{{Short description|American clergyman and academic}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Stephen Olin.jpg | name = Stephen Olin | caption = | order = | title = President of [[Wesleyan University]] | term_start = 1839 | term_end = 1841 | predecessor = [[Willbur Fisk]] | successor = [[Nathan Bangs]] | order1 = 3rd | title1 = President of [[Wesleyan University]] | term_start1 = 1842 | term_end1 = 1851 | predecessor1 = [[Nathan Bangs]] | successor1 = [[Augustus William Smith|Augustus W. Smith]] | order2 = 1st | title2 = President of [[Randolph Macon College]] | term_start2 = 1834 | term_end2 = 1836 | predecessor2 = ''Office created'' | successor2 = [[Landon Garland|Landon C. Garland]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1797|3|2}} | birth_place = [[Leicester, Vermont]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1851|8|15|1797|3|2}} | death_place = [[Middletown, Connecticut]] | resting_place = Wesleyan University Cemetery, [[Middletown, Connecticut]] | alma_mater = [[Middlebury College]] | profession = | parents = [[Henry Olin]]<br>Lois Richardson | spouse = Julia Matilda Lynch | children = | relations = [[Alice Olin Dows]] (granddaughter)<br>[[Julia Lynch Olin]] (granddaughter) | website = | footnotes = }} '''Stephen Olin''' (March 2, 1797 &ndash; August 15, 1851) was an American educator and minister.<ref name="nypl">{{cite web|title=Stephen Olin and Julia Olin letters|url=http://archives.nypl.org/mss/4208|website=archives.nypl.org|publisher=Manuscripts and Archives Division {{!}} [[New York Public Library]]|accessdate=25 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>

==Early life== Oline was born in [[Leicester, Vermont]], on March 2, 1797. He was one of ten children born to [[Henry Olin]] (1768–1837), a member of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] from Vermont,<ref name="HObioguide">{{cite web|title=OLIN, Henry - Biographical Information|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000068|website=bioguide.congress.gov|publisher=[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]|accessdate=25 August 2017}}</ref> and Lois Richardson (d. 1814). His father was the nephew of [[Gideon Olin]] (1743–1823) and the cousin of [[Abram B. Olin]] (1808–1879), both of whom also served as members of the House of Representatives from Vermont.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=John Howard|title=The Cyclopedia of American Biography V6: Comprising the Men and Women of the United States Who Have Been Identified with the Growth of the Nation|year=2006|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|pages=61|isbn=9781428640511|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TH9AEMwOuSYC&pg=PA61 }}</ref>

In 1820, Olin graduated from [[Middlebury College]] in 1820.<ref name="Olin1852">{{cite book|last1=Olin|first1=Stephen|title=The Works of Stephen Olin|date=1852|publisher=Harper & Brothers|url=https://archive.org/details/worksstephenoli02churgoog|accessdate=25 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>

==Career== Seeking a better climate for his poor health, Olin traveled to the southern United States, where he found employment as a teacher at Tabernacle Academy in Mount Ariel, in the [[Abbeville County, South Carolina|Abbeville area]] of [[South Carolina]].<ref name="EarlySchools">{{cite book|last=Cummings|first=A.W.|title=The Early Schools of Methodism|url=https://archive.org/details/earlyschoolsofme00cummrich/page/84/|year=1886|publisher=Phillips & Hunt|location=New York|page=84|accessdate=June 17, 2020}}</ref> After having a religious awakening at the age of 25, he gave up consideration of the practice of law and became ordained into the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]];<ref name="wesleyan"/> Olin was recognized as a deacon by the Milledgeville, Georgia, conference in January 1826.<ref name="GeorgiaMethodism">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=George G.|title=The History of Georgia Methodism from 1786 to 1866|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofgeorgia00smit/page/178/|year=1913|publisher=A.B. Caldwell|location=Atlanta, GA|pages=178–179|accessdate=June 17, 2020}}</ref> He then served a pastorate in Charleston, but his health prevented him from continuing in that capacity.<ref name="GeorgiaMethodism" /> He became professor of belle-lettres at the [[University of Georgia]] in 1827. He was the first President of [[Randolph-Macon College]] (1834–1836) but resigned for health reasons and was succeeded by [[Landon Garland|Dr. Landon C. Garland]].<ref name="rmcPres">{{cite web|title=College Presidents :: Randolph-Macon College|url=http://www.rmc.edu/offices/president/college-presidents|website=www.rmc.edu|accessdate=25 August 2017}}</ref> He later served as president of [[Wesleyan University]] (1842–1851).<ref name="wesleyan">{{cite web|title=Stephen Olin, Office of the President|url=http://www.wesleyan.edu/president/pastpresidents/olin.html|website=www.wesleyan.edu|publisher=[[Wesleyan University]]|accessdate=25 August 2017|language=en}}</ref>

In 1844, at the general conference of the Methodists, Olin called on his friend, Bishop [[James Osgood Andrew|James Andrew]], to resign his office, on the grounds the latter owned slaves. Olin himself was criticized because his first wife (Mary E. Bostwick, whom he married in 1827) had owned slaves.<ref name="Olin1852"/>

