Primer, Sylvester

Wisconsin native Sylvester Primer (1842-1912) moved to New York with his parents in 1850 and enlisted in the 108th New York Infantry at the start of the Civil War. After being severely wounded at the battle of Antietam, Primer was discharged from the army in 1862. However, once healed, he reenlisted with the 15th New York Cavalry and served with both General Custer and General Sheridan from 1863 to 1865. Following the Civil War, Primer studied at Leroy (N.Y.) Academy until 1868 and the Phillips Exeter Academy until 1871. He received his A. B. from Harvard in 1874, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and immediately traveled to Europe where he attended the universities of Leipzig, Göttingen, and Strasburg in Germany and the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1880, he earned a PhD from the University of Strasburg, specializing in philology.

Primer returned to the United States in 1880 and taught at Brown University (1880-1881), the College of Charleston (1881-1890), and the College of Colorado (1890-1891). While at Charleston, he married Lula Martha Muckenfuss in 1895; they had one son, Benjamin (1900-1975). In 1891, Primer moved to Austin, Texas, where he worked as an Adjunct Professor of Teutonic Languages at the University of Texas. He eventually became an Associate Professor and then chairman of the School of Romance language. Eventually, he became the chair of a separate German department at UT. Primer died in 1912.

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