The professors at Arkansas Industrial Univeristy: N. P. Gates

N. P. Gates
History of the Univeristy of Arkansas

N. P. Gates
Hope Star newspaper

Noah Putnam Gates (b. November 18, 1832; April 18, 1909)

KY.  White.
Education: Arkansas Industrial University (honorary M.A.)

Occupation: school superintendent, teacher

Noah Putnam Gates was born in 1832 near Princeton, KY (in Caldwell County) to Nathan and Carolina Gates. By 1850, the family had moved to Missouri, and the father Nathan was working as a farmer.

Noah attended church schools in Kentucky and Missouri. He then attended Chapel Hill College in Missouri, Princeton College in Princeton, KY, the Illinois Normal University, and the University of Michigan. However, he did not receive a degree from any of these schools.

At a young age, Noah planned to enter the ministry. However, he began teaching as a way to support his own education and ended up staying in the profession. He taught for six years in Charleston, IL and then for three years in Mattoon,  IL.

Around summer 1869, Noah decided to leave Illinois and move south as the Illinois winters were negatively impacting his health. In August of that year, he left his position to become a school superintendent in Little Rock, AR. He left Little Rock around January 1872 to accept a position at Arkansas Industrial Univeristy.

Noah was elected Arkansas Univeristy's first president. As the first president, he had a number of important duties: helping the trustees hire faulty, supervising the construction of new buildings, and other organizational work. 

One especially important issue that Gates addressed was the admission of African American students. After the univeristy opened African Americans applied for admission to study during the 1872-73 academic year. The university's policy regarding the matter. A trustee had proposed a resolution resolving that both Whites and African Americans be admitted. However, the proposal failed and instead the trustees passed a resolution directing the Board's Executive Committee shall dispose of the issue when it arises.

The Executive Committee evidently chose to admit students of all races as African Americans were admitted during the university's first year. It is unclear how many students were admitted, although it was a limited number, at most three or four. The students were not allowed to attend courses with White students. Instead, they received private lessons by Noah outside of normal school hours. 

When he had accepted the university presidency, Noah intended to hold it only for a short time and then step down to become principal of the university's Normal Department. In 1873, the trustees organized a national search for a university president. However, the search failed, so in late 1873, the trustees elected trustee member Albert W. Bishop as president.  

After Bishop's election as president, Noah served as principal for the Normal Department. In 1875, Bishop stepped down from the presidency after he was appointed Arkansas's adjutant general. A second national search failed, and Noah became president a second time around June 1875. 

Noah's second presidency lasted two years until about June 1877. In his place, Daniel H. Hill was elected president and Noah returned to serving as principal of the Normal Department. While serving as department principal, in 1880, Noah awarded an honorary M.A. degree from the Arkansas Industrial Univeristy. 

Noah resigned his position at the university in 1884. He left to move to Fort Smith and act as a school superintendent there. He remained in Fort Smith until 1889, when he returned to Fayetteville to serve as the town's school superintendent. Noah retired in 1902 because he was experiencing ill-health.

Noah died in 1909 while living in Little Rock, AR. He is buried in Fayetteville.

Sources

1. 1850; Census Place: Jackson, Buchanan, Missouri; Roll: 393; Page: 137a

2. 1860; Census Place: Princeton, Caldwell, Kentucky; Page: 30; Family History Library Film: 803359

3. 1870; Census Place: Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas; Roll: M593_62; Page: 276A

4. 1880; Census Place: Fayetteville, Washington, Arkansas; Roll: 59; Page: 693D; Enumeration District: 215

5. 1900; Census Place: Fayetteville, Washington, Arkansas; Page: 7; Enumeration District: 0113; FHL microfilm: 1240079

6. History of the Univeristy of Arkansas

7. "Presidents of the University." Hope Star (Hope, AR), April 19,  1972. p. 26. 

8. "First President of State U. Dies." St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, MO). April 19, 1909. p. 2.

9. "In Memoriam: Prof. N. P. Gates." Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, AR). April 20, 1909. p. 5.

The professors at Arkansas Industrial Univeristy: Mary Gorton

Mary Gorton
History of the University of Arkansas

Mary R. Gorton (b. September 27, 1844; d. November 15, 1875)

Illinois.  White.
Education: Illinois Normal University

Occupation: school teacher

Mary Gorton was born in Rock Island, IL in 1844 to Truman B. and Elizabeth (Searle) Gorton. The father Truman worked as a farmer and land broker. Truman saw considerable financial success. By 1860, he had accumulated $25,000 in real estate.

