Rutgers College. Office of the President.

William H. S. Demarest was born at Hudson, N.Y. He moved to New Brunswick in 1865, graduated from the Rutgers Grammar School in 1879 and immediately entered Rutgers College. As an undergraduate he was active as class secretary, vice president, and president; director and secretary of the athletic association, a member of the Peripatric Club, class baseball and football teams, and the varsity baseball team. He was senior editor of the Targum, and the Class Day orator. In his senior year he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, graduating from Rutgers with high honors in 1883. From 1883 to 1886 Dr. Demarest taught in the Rutgers Preparatory School. In 1888 he graduated from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and that same year was ordained to the ministry of the Reformed Dutch Church. He served as pastor of the Reformed Church of Walden, N.Y. from 1888 to 1897, and pastor of the church in Catskill, N.Y. from 1897 to 1901. In 1901 he was appointed Professor of Ecclesiastical History and Church Government in the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, serving in that capacity for five years. In 1899 he became a Trustee of Rutgers College and served as Secretary of the Board from 1904 to 1906. During the year 1905-1906 he was acting President of the College, and was elected by the Trustees to succeed Austin Scott as President in February 1906.

Rutgers changed significantly under Dr. Demarest's stewardship and several milestones were achieved during his administration. In 1917 the Agricultural College or State College was designated the State University of New Jersey. It was expanded and new facilities constructed on the College Farm. In 1918, the New Jersey College for Women was established. The undergraduate curriculum was restructured in 1907 and again 1916 to keep abreast of the changing needs of the state and nation. Teacher-training courses were emphasized in the newly established Summer Session program in 1913. State and federal appropriations increased substantially, as did private gifts and alumni support. New facilities were constructed for instruction in Engineering, chemistry, entomology, and ceramics; dormitories were built to accommodate the increased undergraduate population, which rose from 235 students in 1906 to 750 in 1924. Together with students in the Women's College, the Summer Session, the Extension Courses, and the Short Courses in Agriculture, the total enrollment during Demarest's last year in office was close to 2,500 students. Financial support in the form of State Scholarships was extended during these years to include all undergraduates. In 1918 the College aided the war effort by establishing a unit of the Students Army Training Corps and established a War Service Bureau to communicate with the students, faculty and alumni who served during the war. Throughout his administration, Dr. Demarest envisioned a dual role for Rutgers. One would be that of the state-supported university; the other, the small private college that the school had been throughout its history. In the aftermath of World War I, the institution moved closer to becoming a public institution. In 1925, the college changed its name to Rutgers University. But by this time, William H. S. Demarest had submitted his resignation, which was effective on June 30, 1924. Following his resignation, Dr. Demarest served for ten years as president of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary and remained active in the affairs of the University. In 1924 he published History of Rutgers College, the first detailed history of the institution. Dr. William Henry Steele Demarest died on June 23, 1956.

From the description of Records of the William H. S. Demarest Administration, 1890-1928. (Rutgers University). WorldCat record id: 62704640

Austin Scott was born in Toledo, Ohio on August 10, 1848, the son of Jeremiah Austin Scott and Sarah (Remey) Scott. He was named Frank Austin Scott, but eventually dropped the first name. Scott received his A.B. degree from Yale College in 1869, and an A.M. from the University of Michigan in 1870.

Scott spent three years studying history in Germany at the Freidrich Wilhelm University (University of Berlin) and the University of Leipzig, receiving his Ph.D. from Leipzig in 1873. While in Berlin, Scott studied Ancient History under both Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903) and Johann Gustav Droysen (1808-1884), two leading German historians. In Germany and later while teaching at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Scott also served as research assistant to the eminent constitutional historian, George Bancroft, aiding in the preparation of Bancroft's tenth volume of the History of the United States and later the History of the Constitution of the United States.

After receiving his degree, Scott taught German at the University of Michigan from 1873 to 1875. In 1876, he became an associate in history at the newly formed Johns Hopkins University and continued his work with Bancroft. In 1882, Dr. Scott married Anna Prentiss Stearns. They had seven children.

Austin Scott came to Rutgers in 1883, serving as Voorhees Professor of History, Political Science, Economics, and Constitutional Law from 1883 to 1891, and again from 1906 to 1922. His tenure as professor included introducing the first history seminar to Rutgers. see Rutgers College. Seminar in History. Minutes (RG 23/D1/04)

Scott served as President of Rutgers College from 1891 to 1906. His administration was centered on concern about the college's relationship with the State of New Jersey. The main point of contention was the state's refusal to make payments to the school as stipulated in the Scholarship Act of 1890. Through Scott's efforts, the issue was finally resolved in the college's favor in 1905. One of the state's complaints on this matter was Rutgers' limited course offerings in agriculture. As a result, a distinct curriculum in agriculture was begun during Scott's presidency, under the guidance of Dr. Edward B. Voorhees. At the same time the faculty, under Scott's direction, sought to strengthen the classical program as well. Under his administration the college witnessed many physical renovations and changes, most notably the construction of the Robert F. Ballantine Gymnasium and the Ralph Voorhees Library. After fifteen years of presidential service, Scott submitted his resignation, returned to the faculty, and provided assistance to his successor, William Henry Steele Demarest.

