Ethelbert Dudley Warfield

Ethelbert Dudley Warfield, D.D., LL.D. (March 16, 1861 – July 6, 1936) was an American professor of history and college president who served as president of Miami University, Lafayette College and Wilson College. As Miami University's youngest president, he was noted for bringing football to Miami where its first intercollegiate game was played against the University of Cincinnati in 1888.[1]

The Reverend Ethelbert Dudley Warfield D.D., LL.D
President of Wilson College
In office 1915–1936
Preceded by	Anna J. McKeag
Succeeded by	Unknown
President of Lafayette College
In office 1891–1914
Preceded by	James Hall Mason Knox
Succeeded by	John Henry MacCracken
President of Miami University
In office 1888–1891
Preceded by	Robert White McFarland
Succeeded by	William Oxley Thompson
Personal details
Born	March 16, 1861 Lexington, Kentucky
Died	July 6, 1936 (aged 75)
Spouse(s)	Sarah Lacy Brookes Nellie Frances Tilton
Children	6
Alma mater	Princeton University University of Oxford Columbia University Law School
Profession	Professor
Signature

Early life

He was born in Lexington, Kentucky to William Warfield and Mary Cabell Warfield (née Breckinridge). He was the brother of Princeton theologian Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (1851–1921). His maternal grandfather was the Presbyterian preacher Robert Jefferson Breckinridge (1800–1871), the son of John Breckinridge, a former United States Senator and Attorney General. Warfield's uncle was John C. Breckinridge, the fourteenth Vice President of the United States, and a Confederate general in the American Civil War. A fourth cousin twice removed of his was Wallis Warfield Simpson, for whom Great Britain's King Edward VIII abdicated his throne in order to marry.

He graduated from Princeton University in 1882, studied at Wadham College of University of Oxford from 1882 to 1883, and graduated from the Columbia University Law School in 1885.[2] He was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church in October 1899.

Career

After attending Columbia Law School, he briefly practiced law in New York and in Lexington, Kentucky before being appointed professor of history and president of Miami University at the age of 27. In 1888, he was chosen to be Miami University's youngest president[1] and today is remembered for bringing college football to Miami during his term—with its first intercollegiate game being played against the University of Cincinnati in 1888. The Miami-Cincinnati rivalry is the oldest west of the Allegheny mountains.

After three years at Miami, he accepted an appointment as president of Lafayette College where he served from 1891 until 1914.[3] He retired from Lafayette, moved to Los Angeles, California, where he took up private law practice until his final appointment, as president of Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He remained at Wilson until his retirement in 1936.[2]

Personal life

Warfield was married twice, first to Sarah Lacy Warfield (née Brookes) (1864–1886) and secondly, on August 28, 1890 in Natick, Massachusetts to Nellie Frances Warfield (née Tilton) (1864–1941), the daughter of J. Edward Tilton and Edie Lovia Tilton (née Wite). With his second wife, Warfield was the father of six children.

Warfield was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, a director of the Princeton Theological Seminary and an officer in the Sons of the American Revolution. He authored a number of historical works including works related to his relatives John Breckinridge and Joseph C. Breckinridge.[4]

He was buried in the Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky, along with his parents, his second wife, and several of his children.

Honorary degrees

In 1891, Princeton University conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. and in 1902, Washington and Jefferson gave him the degree of D.D.[2]

See also

• Breckinridge family

References

1. Inauguration of Ethelbert Dudley Warfield, A.M., LL.B., as President of Miami University, Address on behalf of The Board of Trustees, by Hon. John W. Herron, LL.D., President. Oxford, O., Pub. by the University. 1888. p. 56. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
2. The American Educational Review, Volume 36. American Educational Company. 1915. p. 502. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
3. The Lafayette Weekly, Volume 18. Lafayette College. 1891. p. 39. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
4. The Kentuckian Digital Library: Kentucky resolutions of 1798: an historical study by Warfield, Ethelbert Dudley, 1861–1936. New York: Putnam, 1894.

External links

• Works by or about Ethelbert Dudley Warfield at Internet Archive
• Ethelbert Dudley Warfield at Find a Grave