Benjamin Wofford

Benjamin Wofford (1780-1850) was a Methodist minister who was a co-founder and the namesake of Wofford College in South Carolina in the United States.

Benjamin Wofford
BornOctober 19, 1780
Died1850
OccupationClergyman, farmer
Spouse(s)Anna Todd
Maria Scott Barron
Parent(s)Joseph Wofford
Martha Wofford

Early life

Benjamin Wofford was born on October 19, 1780 to Joseph and Martha Wofford and was named after his Loyalist uncle. Wofford's father, a supporter of the American Patriot cause, was supposedly captured on the night of Wofford's birth during the American Revolution, but was freed by Martha Wofford's pleading. Under his mother's Christian mentorship, Wofford became a Christian.

Career

Wofford was ordained as a Methodist preacher, going on to preach in Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina. By 1807, he ran a farm and continued preaching locally in South Carolina.

Wofford became involved in banking and other investments in the region. Wofford was a co-founder of Central Methodist Church in Spartanburg in 1837. Wofford was involved in various church charitable causes, including donating to Randolph-Macon College in Virginia during the 1830s.

Personal life

Wofford married Anna Todd, the only child from a wealthy family in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 1807. The Wofford's had no children of their own. His wife died on October 2, 1835, at age 51. On September 6, 1836, Wofford remarried to Maria Scott Barron, a wealthy woman from East Tennessee who was twenty-three years younger than Wofford.

Death and legacy

Wofford died in 1850 and left a will donating $100,000 for the creation of a college, which eventually became Wofford College, requesting the creation of a school "literary, classical, and scientific education in my native district of Spartanburg.".[1][2][3]

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References
  1. David Duncan Wallace, History of Wofford College (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1951) pp. 48-56
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-06-03. Retrieved 2013-03-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Phillip Stone, Wofford College (Arcadia Publishing, 2010)
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