Felton, C. C. (Cornelius Conway), 1807-1862

Cornelius Conway Felton (Harvard AB 1827) was a tutor from 1829 to 1832, University Professor of Greek from 1832 to 1834, Eliot Professor of Greek Literature from 1834 to 1860, Regent from 1849 to 1857, and President of Harvard University from 1860 to 1862.

In 1857, Felton expelled Keene from the Harvard Divinity School for practicing as a medium.

Cornelius Conway Felton (1807-1862) was President of Harvard University from February 16, 1860 to February 26, 1862. He was also the Eliot Professor of Greek Literature from 1834 to 1860. A classical scholar, Felton became one of the most influential leaders in the development of classical education and learning in America.

American classical scholar.

Scholar and educator.

Cornelius Conway Felton was a classical scholar and professor, and later president of Harvard College.

Epithet: Professor of Greek Literature at Cambridge, USA

Cornelius Conway Felton (1807-1862, Harvard AB 1827) was a tutor from 1829 to 1832, University Professor of Greek from 1832 to 1834, Eliot Professor of Greek Literature from 1834 to 1860, Regent from 1849 to 1857, and President of Harvard University from 1860 to 1862.

Mr. Schuyler did not earn a Harvard degree.

Cornelius Conway Felton (1807-1862) was the President of Harvard University from February 16, 1860 to February 26, 1862. He was also the Eliot Professor of Greek Literature from 1834 to 1860. A classical scholar, Felton became one of the most influential leaders in the development of classical education and learning in America.

Cornelius Conway Felton was born to Cornelius Conway Felton and Anna (Morse) Felton on November 6, 1807 in Newbury, Massachusetts. His father was a chaise maker by trade and a toll collector. After Anna died in 1825, Felton's father remarried to Lucy (Torrey) Boynton in 1825. Felton had nine brothers and sisters.

Felton showed an early inclination for learning, especially for the study of classics. He attended Harvard University (A.B. 1827, A.M. 1830) where his studious habits, love of knowledge, and thorough scholarship gave him a high rank as a scholar. Due to his family's modest means, Felton taught school to fund his college education. After graduation, Felton taught for two years at Livingston County High School in Geneseo, New York.

Felton returned to Harvard University as a Tutor in 1829. He was appointed Professor of Greek in 1832 and elected the Eliot Professor of Greek Literature in 1834. Serving as an educator at Harvard University for the next three decades, Felton dedicated his efforts to the study of Greco-Roman culture. Moving beyond just teaching grammar and philology, Felton's studies included an examination of a people's history, geography, philosophy, political structure, and artistic expression.

Over his teaching career, Felton developed many textbooks and general translations for college students to facilitate the teaching of antiquity. These works include: A Greek Reader for the Use of Schools (1840), Clouds of Aristophanes (1841), Iliad of Homer (1846), Panegyricus of Isocrates (1847), Agamemnon of Aeschylus (1847), Birds of Aristophanes (1849), and Selections from the Greek Historians (1852).

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Felton also served as University Regent from 1849 to 1857. In this administrative role, Felton was accountable for academic discipline and the wise regulation of student life.

Considered one of the most eminent scholars in the country, Felton was elected President of Harvard University on February 16, 1860 after the resignation of James Walker. Felton's administration was short-lived. Suffering from a heart aliment, Felton died in Chester, Pennsylvania on February 26, 1862.

Cornelius C. Felton married Mary Whitney in 1838. They had two children, Mary (1839) and Julia (1842). After Mary Whitney Felton died in 1845, Felton married Mary Louisa Cary in 1846. Together they had three children, Louisa (1849), Cornelius (1851), and Thomas (1855).

Felton was described by his peers as a warm and genial person and a sound scholar. As an author, Felton was primarily an editor of classical texts. His most popular work consisted of a series of lectures presented at the Lowell Institute in Boston during the 1850s and published after his death in 1867 under the title Greece, Ancient and Modern. Another posthumous volume was Familiar Letters from Europe (1866), which recounted his tour of Europe, including Greece. Felton's writings, along with his numerous contributions to various periodicals about Greek literature, history, language, and art, leave a legacy of his love for and study of ancient Greek life and culture.