Mary attended Rock Island High School and graduated in 1863. She then matriculated at the Illinois Normal Univeristy (now Illinois State Univeristy). She graduated with highest honors and was class valedictorian.

While a student, Mary worked for a year as an assistant principal in Rock Island. However, after graduating she took a position in Cook County, IL at a normal (or teacher training) school. She taught in Cook County for four years.

Mary was one of the first faculty members hired at the Arkansas Industrial Univeristy. She was elected as Preceptress in the Normal Department. She started teaching when the univeristy opened in January 1872. She was made principal of the Normal Department in Fall 1875.

Mary was the source of controversy in 1874. Some Fayetteville residents accused her of being a religious skeptic and teaching "doctrines at variance with the Holy Scriptures." The accusations were taken seriously enough that the other univeristy faculty published a letter in the local newspaper defending her. In the letter, the professors acknowledged that Mary held religious views that differed from those of many community members, but they said that she regarding the Bible with high veneration. They further added that her students asserted that she'd never expressed any religious skepticism.  They condemned Mary's accusers, saying that the unsupported accusations were a "cowardly and unmanly attack upon a lady who is held in the highest esteem by those who know her best."

Mary resigned from the univeristy in 1877. Upon receiving her resignation,  the Board of Trustees expressed their appreciation for her contributions to the university. They passed a resolution declaring, "By her happy tact in subduing and controlling the wayward and the idle, impressing upon them her own high type of thought and mode of reasoning, and by her unvarying devotion to the interests of the University, has made us to feel her loss to be almost irreparable."

Mary left Arkansas for St. Louis, MO. She had been privately studying law and was hoping to open a law practice. While studying, she continued teaching, this time at a St. Louis public school. Mary was admitted to the bar in 1878.

Tragically, Mary died before she could practice law. In November 1878, she fell ill and died. She is buried in the Chippiannock Cemetery in Rock Island, IL.

Sources

1. 1850; Census Place: District 37, Rock Island, Illinois; Roll: 126; Page: 233b

2. 1860; Census Place: Rock Island, Rock Island, Illinois; Page: 489; Family History Library Film: 803222

3. 1870; Census Place: Rock Island Ward 3, Rock Island, Illinois; Roll: M593_273; Page: 342A

4. Illinois Normal University Catalogue, 1863. 

5. History of the University of Arkansas

6. "A Card." Fayetteville Weekly Democrat (Fayetteville, AR). October 17, 1874. p. 3. 

The professors at Arkansas Industrial Univeristy: W. F. C. Böteführ

W. F. C. Böteführ
From History of the Univeristy of Arkansas

Wolf Detleff Carl Böteführ (b. June 22, 1833; d. May 29, 1904)

Germany.  White.
Education: unknown

Occupation: music agent, music teacher.

W. D. C. Böteführ was born in Holstein, Germany to Andreas Friedrich and Dorothea Christiana Schlunz Böteführ. Little is known about W. D. C.'s life in Germany. His family immigrated to the United States in 1846, when W. D. C. was about 13 years old. They settled in Macoupin County, IL.

In Illinois, W. D. C.'s father Andreas worked as a house carpenter. The father Andreas and his wife Dorothea maintained a refined household, and W. D. C. was able to study music. By 1850, W. D. C. was working as a music agent.

During the Civil War, W. D. C. did not serve in the military and remained in Illinois. Around the end of the war, in 1865 or 1866, he moved to St. Louis, MO. He first worked as a salesman, but later worked as an organist at the First Methodist Church. However, he resigned from the position in 1872 to move to Arkansas. He moved to become Professor of Music at Arkansas Industrial Univeristy.

Confusingly, W. D. C. was one of two Böteführ's involved with the university. The other was influential trustee member Hugh Carl Christian Böteführ. It is unclear if the two were blood relations, although both had immigrated from Germany. 

In addition to his duties as a music professor, Böteführ taught German for a year (the 1874-75 academic year). In 1881, he resigned from his univeristy position and moved to Fort Smith.

In Fort Smith, Böteführ continued to teach music. He was highly-regarded and considered by some to be the foremost music theorist in the Southwest. One Fort Smith newspaper said that Böteführ "has done more than any other two persons to place Fort Smith on the high plane it now occupies as a musical center."

