Rev. Henry L. Hitchcock was third President of Western Reserve College and mayor of Hudson. Hitchcock was born in Geauga County, Ohio on October 31, 1813, to parents Peter (1781-1853) and Abigail Cook Hitchcock (1784-1867). Henry’s father, Peter, was a member of U.S. Congress and Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, and was known as “Father of the Ohio Constitution.”
Hitchcock graduated from Yale College in 1832, and after graduating, returned to Burton, Ohio, and served as a principal of Burton Academy. On 1835, he entered Lane Seminary and 2 years later he was ordained a minister at the Congregational church in Morgan, Ashtabula County. In 1840, Hitchcock served as minister of the Second Presbyterian Church in Columbus.
Hitchcock married Clarissa Mary Sophia Ford in 1837 and together they had eleven children. One son, John Ford Hitchcock (1840-1862), served in the Civil War as Lieutenant in the 18th United States Infantry. He was killed on December 31, 1862, at the Battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
In 1855, Hitchcock was elected as President of Western Reserve College and served as the third President from 1855 until 1871. While there, he was a professor of Christian Theology and also served as the college pastor. Henry delivered a sermon at Western Reserve College immediately following the death of Abraham Lincoln. He later published this sermon as, God acknowledged, in the nation’s bereavement. A sermon delivered in Hudson, Ohio, on the day of the obsequies of Abraham Lincoln, April 19th, 1865. In his work, Henry said “[a]ssassination for the first time in our annals strikes at the government. The dark spirit of the rebellion, born of slavery, accomplishes its fell purpose, thwarted before. The venerated head of the Republic dies its victim (p. 5).”
For many years, Western Reserve College was in heavy debt. While president, Henry placed the institution on a firmer financial foundation. By 1864, Western Reserve College was completely debt free. The stress of serving at a university took its toll, and Henry resigned as president, with Carroll Cutler (1829-1894) as his successor. Henry continued as pastor and teacher and trustee of Western Reserve College. Hitchcock caught typhoid fever and died July 6, 1873
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MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS
Western Reserve College collection
The collection primarily consists of publications and ephemera of Western Reserve College including catalogues (ca.1826-1895) featuring lists of students and officers of the college), commencement programs, and other publications, including newspapers. The collection also includes letters, notes and minutes relating to the early years of the College.
OTHER RESOURCES
Summit Memory: 153-155 College Street
This Federal-style home, built by Lemuel Porter (1775-1829) in 1829-1830, is the oldest building on Western Reserve Academy’s campus. Although the home was originally built to house both the president and professor of theology of Western Reserve College, only one professor of theology has ever resided in the home. While the college was in Hudson, almost all of its presidents lived here, including Charles Backus Storrs (1794-1833), George Edmund Pierce (1794-1833) and Henry Lawrence Hitchcock (1813-1873). Carroll Cutler (1829-1894) lived at 169 College St. during his presidency. During Hitchcock’s term, his son, John Ford Hitchcock (1840-1862), who probably resided in this home, died in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, during the Civil War. The home is now the headmaster’s residence.
Books
