{{short description|First president of the Maryland Agricultural College (1799–1877)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder <!-- president --> | name = Benjamin Hallowell | image = Benjamin Hallowell.jpg | alt = | caption = Benjamin Hallowell (c. 1850s) | title = President of<br />Maryland Agricultural College | term_start = 1859 | term_end = 1860 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1799|08|17}} | birth_place = Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1877|9|7|1799|8|17}} | death_place = | resting_place = Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse cemetery | alma_mater = | spouse = {{marriage|Margaret|1820|1876|reason=died}} | children = 3, including Caroline Hallowell Miller | relations = Arthur Briggs Farquhar (nephew) }}
'''Benjamin Hallowell''' (August 17, 1799 – September 7, 1877) was the first president of the Maryland Agricultural College.<ref name=book>{{cite book|last=Callcott|first=George H.|title=A History of the University of Maryland|year=1966|publisher=Garamond/Pridemark Press|location=Baltimore, Maryland|pages=54–67|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dldxAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>
==Early life== Benjamin Hallowell was born in 1799.<ref name="death">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80461636/benjamin-hallowell-10-sep-1877-alexand/ |title=Benjamin Hallowell |date=1877-09-10 |page=2 |newspaper=Alexandria Gazette |access-date=2021-06-29 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> He went to school at the Westtown Boarding School.<ref name="death"/>
==Personal life== Hallowell met his wife Margaret, the sister of William Henry Farquhar, at Westtown School. They married around 1820 and she died in 1876.<ref name="death"/> Together, they had three children:<ref name="death"/> * Henry C. Hallowell * Caroline Hallowell Miller, wife of Francis Miller * Benjamin Hallowell
He was friends with Henry Clay.<ref name="death"/>
==Career== In November 1819, he started his first official teaching position at Fair Hill Boarding School in Montgomery County, Maryland.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hallowell|first=Benjamin|title=Autobiography of Benjamin Hallowell|year=1884|publisher=Friends' Book Association|location=Philadelphia, U.S.|pages=45–46|url=https://archive.org/stream/autobiographyofb00hall#page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref> In 1824, Hallowell opened a boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia, where his nephew Arthur Briggs Farquhar would later attend.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hallowell|first=Benjamin|title=Autobiography of Benjamin Hallowell|year=1884|publisher=Friends' Book Association|location=Philadelphia, U.S.|pages=95|url=https://archive.org/stream/autobiographyofb00hall#page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref> His most famous student was Robert E. Lee who studied at the school for a month before entering West Point.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hallowell|first=Benjamin|title=Autobiography of Benjamin Hallowell|year=1884|publisher=Friends' Book Association|location=Philadelphia, U.S.|pages=103|url=https://archive.org/stream/autobiographyofb00hall#page/n7/mode/2up}}</ref>
Hallowell was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1854.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Benjamin+Hallowell+&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2020-12-15|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>
On October 4, 1859, Hallowell was appointed as the first president of the Maryland Agricultural College. He would only accept the appointment on condition that the college not use slaves and he would not accept a salary. He helped to develop the college's curriculum, which included Ancient Languages, Modern Languages, Natural Sciences, English, and Mathematics. After one month of serving as the president, he resigned due to illness.<ref>{{cite web|title=Benjamin Hallowell |work=University Presidents |url=https://umd.edu/history-and-mission/benjamin-hallowell |publisher=University of Maryland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813112906/https://umd.edu/history-and-mission/benjamin-hallowell |archive-date=2020-08-13 |access-date=2021-06-28 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Callcott|first=George H.|title=A History of the University of Maryland|year=1966|publisher=Garamond/Pridemark Press|location=Baltimore, Maryland|pages=145–151|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dldxAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>
==Death== thumb|right|Benjamin Hallowell's grave marker, Sandy Spring Friends Meeting House Cemetery Hallowell was buried at the Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse cemetery.<ref name="death"/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{Succession box | title = President of the Maryland Agricultural College | before = No President | years = 1859 | after = Charles Benedict Calvert (acting)}} {{s-end}}
{{University of Maryland, College Park Leaders|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallowell, Benjamin}} Category:1799 births Category:1877 deaths Benjamin Category:People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania Category:Presidents of the University of Maryland, College Park Category:Westtown School alumni