Böteführ left Fort Smith in 1903 to life with his son in Pittsburg, KS. He died the next year.  Böteführ  is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fayetteville, AR.

Sources

1. "Personal Paragraphs." Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, AR). April 10, 1903. p. 6.

2. "Professor Botefuhr will leave." Fort Smith Times (Fort Amith, AR). April 7, 1903. p. 8. 

3. "Professor Botefuhr dead." Fort Smith Times (Fort Smith, AR). May 31, 1904. p. 8.

7. 1850; Census Place: Township 7 Range 7 West, Macoupin, Illinois; Roll: 118; Page: 320b

8. 1870; Census Place: Township 7 Range 8, Macoupin, Illinois; Roll: M593_250; Page: 232A

4. 1880; Census Place: Fayetteville, Washington, Arkansas; Roll: 59; Page: 680A; Enumeration District: 215

5. 1900; Census Place: Fort Smith Ward 4, Sebastian, Arkansas; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0131; FHL microfilm: 1240077

6. Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1905 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: ks1905_37; Line: 10

8. History of the Univeristy of Arkansas. pp.  442-443.

9. St Louis, Missouri, City Directory, 1866, 1867.

10. Illinois State Business Directory, 1864-65

The students of the Radical University: Robert P. Scott

Robert Powell Scott (b. 1857, d. June 9, 1940)
South Carolina.  Born free.  Mulatto.
Occupation: barber
Father's occupation: fan-maker

Robert P. Scott was born in South Carolina to Christiana and Tobias, free African Americans.  His father worked as a feather fan-maker.  His brother C. C. Scott, another student at the University of South Carolina.  Robert grew up in Charleston.

Robert registered as a student at the University of South Carolina at some point between February 1874 and January 1876.  He was a college student following the modern studies course.  The university closed before he completed his degree.

After the university's closure, Robert returned to Charleston and worked as a school teacher and a barber.  He later moved to Florence, South Carolina.  In Florence, he continued his work as a barber and was a Sunday school superintendent.  In an article on former U of SC students, his brother writes that Robert was "a substantial citizen in Florence."

Robert died in Florence on June 9, 1940.  He is buried in the Unity and Friendship Society Cemetery in Charleston.

Sources:

1). "When Negroes Attended the State University", May 8, 1911. State (published as The State).  Page 9.

2). 1870; Census Place: Charleston Ward 1, Charleston, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1486; Page: 32B

3). 1880; Census Place: Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina; Roll: 1221; Page: 16C

4). 1900; Census Place: Florence, Florence, South Carolina; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0037; FHL microfilm: 1241528

5). 1910; Census Place: Florence Ward 1, Florence, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1457; Page: 23A; Enumeration District: 0022; FHL microfilm: 1375470

6). 1920; Census Place: Florence, Florence, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1695; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 44

7). 1930; Census Place: Florence, Florence, South Carolina; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0010; FHL microfilm: 2341930

8). 1940; Census Place: Florence, Florence, South Carolina; Roll: m-t0627-03808; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 21-12

9). South Carolina Department of Archives and History; Columbia, South Carolina; South Carolina Death Records; Year Range: 1925-1949; Death County or Certificate Range: Florence

The professors at Arkansas Industrial Univeristy: Richard Thruston

Richard Thruston (b. March 3, 1814; d. September 8, 1885)

South Carolina.  White.
Education: Unknown (M.D.)

Occupation: farmer, physician.

Richard Thruston (often misspelled Thurston) was born in 1814 in South Carolina to unknown parents. He received an M.D. from an unknown college. 

Richard was an early immigrant to Arkansas. By 1840, he had moved to Van Buren County. He would remain in the county for most of his adult life. He first worked as a physician and a manufacturer of medicines such as pills for fever and ague.

Starting in the late 1840s, Richard tried to diversify his professional activities. In 1847, he began operating a steam mill that milled wheat for local farmers. However, within a few years he had sold the mill equipment.

Richard was active in state politics. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1847. In 1849, he received a presidential appointment as a Receiver of Public Moneys at Fayetteville, AR. He received the appointment, in part, because of his support for the Whig Party. The Whigs had gained control of the presidency from the Democrats with the election of Zachary Taylor. Taylor's administration removed many Democrats from appointed positions and replaced them with Whigs like Richard. Richard remained Receiver of Public Moneys until 1852.

