David Newton Sheldon

David Newton Sheldon (June 26, 1807 – October 4, 1889) was the fifth President of Colby College, Maine, United States from 1843–1853. He was also a pastor, missionary, and educator.[1]

David Newton Sheldon
President of Colby College
In office
1843–1853
Preceded byEliphaz Fay
Succeeded byRobert Everett Pattison
Personal details
Born(1807-06-26)June 26, 1807
Suffield, Connecticut
Died(1889-10-04)October 4, 1889
Spouse(s)Rachael Hobart Ripley
Alma materWilliams College, Andover Newton Theological School

Early life

Sheldon was born in Suffield, Connecticut, to David and Elizabeth Hall. He was educated at Williams College, where he graduated as the valedictorian of the class of 1830[2] and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society.[3] He was a tutor for one year before entering the Andover Newton Theological School and graduating in 1835. He married Rachael Hobart Ripley in Chelsea, Massachusetts on October 15, 1835, with whom he ultimately had five children.

Career

Sheldon was a Baptist missionary in France from 1835-1839, and a pastor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before coming to Waterville, Maine in 1842, where he was a pastor and a French Teacher at Colby College. Beginning in 1843, he was the president of the college and Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. At least in part due to his liberal inclination towards Free Will Baptist theology, the Calvinistic Baptists who founded the college forced him out in 1853, after years of declining enrollments.[4] He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Brown University in 1847. He held various pastorships in Bath, Maine, including as a Unitarian from 1853-1862 before returning to Waterville, where he continued as a Unitarian pastor until 1879.[1]

Sheldon died at his home in Waterville on October 4, 1889.[5][6]

Published works
  • Sin and Redemption, 1856
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References
  1. Whittemore, Edwin Carey, ed. (1902). The Centennial History of Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine, 1802-1902. Waterville (Me.): Executive Committee of the Centennial Celebration. p. 453.
  2. Hewitt, John Haskell (1914). Williams College and Foreign Missions: Biographical Sketches of Williams College Men who Have Rendered Special Service to the Cause of Foreign Missions. Boston: Pilgrim Press. p. 177.
  3. Parsons, Eben Burt (1903). Phi Beta Kappa Gamma of Massachusetts, Williams College. Williamstown: Ingraham. p. 11.
  4. "Little Talks #997," Marriner, January 20, 1974 , COLBY COLLEGE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS. Accessed at http://web.colby.edu/specialcollections/2011/02/03/lt997-readonly/ Archived 2015-02-14 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Johnson, Rossiter, ed. (1904). The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Volume 9. Boston: Biographical Society. p. 343.
  6. "Obituaries". The Wellsboro Agitator. Wellsboro, Tioga Co, Pa. October 22, 1889.
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