Rufus Columbus Burleson (August 7, 1823 – May 14, 1901) was the president of

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, from 1851 to 1861 and again from 1886 to 1897.The Baptist Voice
/ref>Handbook of Texas Online
/ref>First Baylor Presidency
/ref>Second Baylor Presidency
/ref>

Biography

Burleson was born near Decatur in northern

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. In 1840, he moved to Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, to study law at the University of Nashville but dropped out and started preaching at the First Baptist Church of Nashville. He fell ill in 1841, and taught in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

until 1845. From 1846 to 1847, he attended the Western Baptist Literary and Theological Institute in Covington,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. He then preached at the First Baptist Church of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, Texas. On November 19, 1854, he baptized Sam Houston. He served as the second president of Baylor University from 1851 to 1861. He moved to Waco University, later merged with Baylor, because of friction with Horace Clark, and he became its president. He was again President of Baylor from 1886 to 1897. In 1894, a boarder at his home accused H. Steen Morris (no relation to Burleson) of having committed a sexual assault. Burleson was accused by William Cowper Brann of having some knowledge of this, and thus, complicit, but Burleson was cleared by a grand jury and the accused, H. Steen Morris, was acquitted. The scandal likely contributed to his demotion to

president emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

in 1897 despite being cleared of criminal charges by a grand jury. He was president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas from 1892 to 1893. He was asked in 1869 by

Barnas Sears Barnas Sears (November 19, 1802 – July 6, 1880) was an American educational theorist and Baptist theologian. Biography Sears graduated from Brown University in 1825 and from Newton Theological Institution in 1827. For a short time, he served ...

, a former president of Brown University in Providence,

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, to establish the

Peabody Education Fund The Peabody Education Fund was established by George Peabody in 1867, after the American Civil War, for the purpose of promoting "intellectual, moral, and industrial education in the most destitute portion of the Southern States" except schools fo ...

. He also helped establish

Bishop College Bishop College was a historically black college, founded in Marshall, Texas, United States, in 1881 by the Baptist Home Mission Society. It was intended to serve students in east Texas, where the majority of the black population lived at the t ...

, an historically black institution originally in

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, Texas, but later moved to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. Burleson died in Waco in 1901. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, Texas. The suburban city of Burleson in Johnson County south of Fort Worth, Texas, is named in his honor. So was Burleson College in Greenville, Texas.

Legacy

June 7 of 1905, four years after Burleson's death, a statue in his image was unveiled. Standing about seven feet tall, the statue created by Signor Pompeo Coppini, can still be found in Burleson Quadrangle, which is also named after the past President of Baylor University. The $4000.00 statue was purchased by the Baylor Alumni Association and consists of bronze for the sculpture with a base of pink and blue granite on a concrete foundation. Burleson was a second cousin of

Edward Burleson Edward Burleson (December 15, 1798 – December 26, 1851) was the third vice president of the Republic of Texas. After Texas was annexed to the United States, he served in the State Senate. Prior to his government service in Texas, he was a co ...

, third vice president of the Republic of Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burleson, Rufus Columbus 1823 births 1901 deaths Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Waco, Texas) People from Decatur, Alabama Baptists from Texas Presidents of Baylor University People from Nashville, Tennessee People from Houston People from Waco, Texas Baptists from Tennessee Baptists from Alabama 19th-century Baptists