Rev. Eleazar Wheelock (1711-1779)
Founder & 1st President of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire
He was born in Windham, Connecticut, and graduated from Yale College in 1733, winning the first Dean Berkeley Donation for excellence in classics. He continued his theological studies until licensed to preach in 1734. In 1735, he was appointed Pastor of the Second Congregational Church of Lebanon Crank (now Columbia), Connecticut, serving for 34-years while also working as an itinerant preacher during the Great Awakening (a period that emphasized personal spiritual experience, emotional preaching, and individual conversion, challenging established religious authority). In 1743, Wheelock began tutoring Samson Occom, a Mohegan student. This success inspired him to found Moor's Charity School in Connecticut to educate Native Americans. After sending Occom on a fundraising tour of England, Wheelock expanded his educational vision. He obtained a Royal Charter from King George III on December 13, 1769, founding Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He served as the college's first president until his death during the Revolutionary War, when he was succeeded by his eldest son, John Wheelock. He was married twice and had eight children (listed) who survived infancy.
