from 1902 to 1909, and Fisk University f ...

in 1887; Professor of

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

Natural Philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...

Samuel J. Buck served as interim president from 1884 to 1887. After his retirement as college president, Magoun took a professorship in

Mental Mental may refer to: * of or relating to the mind Films * ''Mental'' (2012 film), an Australian comedy-drama * ''Mental'' (2016 film), a Bangladeshi romantic-action movie * ''Mental'', a 2008 documentary by Kazuhiro Soda * ''Mental'', a 2014 O ...

and

Moral Science Human science (or human sciences in the plural), also known as humanistic social science and moral science (or moral sciences), studies the philosophical, biological, social, and cultural aspects of human life. Human science aims to expand our ...

at Iowa College, teaching from 1884 to 1890. Chicago Hall, on the Grinnell College campus, was renamed Magoun Hall in memory of President Magoun. Magoun Hall, which stood near the present buildings of the

Bucksbaum Center for the Arts The Bucksbaum Center for the Arts is part of Grinnell College, located in Grinnell, Iowa. The center was completed in May 1999, and actually contains the old Fine Arts complex. The center was designed by renowned architect César Pelli. The ...

and Burling Library, was demolished in 1959. Conard, Henry S. and Larissa Mottl. (1927 and 2003) Grinnell College, Center for Prairie Studies
''Our Trees: A Guide to Trees in Grinnell''
pp. 100-101

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magoun 1821 births 1896 deaths Bowdoin College alumni People from Bath, Maine Presidents of Grinnell College Andover Theological Seminary alumni 19th-century American educators