George Whitaker (Oregon educator)
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Boston, Massachusetts
Somerville, Massachusetts
George Whitaker | |
|---|---|
 Whitaker in his later years | |
| 7th President of Willamette University | |
| In office 1891–1893 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Van Scoy |
| Succeeded by | Willis C. Hawley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 14, 1836 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | November 1, 1917 (aged 81) Somerville, Massachusetts |
| Spouse |
Harriet Clarke (m. 1861) |
| Alma mater | Wesleyan University Fort Worth University |
| Profession | Educator, minister |
| Signature | .png){kind=small} |
| Willamette University info[1] | |
George Whitaker (May 14, 1836 – November 1, 1917) was an American minister and university president in Texas and Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he served as the president of Wiley College in Texas, along with Willamette University and Portland University in Oregon. A Methodist trained preacher and graduate of Wesleyan University, he also worked as a pastor across the country in the late 19th century, primarily in New England.
George Whitaker was born on May 14, 1836, to Catherine Cravath Holland and Edgar Kimball Whitaker in Boston, Massachusetts.[2][3] Raised on a farm, he was the third oldest among eleven children in the family.[2][4] His father was a merchant of English heritage who worked for the United States Customs in Boston and New Orleans, also acting as a clerk in Washington, D.C. for the Department of the Treasury.[2] George's great-grandfather, Nathaniel Whitaker, helped found Dartmouth College.[2] He received his early education in Massachusetts at schools such as the Bridgewater Normal School (now Bridgewater State College), the Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, and the West Newton Model School.[2]
Whitaker moved on to college at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1861.[5] At the school he was a member of the Phi Nu Theta and Phi Beta Kappa fraternities.[2] On June 22, 1861, he married Harriet Clarke from Forestville, Connecticut, and they had four children; Harriet Clarke, George Edgar, John Holland, and a son who died as an infant.[6] Whitaker then started working as a pastor for the Methodist Episcopal church in West Medway, Massachusetts, in 1861 and remained until 1863.[7] In 1863, he moved on to the church in South Walpole where he remained until 1864.[3][7] During this time, he continued his studies and earned a Master of Arts degree from Wesleyan in 1864, where his brother Nicholas also attended.[7]
In 1865, he began preaching at the church in Roxbury followed by Lowell from 1867 to 1869.[7] Whitaker then moved on to the church in Westfield in 1870, the Boston Street Church in Lynn in 1872, and the Saratoga Street church in Boston in 1873.[5] From 1874 to 1878 he served as a presiding elder for the Springfield District of the church before returning to preaching at Ipswich, Massachusetts where he was stationed until 1879.[7] He moved on to the Trinity Church in Cambridge where he served from 1879 to 1882, and to the First Church in Somerville from that year until 1884.[3] In 1885, he began service at the Grace Church in Worcester, remaining until 1888.[7]