Author: Maxcy, Jonathan
Biography:
MAXCY, Jonathan (1768-1820: WBIS)
He was born in Attleborough MA, son of Ruth (Newell) and Levi Maxcy; his father was a landowner and a member of the State legislature. Maxcy had a brilliant academic career. From Wrentham Academy he went to Rhode Island College (later Brown University) at the age of fifteen, graduating as valedictorian of his year in 1787. In 1789 he joined the Baptist Church; he was licensed to preach a year later. In 1791 he married Susannah Hopkins, with whom he had ten children, four of whom died in infancy. At first Maxcy combined pastoral work as the minister of the First Baptist Church in Providence RI with teaching at the College, but in 1792 when he was made the temporary President of the College (formally elected 1797) he gave up his pulpit. Harvard awarded him an honorary DD in 1801. In 1802 he became President of Union College in Schenectady NY and then in 1804 the first President of South Carolina College in Columbia SC (later USC), where he stayed for the rest of his life, building up the academic standing of the College and with some difficulty maintaining student discipline. He died in Columbia after a long period of ill health. His Literary Remains, ed. Romeo Elton, appeared in 1844. (ANBO 3 Apr. 2020; Appleton)