Samuel Czar Carrick (July 17, 1760 – August 17, 1809) was an American

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

minister who was the first president of Blount College, the educational institution to which the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th sta ...

traces its origin. Milton M. Klein
UT's First Presidents
The University Archives, Hoskins Library, University of Tennessee. Accessed September 11, 2010.

Early life

Carrick was born on July 17, 1760 in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He received his education in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

as a minister when he was 22 years old.

Career

In 1790, Carrick helped establish the Lebanon-in-the-Fork Presbyterian Church at the confluence of the Holston and

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville form ...

s. On October 3, 1791, Carrick took part in the initial drawing of lots for

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

,Stanley Folmsbee and Lucile Deaderick, "The Founding of Knoxville," East Tennessee Historical Society ''Publications'', No. 13 (1941), p. 3-20. which had been platted as a capital for the

Southwest Territory The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States a ...

. He and his family moved to the new city shortly afterward. In December 1792, Carrick began advertising a "seminary" that operated out of his home, where he offered a classical education. During the same period, he established the First Presbyterian Church on a State Street lot set aside by Knoxville founder James White, although no building was constructed for the church until after Carrick's death. On January 12, 1796, Carrick delivered the opening prayer and sermon for the Tennessee Constitutional Convention. In 1794, Carrick expanded his educational efforts when the territorial legislature chartered Blount College, named for territorial governor

William Blount William Blount (March 26, 1749March 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, statesman, farmer and land speculator who signed the United States Constitution. He was a member of the North Carolina delegation at the Constitutional Convention o ...

.Milton M. Klein
University of Tennessee
, ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' The school initially met in a building on the lot now bounded by Gay Street, State Street, Church Avenue, and Clinch Avenue, which had been donated by James White. Carrick was the college's president and only faculty member. The

tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

fee was $8.00 per semester. The school was rechartered as East Tennessee College in 1807 or 1808 and closed after Carrick's death in August 1809. Only one student ever graduated from Blount College.

Personal life, death and legacy

Carrick married Elizabeth Moore in

Rockbridge County, Virginia Rockbridge County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,650. Its county seat is the city of Lexington. Rockbridge County completely surrounds the in ...

, in 1779.East Tennessee Historical Society, Mary Rothrock (ed.), ''The French Broad-Holston Country: A History of Knox County, Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: The Society, 1972), pp. 33, 392-393. Carrick died on August 17, 1809. He was buried in

First Presbyterian Church Cemetery The First Presbyterian Church Graveyard is the oldest graveyard in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Established in the 1790s, the graveyard contains the graves of some of Knoxville's most prominent early residents, including territorial go ...

in Knoxville. East Tennessee College reopened in 1820, 11 years after Carrick's death, under the leadership of David A. Sherman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carrick, Samuel American Presbyterian ministers People from Knoxville, Tennessee Leaders of the University of Tennessee Knoxville 1760 births 1809 deaths 18th-century American clergy People of colonial Pennsylvania Burials in Tennessee