Who was Joshua Lippincott?
On January 31, 1835, Joshua Allan Lippincott was born to Elisabeth and Crispin Lippincott. He was raised in Burlington County, New Jersey with his half-brother, Benjamin Crispin Lippincott. He attended Pennington Seminary in Mercer County, New Jersey for prep school and then enrolled in Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1855. [1]
Joshua attended Dickinson College—a Methodist institution—with a class size of one hundred and ten students. All of the students were male, mostly hailing from nearby states such as Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, but also from West Virginia, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, and one from the West Indies. [2] During Lippincott’s stay at Dickinson, he would have studied subjects such as math, science, religion, English, classics, and a few foreign languages from the eight professors working there at the time. [3] Extracurriculars were just as popular in the 19th century as they are today, although there were not as many options. From the Union Philosophical Society, the Belles Lettres Society, or a few different fraternities, Lippincott chose to join the Belles Lettres Society, [4] along with 52% of his classmates. Other notable Dickinsonians in Lippincott’s class year include Horatio Collins King, who wrote a diary during his entire stay at Dickinson College which can be read here, as well as Daniel Mountjoy Cloud, who joined the Confederacy upon graduation and devised a plan with another Dickinsonian to assassinate President Lincoln. [5]
Upon Lippincott’s graduation in 1858, he moved to Mercer County to teach at his old prep school, Pennington Seminary. [6] This was a fairly common occupation for Dickinson graduates at the time, as around 17% of Dickinson’s class of 1858 went on to work in the field of education. The two more popular fields were military, at 27%, and religion, at 24%. [7] For the next decade Lippincott moved around to teach in various schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. From 1872 to 1874, he served as a pastor at a Methodist Episcopal church in New Jersey. During this time, he met and married Harriet, having two children named Joseph and Walter. [8] In 1874, he returned to Dickinson College to teach math and astronomy, where he may have borne an illegitimate child to a woman living in a nearby village. This is also where he began his relationship with Captain Richard Henry Pratt and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. [9]
On January 31, 1835, Joshua Allan Lippincott was born to Elisabeth and Crispin Lippincott. He was raised in Burlington County, New Jersey with his half-brother, Benjamin Crispin Lippincott. He attended Pennington Seminary in Mercer County, New Jersey for prep school and then enrolled in Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1855. [1]
Joshua attended Dickinson College—a Methodist institution—with a class size of one hundred and ten students. All of the students were male, mostly hailing from nearby states such as Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, but also from West Virginia, Delaware, Georgia, New Jersey, and one from the West Indies. [2] During Lippincott’s stay at Dickinson, he would have studied subjects such as math, science, religion, English, classics, and a few foreign languages from the eight professors working there at the time. [3] Extracurriculars were just as popular in the 19th century as they are today, although there were not as many options. From the Union Philosophical Society, the Belles Lettres Society, or a few different fraternities, Lippincott chose to join the Belles Lettres Society, [4] along with 52% of his classmates. Other notable Dickinsonians in Lippincott’s class year include Horatio Collins King, who wrote a diary during his entire stay at Dickinson College which can be read here, as well as Daniel Mountjoy Cloud, who joined the Confederacy upon graduation and devised a plan with another Dickinsonian to assassinate President Lincoln. [5]
Upon Lippincott’s graduation in 1858, he moved to Mercer County to teach at his old prep school, Pennington Seminary. [6] This was a fairly common occupation for Dickinson graduates at the time, as around 17% of Dickinson’s class of 1858 went on to work in the field of education. The two more popular fields were military, at 27%, and religion, at 24%. [7] For the next decade Lippincott moved around to teach in various schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. From 1872 to 1874, he served as a pastor at a Methodist Episcopal church in New Jersey. During this time, he met and married Harriet, having two children named Joseph and Walter. [8] In 1874, he returned to Dickinson College to teach math and astronomy, where he may have borne an illegitimate child to a woman living in a nearby village. This is also where he began his relationship with Captain Richard Henry Pratt and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. [9]