After resigning his post as president, Scott continued his teaching and also became active in the civic affairs of New Brunswick. In 1912, he was elected mayor and served for three years. Austin Scott died at his summer home in Granville Centre, Massachusetts on August 15, 1922.

From the guide to the Inventory to the Records of the Rutgers College Office of the President (Austin Scott), 1865-1937, (Rutgers University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.)

While Queen's College received a charter in 1766, financial hardships and political divisions challenged the new school, and the first student did not graduate until 1774. The Dutch Reformed Church divided over Queen's College and the planned Theological Seminary, torn over increasing regional church power in America and educating students locally, or continuing to send students to Holland for education. Sectional controversies added to this dispute, resulting in little support for the first several years of Queen's College. One commencement occurred in 1774, and then Queen's College was disrupted by the Revolutionary War and the British occupation of New Brunswick. Jacob Hardenbergh, the Trustee credited with overseeing much of the college's earliest operations, officiated at this graduation. Hardenbergh later served as the first President of Queen's College beginning in 1785 until his death in 1790.

During most of the early life of Queen's College, church powers and college officials attempted to recruit Dutch-educated John Henry Livingston to be President. Livingston's appointment promised the support of Dutch officials, and he was widely recognized for his leadership ending the schism in the Dutch church. However, Livingston's ties to the Hudson River Valley and New York were stronger than his interest in the faltering new college. Livingston's early repeated refusals to assume the presidency resulted in two acting presidents, Reverend William Linn (1791-1795), and later Reverend Ira Condict (1795-1810). This was a period of great financial hardship for the college, and from 1795 until 1808 the college remained closed with only theological instruction and the grammar school continuing to operate. Ira Condict's fundraising efforts within the Reformed Dutch Church revived the college, and led to building Old Queen's, Rutgers' oldest remaining structure. In 1810, with Condict's illness, Livingston finally relocated to New Brunswick, devoting his attention to the still underfunded Queen's College. Livingston's prestige added to the strength of the seminary, but the college continued to struggle, and in 1816 closed for a second time. With Livingston's death in 1825, Philip Milledoler (1825-1840) assumed the presidency reinvigorating the college and seminary. Under Milledoler, Queen's College was renamed Rutgers College in honor of the prominent Revolutionary War veteran and philanthropist from New York City, Colonel Henry Rutgers.

The administration of Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck (1840-1850), Milledoler's successor, marked a shift in the relationship between the church and the college. Hasbrouck was the first lay leader of the college, and his administration oversaw a more secular shift. Following Hasbrouck's resignation in 1850, the trustees chose a president with both strong ties to Queen's College and national prominence. Theodore Frelinghuysen came to Rutgers College with family ties to the first tutor at Queen's College, and substantial personal experience in politics. By the end of Frelinghuysen's presidency, he fired the entire faculty (except the recently hired George H. Cook), established a separate Theological Hall, furthering the separation of the Seminary from the College. Frelinghuysen produced notable expansions in enrollments, although the outbreak of the Civil War upset this trend just before his death in 1862.

Following Frelinghuysen's death, Rutgers College finally started to see some of the necessary endowments arrive, but the institution still failed to offset operational costs. Reverend William H. Campbell (1862-1882) embarked on several major fundraising efforts, which substantially increased resources and programming at Rutgers. Campbell also acquired land grant funding for Rutgers College. Retiring due to ill health in 1882, he remained in the area with strong ties to the college until his death in 1890.

His successor, Merrill Edward Gates (1882-1890) receives credit for developing relations with the State of New Jersey and bringing in substantive state funding for Rutgers, resulting in scholarships and expanding the campus. Gates oversaw several pieces of the transformation to a modern university, adopting professors with doctoral degrees and increasing enrollment from 70 students to 300 students. However, his career as an education administrator led him to leave Rutgers for the presidency of Amherst College in 1890.

The following links are directed to short biographical essays on the Queen's and Rutgers College presidents represented in the collection:

Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh (1736-1790) President, 1785-1790

William A. Linn (1752-1808)President Pro-Tempore, 1791-1795

Ira N. Condict (1764-1811) President, 1795-1810

John Henry Livingston (1746-1825), President 1810-1825

Philip Milledoler (1775-1852), President 1825-1840

Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck (1791-1879), President 1840-1850

Theodore Frelinghuysen (1787-1862), President 1850-1862

William H. Campbell (1808-1890), President 1862-1882

Merrill Edward Gates (1848-1922), President 1882-1890

From the guide to the Guide to the Queen's and Rutgers College Presidents' Collection, 1774-1983, 1785-1932 (bulk), (Rutgers University. Special Collections and University Archives)