HARVARD, John,philanthropist, born in Southwark, London, England, in
November, 1607; died in Charlestown, Massachusetts, 24 September, 1618. His
father, Robert Harvard, was a butcher. His mother, possessing some property,
sent John to Emmanuel college, Cambridge, where he was graduated in 1635.
Subsequently he was ordained as a dissenting minister, and in 1637 married Ann
Sadler, the daughter of a Sussex clergyman, and sailed for New England, where he
was made a freeman of Massachusetts on 2 November of that year. It appears on
the town records that in 1638 a tract of land was deeded to him in Charlestown,
where he exercised his ministerial functions. In April, 1638, he was appointed
one of a committee "to consider of some things tending toward a body of
laws."
At his death his property was worth about £1,500, one half
of which he left for the erection of the college that bears his name. A part of
this bequest is said to have been diverted from its original purpose. He also
left to the college a library of 320 volumes, which indicated the taste of a
scholar. The alumni erected a granite monument to his memory in the burial
ground of Charlestown, which was dedicated with an address by Edward Everett, 26
September, 1828. A memorial statue of Harvard,
the gift of Samuel James Bridge to the university, was unveiled, 15 October,
1884, with an address by Rev. George Edward Ellis (Cambridge, 1884).
Hypertext
Map: John Harvard Statue
... Although the inscription on the statue reads "John
Harvard, Founder, 1638," none
of these three statements is true. In fact, the statue is known on campus as ...
The Harvard
Guide
... is known as "The Statue of Three Lies." Although
the inscription reads "John Harvard,
Founder, 1638," none of these three statements is true. The seated figure
...
The Literary Trail
of Greater Boston
... by Daniel Chester French in 1884. The popular statue is
inscribed "John Harvard,
founder of Harvard College, 1638," is sometimes known as "the statue
of three ...
