Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 185 - 186

 H. W. EVEREST, LL. D., Chancellor of Garfield University.  this gentleman was born at North Hudson, Essex Co., N. Y., May 10, 1831.  His parents were of New England stock, and of families whose history runs back to the earlier colonial days.  He was brought up on a farm, enjoyed the usual school advantages of the State of New York, attended an academy at Crown Point one term, and taught school when sixteen years of age, and the winter following.

      In 1849 our subject went to Northern Ohio to attend school.  In prosecuting his studies he depended mainly on his own energies for the means wherewith to keep himself in school.  He was a student at Geauga Seminary, at Hiram College, where he was for several years a teacher of Natural Science, and at Oberlin College, where he graduated in 1861, in the classical course.  Nov. 4, 1857, he was married to Miss Sarah A. Harrison, of Painesville, Ohio.  Previous to this event, however, he was ordained to the ministry of the Disciple, or Christian Church.  His career as a public man may be briefly sketched as follows:  President of Hiram College, succeeding President James A. Garfield, 1861-64; President of Eureka College, Illinois, 1864-72; Pastor of the Christian Church, at Springfield, Ill., 1872-74; Professor in Kentucky University, Lexington, Ky., 1874-76; Pastor for one year at Normal, Ill.; President, a second time, at Eureka College, 1877-81; President of Butler University, Irvington, Ind, 1881-86; Chancellor of Garfield University, 1886 to the present time, May, 1888.

      As a public lecturer and as a Christian minister, the subject of this sketch has been very successful, always making a good impression by his earnest, persuasive manner, and delighting and convincing his hearers by his clear, cogent reasoning.  His style is his own, his manner of speaking and his thoughts are more a part of himself, and give the listener more nearly a correct idea of the man than is usually the case with public speakers.  Always clear in his thoughts; inclined to be analytical in his treatment of a subject, though comprehensive in his grasp of it; never impetuous or boisterous, though often grand in style, he resembles more the quiet, clear river, than the rushing torrent.

      As a scholar, Chancellor Everest is comprehensive and thorough.  At Hiram College he filled for eight years the Chair of Chemistry and natural science; in Kentucky University, that of Sacred History; in Eureka College, Butler and Garfield Universities, that of Philosophy and Political Economy.  Still he has been mainly given to the investigation and defense of the Sacred Scriptures.

      As an instructor, he has always been popular; his affable manner, punctuality, laboriousness and enthusiasm, are among the chief elements of his success.  His long experience as a presiding officer in college life  sufficiently indicates his more than average ability in this respect.

      Chancellor Everest possesses a good physique and has enjoyed almost uninterrupted good health.  This has enabled him to perform double work--the work of a professor and that of a preacher and lecturer--with great efficiency during nearly the whole of his public life.  He is well known to the readers of the current literature of the Christian church, is the author of many magazine articles, and of a valuable work on Christian evidence, entitled, "The Divine Demonstration."  He is also the recipient of literary honors, having received the degree of A. M. in 1864, and subsequently that of LL. D.

      Since coming to Wichita Dr. Everest has been occupied with the organization and inauguration of Garfield University.  How well he and his associates have succeeded in this work may be seen in the fact that during the first session, which is now drawing to a close, the enrollment has reached thirty-seven professors and instructors and 730 students.

      As one of the foremost scholars of the State, and at the head of one of the most prominent educational institutions of the West, and one of the leading and enterprising citizens of Wichita, the publishers take pleasure in presenting, the portrait of Chancellor Everest.

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