Richard was an avid and respected huntsman and horticulturalist. During the 1850s, several hunting trips he took were written up in newspapers. However, it was horticulture that would occupy most of his time. In the 1850s, Richard largely abandoned medicine to run a plant nursery in Van Buren County. The nursery, named Van Buren Nursery, specialized in "Southern Fruit Trees for Southern Planters." By the 1860s, the nursery was home to over 20,000 fruit trees, and Richard also grew small fruits like strawberries and fermented his own wine.

During the antebellum, Richard maintained his household using enslaved labor. In 1840, he owned 3 slaves. This number had increased to 4 by 1860.

Richard did not serve in the military during the Civil War. His thoughts regarding the war and secession are unrecorded, although an article in Confederate Veteran magazine describes him as "one whose views were truly Southern." 

Richard was employed by Arkansas Industrial University during the university's first year (the 1872-72 academic year). He served as Professor of Practical and Theoretical Agriculture and Horticulture for the 1872-73 year and gave lectures on agriculture that attracted not only students but also farmer from the area.  Examples of lecture titles are "The Farm and its work" and "The Garden and Orchard." 

In the summer of 1873 (at the close of the first academic year at the university), Richard gave a public lecture to university students and other community members. In his lecture, he argued for the importance of agricultural and horticultural science. The core concern for a farmer, Richard said, is making his land more productive, for example by reducing the amount of labor needed to grow crops. To do this successfully, a farmer needs to have studied the sciences: entomology to protect crops against pests, mechanics to operate farming machinery, etc. Richard said that many Arkansas farmers engage in "fogyism." That is, they have ignored scientific developments, and they farm using the same methods they used 30 or 40 years ago. Richard felt it was hopeless to get the current generation of farmers to change, but he was hopeful about the future because of the education offered by Arkansas Industrial University. He concluded his talk by calling on the university students to effect "the death and final burial of that ancient and venerable though still stubborn and persistent old ghost of delusion we call Fogyism beneath the subsoil blow of the present and future

Richard's speech was one of his last acts as university faculty. His employment was only intended as temporary, and he left the university after a year. He returned to working on his nursery.

Richard was a well-regarded within Arkansas. His horticultural accomplishments were lauded throughout the state, and one newspaper account called him "a genial, courteous gentleman of the old school."

Richard died in 1885 while living in Van Buren County. 

Sources

9. 1840; Census Place: Van Buren, Crawford, Arkansas; Roll: 17; Page: 85.

1. 1850; Census Place: Van Buren, Crawford, Arkansas; Roll: 25; Page: 349a.

2. 1860; Census Place: Van Buren, Crawford, Arkansas; Page: 624; Family History Library Film: 803040

2. 1870; Census Place: Richland, Crawford, Arkansas; Roll: M593_51; Page: 234A

3. 1880; Census Place: Maxey, Franklin, Arkansas; Roll: 44; Page: 777A; Enumeration District: 061

4. "Death of Dr. Thruston." September 10, 1885. p.2.

5. "Notice is hereby given." Arkansas Intelligencer (Van Buren, AR). September 9, 1848. p. 3.

6. 1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules

7. "Dr. Thruston." Arkansas Intelligencer (Van Buren, Arkansas). July 22, 1843. p. 3.

8. "Farmers, Attend to your interests." Arkansas Intelligencer (Van Buren, Arkansas). July 27, 1843. p. 1.

9. "Corporation Election." Arkansas Intelligencer (Van Buren, Arkansas). October 23, 1847. p. 2.

10. "Turnpike Road Meeting." Arkansas Intelligencer (Van Buren, Arkansas). February 12, 1848. p. 2.

11. "Removal in Arkansas." Arkansas Intelligencer (Van Buren, Arkansas). May 26, 1849. p. 2.

12. Washington Telegraph (Washington, Arkansas). May 19, 1852. p. 2.

13. "The Great Match Hunt." Arkansas Intelligencer (Van Buren, AR). April 24, 1857. p. 2.

14. "Van Buren Nursery." Weekly Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR). September 27, 1862. p. 2.

15. "Van Buren Nursery." Weekly Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR). November 1, 1862. p. 3.

16. "To Agriculturalists." Weekly Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR). January 6, 1867. p. 2.

17. Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR). September 12, 1872. p. 4.

18. "The Univeristy." Fayetteville Weekly Democrat (Fayetteville, AR). April 18, 1874. p. 4.

19. Brown, C. Allan. "Horticulture in Early Arkansas." The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 43, no. 2 (1984): 99-124. 

