Robert Harpur (January 25, 1731
Ballybay,
County Monaghan,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
- April 15, 1825) was an Irish-American teacher, politician, pioneer, and landowner. He participated in surveying lands within the
Central Military Tract in New York State and is credited with giving classical (Latin and Greek) place names to numerous locations in
central New York. He settled in the
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
area, where
Harpur College
The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...
is named for him.
Life
Harpur was a graduate of the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
and taught in Ireland for 7 years before coming to the
Colony of New York in 1760. Three days after his arrival in 1761 he was installed as professor of mathematics at King's College, renamed Columbia College after U.S. independence (today
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
). One of his prized pupils was
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795.
Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
while he studied there in 1774.
During his tenure, he was hired by the university to catalog the collections of the
Columbia library, making him the first librarian of the university.
Harpur served in various capacities in the New York government during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
. He was a member of the
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits.
The Assem ...
from 1777 to 1784. He was Deputy Secretary of State under
John Morin Scott
John Morin Scott (1730 – September 14, 1784) was a lawyer, military officer, and statesman before, during and after the American Revolution.
Early life
Scott was born in Manhattan in 1730. He was the only child of John Scott (1702–1733) ...
and
Lewis Allaire Scott
Lewis Allaire Scott (February 11, 1759 – March 17, 1798) was an American politician.
Life
He was the son of John Morin Scott and Helena Rutgers Scott.
On January 18, 1785, he married Julianna Sitgreaves (sister of Samuel Sitgreaves), and thei ...
from 1778 to 1795. In the spring of 1795, after the American Revolutionary War, Robert Harpur, with his 2nd wife Myra and family, moved west along the upper
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...
. He settled near
Belden Brook on his
Warren Patent, which is near present-day
Harpursville, NY.
[
]
Legacy
Harpursville, New York
Colesville is a town in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 4,877 at the 2020 census.
The town is in the northeastern part of the county and is northeast of Binghamton.
History
The area was first settled ''circa'' 17 ...
in eastern Broome County, New York
Broome County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the county had a population of 198,683. Its county seat is Binghamton. The county was named for John Broome, the state's lieutenant governor when Br ...
was named after him. Additionally, Harpur College
The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university with campuses in Binghamton, Vestal, and Johnson City, New York. It is one of the four university centers in the State ...
, the arts and sciences component, and the oldest part, of present-day Binghamton University
The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university with campuses in Binghamton, New York, Binghamton, Vestal, New York, Vestal, and Johnson City, New Yor ...
, was also named for him.
Classical names used in New York
While Harpur worked as a clerk in the office of the New York State Surveyor General, and Secretary of the Land Board, he assigned numerous classical tradition
The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritua ...
names to locations in the Central New York Military Tract, today in Cayuga County, Cortland County
Cortland County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Cortland County was 46,809. The county seat is Cortland, New York, C ...
, Oneida County, Onondaga County, and Seneca County.
An earlier theory was that Surveyor General Simeon De Witt
Simeon De Witt (December 25, 1756 – December 3, 1834) was Geographer and Surveyor General of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and Surveyor General of the State of New York for the fifty years from 1784 until his death.
Life ...
assigned these classical names.[
]
Archival material
The New York State Library
The New York State Library is a research library in Albany, New York, United States. It was established in 1818 to serve the state government of New York and is part of the New York State Education Department. The library is one of the largest ...
, in Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
, holds the following materials of Harpur, according to its online catalog: "This collection contains material created by Harpur and material collected about him. Among Harpur's papers are his personal account books, 1768-1814, which include house expenses and tuition accounts for students he tutored; and a photostat of a land grant to Harpur for lands in Kingsbury and Queensbury townships. Among the items collected about Harpur are several biographies, postcards of the Senate House in Kingston, N.Y. and Clinton's mansion, and a photostat of a 1790 print of Columbia College, where Harpur taught."
See also
*Colesville, New York
Colesville is a town in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 4,877 at the 2020 census.
The town is in the northeastern part of the county and is northeast of Binghamton.
History
The area was first settled ''circa'' 178 ...
References
External links
Early history of Colesville, NY
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harpur, Robert
1731 births
1825 deaths
Columbia University faculty
Columbia University librarians
Members of the New York State Assembly
Politicians from Binghamton, New York
History of Broome County, New York
Politicians from County Monaghan
Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)
Central New York
People from Colesville, New York
Binghamton University
Alumni of the University of Glasgow