Flynt, Henry, 1675-1760

Flynt was tutor and served as Fellow and Secretary of the Board of Overseers at Harvard.

From the description of Papers of Henry Flynt, 1707-1760 (inclusive), 1707-1747 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 17267210

Henry Flynt (1675-1760; Harvard AB 1693) served as a Harvard College Tutor from 1699 to 1754, as a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation from 1700 to 1760, as Secretary to the Board of Overseers from 1712 to 1758, and as acting President from 1736 to 1737.

John White (1669-1721; Harvard AB 1685) was chosen as a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation in 1697 and the College Treasurer in 1713 (though he did not begin serving as Treasurer until July 1715). White held both positions until his death on December 11, 1721.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Harvard often received donations made as bequests and recorded in donors' wills. Bequests often defined how contributions could be used and took the form of money, land, books, and supplies, and the College kept copies and related accounting records to keep track of donors, conditions on gifts, and any related income.

From the description of Letter from Henry Flynt to John White, 1719/20 February 10. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 733094041

Henry Flynt (1675-1760) was a Tutor at Harvard College and held many additional roles in over 60 years of close affiliation with Harvard throughout the first half of the eighteenth century.

Henry Flynt was born on May 5, 1675 to Josiah and Esther (Willet) Flynt. He attended grammar school in Dorchester, Massachusetts, receiving instruction in the humanities, including the classics. In August 1689, at the age of 14, Flynt entered Harvard College. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in July 1693 and his Master of Arts degree in 1696.

Not a popular preacher, Flynt was unsuccessful in obtaining a ministry. Hence, he accepted a position as a Tutor at Harvard College in August 1699. Flynt spent the next fifty-five years as a Harvard Tutor and sixty years as a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation.

Flynt's intellectual interests were chiefly theological, and he believed that he had a special calling to train his students in Christian principles. At Harvard he taught Greek, Latin, Hebrew, metaphysics, geography, physics, ethics, arithmetic, astronomy, philosophy, grammar, logic, and rhetoric. He loaned books from his extensive collection to faculty, students, neighbors, college presidents, and friends. Flynt was known as a kind, fair, open, and friendly teacher but not as a decisive intellectual influence upon his students. He was criticized for not keeping abreast of new learning and for the limits of his own studies. However, he interacted well with most of the Harvard community and became something of a father figure to whom scholars could turn for advice.

Fynt's longevity as a tutor set a record at Harvard. He resigned his position in September 1754. Because of his length of service, the College passed a law which limited the terms of appointment for future tutors to eight years and subjected additional appointments to election.

In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Flynt was Secretary of the Board of Overseers from 1712 to 1758. His duties included keeping the minutes of the Overseer's meetings, notifying board members of the times and places of meetings, keeping absent members informed of committee assignments, informing interested parties of board resolutions, and drafting letters in the name of the Overseers.

Flynt was constantly involved in money-making schemes. He inherited and rented farmland at the Indian village of Hassanamisco on the south shore of Lake Quinsigamond, renamed Grafton, in Worcester County, Massachusetts. In 1712 he purchased timberland on Dyer's Neck at the mouth of the Sheepscot River in Maine; again, renting out the property. He was involved in commercial trade with Holland and the island of Jamaica, made investments in bullion, jewelry, and silver plate, and became a small town banker, lending money to his neighbors, other scholars, family relations, and friends.

Known as "Father Flynt" to his students, Henry Flynt died on February 13, 1760, at the age of eighty-five.

References used for this biography are:

From the guide to the Diary of Henry Flynt, 1723-1747., (Harvard University Archives)