20. "Senator Bowen's Death Recalls War Times." Confederate Veteran. Vol. XV, Mp. 8, August 1907. p. 378.

The professors at Arkansas Industrial Univeristy: Edwin S. Curtis

Edward Styles Curtis
33rd Annual Reunion of the Association & Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy

Edwin Styles Curtis (b. 28 August 1843; d. November 4, 1901)

New York.  White.
Education: U.S. Military Academy at West Point

Occupation: US Army Officer

Edwin Styles Curtis was born in 1843 in Poughkeepsie, NY to John and Jane Carter Curtis. The father John worked as a tin smith.

The son Edwin studied at Eastman's Business College in Poughkeepsie. He graduated from the college and then moved with his family to Red Hook, NY. There he apprenticed to become a tin smith. However, when the Civil War broke out in 1861, Edwin enlisted in the army. He would the spend the rest of his career in the military.

Edwin enlisted in the 48th Regiment New York Volunteers. He was soon assigned to clerical duties and spent 1862 and 1863 working in Major General H. W. Halleck's office. In September 1863, he was honorably discharged so that he could attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from the academy in June 1867.

After graduating from West Point, Edwin was commissioned as a Lieutenant and joined the 2nd Regiment of Artillery. He was first stationed in San Francisco, CA. 

In 1872, Edwin was elected Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the Univeristy of Arkansas. He replaced Henry L. Burnell who had held the position the previous year. Edwin remained at Arkansas until 1875 when he came into conflict with other faculty over jurisdiction and discipline of students. 

After leaving the univeristy, Edwin returned to the U.S. army. He was promoted to Captain and later to Major. 

Edwin died in 1901 while living in Brooklyn, NY. The cause of death was listed as valvular heart disease and tuberculosis. He is buried in Red Hook Methodist Burial Ground.

Edward S. Curtis
From THR via findagrave

Sources

1. 1860; Census Place: Red Hook, Dutchess, New York; Page: 804; Family History Library Film: 803742

2. Census of the state of New York, for 1865. Microfilm. New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

3. 1870; Census Place: Red Hook, Dutchess, New York; Roll: M593_928; Page: 163B

4. 1900; Census Place: Brooklyn Ward 23, Kings, New York; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0395; FHL microfilm: 1241061

5. 33rd Annual Reunion of the Association & Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy. pp. 108-110.

6. New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Death Certificates; Borough: Brooklyn; Year: 1901. Certificate Number:20188.

7.  History of the Univeristy of Arkansas

The professors at Arkansas Industrial Univeristy: Tom L. Thompson

Tom Lee Thompson (b. May 22, 1849; d. February 3, 1875 )

Ohio.  White.
Education: Iowa State College of Agriculture (B.S.)

Tom L. Thompson was born in Ohio in 1849. Tom was orphaned at a young age, and little is known about his early life. He may have been living in Hamilton County, OH in 1860.

Tom first definitely appears in the record in Fall 1867. At the time, Tom was living in Fayette, IA to attend the Upper Iowa Univeristy. He was a student in the Collegiate Department following Classical track. 

By December 1871, Tom had started studying at Iowa State College of Agriculture (now Iowa State University). He followed the Agricultural course of studied and received his B.S. in 1872. He was a member of the first graduating class.

In Fall 1873, Tom was elected Professor of Theoretical and Applied Chemistry at Arkansas Industrial University. This was a newly created position, and the university first professorship in science. 

Tom's employment at the univeristy was arranged through the influence of Iowa State College President Adonijah S. Welch. Welch had been offered the position of president of Arkansas Industrial University, but he declined the position, and it was instead given to Noah P. Gates. Gates maintained a correspondence with Welch and solicited advice from him.

After his first year working Arkansas University, Tom's duties expanded to include the responsibilities of the Superintendent of Farm. 

Sadly, Tom caught pneumonia and died in 1875. Iowa College President Welch had his remains brought to Ames, IA, and he was buried in the Iowa State University Cemetery. He was the first person to be buried in the cemetery.

Sources

1. 1860; Census Place: Millcreek, Hamilton, Ohio; Page: 86; Family History Library Film: 803980

2. Upper Iowa University Catalogue: 1868.

3. 1870; Census Place: Washington, Story, Iowa; Roll: M593_420; Page: 191A

4. 1870; Census Place: Washington, Story, Iowa; Roll: M593_420; Page: 192A

5. Iowa State Agricultural College: 1871.