==Personal life== Stephen Olin married Mary Ann Bostwick, who died in Naples, Italy, during the couple's time in Europe after Olin resigned the presidency of Randolph-Macon College.<ref name="GeorgiaMethodism" />

He was later married to Julia Matilda Lynch (1814–1879), the daughter of James Lynch. Together, they were the parents of:<ref name="Olin1852"/>

* [[Stephen Henry Olin]] (1847–1925), who married Alice Wadsworth Barlow (1853–1882), daughter of [[Samuel L. M. Barlow I|Samuel Latham Mitchill Barlow]] and Alice Cornell Townsend.<ref name="Starr2007">{{cite book |last1=Starr |first1=Leslie |title=Welcome to Wesleyan: Campus Buildings |date=2007 |publisher=[[Wesleyan University Press]] |isbn=9780819568557 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hi2MXDemgpAC&pg=PA36 |accessdate=20 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

Olin died on August 15, 1851, in [[Middletown, Connecticut]].<ref name="Olin1852"/>

===Legacy=== The [[Williamsbridge, Bronx|Williamsbridge]] neighborhood of [[Olinville, Bronx|Olinville]] in the [[The Bronx|Bronx, New York]], began as two towns named for him (founded in 1852).<ref name="Olin1852"/>

==Publications== * ''Inaugural Address Delivered by the Rev. Stephen Olin, President of Randolph-Macon College, on the Occasion of His Induction into Office, 5th March, 1834'' (1834) Richmond: Nesbitt & Walker.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olin |first1=Stephen |title=Inaugural Address Delivered by the Rev. Stephen Olin, President of Randolph-Macon College, on the Occasion of His Induction into Office, 5th March, 1834 |date=1834 |publisher=Nesbitt & Walker |location=Richmond |url=https://archive.org/details/inauguraladdress00olin |accessdate=June 9, 2020}}</ref> * ''Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, and the Holy Land'' (1843) New York: Harper & Brothers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olin |first1=Stephen |title=Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, and the Holy Land |date=1843 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/travelsinegyptar01olin |accessdate=June 9, 2020}}</ref> * ''Resources and Duties of Christian Young Men: A Discourse to the Graduating Class of Wesleyan University, August 1845'' (1846) New York: Lane & Tippett.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olin |first1=Stephen |title=Resources and Duties of Christian Young Men: A Discourse to the Graduating Class of Wesleyan University, August 1845 |date=1846 |publisher=Lane & Tippett |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/resourcesdutieso00olin |accessdate=June 9, 2020}}</ref> * ''The Relations of Christian Principle to Mental Culture: A Discourse to the Graduating Class of Wesleyan University, July 1848'' (1848) New York: Lane & Scott.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olin |first1=Stephen |title=The Relations of Christian Principle to Mental Culture: A Discourse to the Graduating Class of Wesleyan University, July 1848 |date=1848 |publisher=Lane & Scott |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/relationschrist00olingoog/ |accessdate=June 9, 2020}}</ref> * ''Early Piety, the Basis of Elevated Character: A Discourse to the Graduating Class of Wesleyan University, August 1850'' (1851) New York: Lane & Scott.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olin |first1=Stephen |title=Early Piety, the Basis of Elevated Character: A Discourse to the Graduating Class of Wesleyan University, August 1850 |date=1851 |publisher=Lane & Scott |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/earlypietybasis00olingoog |accessdate=June 9, 2020}}</ref> * ''The Works of Stephen Olin'' (1852) and ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=B0cMAAAAYAAJ Greece and the Golden Horn]'' (1854) were edited by his second wife, Julia Matilda Olin, and published posthumously. * ''College Life: Its Theory and Practice'' (1867) New York: Harper & Brothers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olin |first1=Stephen |title=College Life: Its Theory and Practice |date=1867 |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/collegelifeitsth00olin |accessdate=June 9, 2020}}</ref>

==References== {{Commons category}} {{reflist|30em}}

* ''Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography'' James Grant Wilson & John Fisk, eds. (1888) New York, Appleton. * ''The History of Methodism in Georgia and Florida: From 1785 to 1865'' George Gilman Smith (1877) J. W. Burke & Co.

{{s-start}} {{s-aca}} {{succession box|title=[[Randolph-Macon College|President of Randolph-Macon College]]|before=Office created|years=1834–1836|after=[[Landon Garland|Landon Cabell Garland]]}} {{succession box|title=[[Wesleyan University|President of Wesleyan University]]|before=[[Nathan Bangs]]|years=1842–1851|after=[[Augustus William Smith]]}} {{s-end}}

{{Wesleyan University presidents}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olin, Stephen}} [[Category:Presidents of Wesleyan University]] [[Category:1797 births]] [[Category:1851 deaths]] [[Category:Middlebury College alumni]] [[Category:University of Georgia faculty]] [[Category:Randolph–Macon College]] [[Category:Wesleyan University people]] [[Category:19th-century American Methodist ministers]]