Captain Pratt started the Carlisle Indian School in 1879 after controlling the Ft. Marion Prison for Native American “hostiles” in St. Augustine, Florida for over ten years. During his time at Ft. Marion, he discovered the benefits of avoiding hostility or violence towards Native Americans and instead teaching them to assimilate to White American culture, and he decided to open an off-reservation boarding school for Native Americans based on this philosophy. The school immediately reached out to nearby Dickinson College, and many professors, including Lippincott, took an interest in the school. [10]
Lippincott eventually developed a close friendship with Pratt, as well as the Indian School. He often performed the services of a chaplain at the school, taking a serious interest in the Christian teachings of the students. [11] While it is difficult to discern how the students felt about him due to a lack of evidence, one student, Ellwood Dorian, described him as a “very good man” and “kind to us all.” [12]
Although he eventually left Carlisle in 1883 to be the chancellor for the University of Kansas, he continued to subscribe to the Carlisle Indian School’s student-run newspaper and was in consistent communication with Pratt. [13] After leaving his chancellorship to serve as the pastor of a Methodist church in Topeka, Kansas until 1892, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to work at the Arch Street Methodist Church. [14]
Lippincott continued his involvement with the Carlisle Indian School, even delivering the commencement speech for its 1898 graduating class. [15] He considered running for a position on the Bureau of Indian Affairs in February of 1898, but nothing came of it. [16] His wife died a year later in February 1899. [17] Lippincott himself died at age 70 on December 30, 1906 while staying in Los Angeles with his son, Joseph. [18]
Lippincott eventually developed a close friendship with Pratt, as well as the Indian School. He often performed the services of a chaplain at the school, taking a serious interest in the Christian teachings of the students. [11] While it is difficult to discern how the students felt about him due to a lack of evidence, one student, Ellwood Dorian, described him as a “very good man” and “kind to us all.” [12]
Although he eventually left Carlisle in 1883 to be the chancellor for the University of Kansas, he continued to subscribe to the Carlisle Indian School’s student-run newspaper and was in consistent communication with Pratt. [13] After leaving his chancellorship to serve as the pastor of a Methodist church in Topeka, Kansas until 1892, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to work at the Arch Street Methodist Church. [14]
Lippincott continued his involvement with the Carlisle Indian School, even delivering the commencement speech for its 1898 graduating class. [15] He considered running for a position on the Bureau of Indian Affairs in February of 1898, but nothing came of it. [16] His wife died a year later in February 1899. [17] Lippincott himself died at age 70 on December 30, 1906 while staying in Los Angeles with his son, Joseph. [18]
Credits:
Dickinson College Archives
Cumberland County Historical Society
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
Dickinson College Archives
Cumberland County Historical Society
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
Footnotes:
[1] Dickinson Archives, “Joshua Allan Lippincott,” Dickinson Archives, http://archives.dickinson.edu/people/joshua-allan-lippincott-1835-1906.
[2] George Leffingwell Reed, ed., “Class 1858,” Alumni Record: Dickinson College, (Carlisle, PA: Dickinson College, 1905).
[3] Catalogue of Dickinson College (1858).
[4] Dickinson Archives, “Joshua Allan Lippincott.”
[5] Dickinson Archives, “Daniel Mountjoy Cloud,” Dickinson Archives, http://archives.dickinson.edu/people/daniel-mountjoy-cloud-1837-1871.
[6] Dickinson Archives, “Joshua Allan Lippincott.”
[7] George Leffingwell Reed, ed., “Class 1858.”
[8] US Census Bureau, “1880 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry Library.
[9] Dickinson Archives, “Joshua Allan Lippincott.”
[10] Barbara Landis, “Carlisle Indian Industrial School History,” Carlisle Indian Industrial School, http://home.epix.net/~landis/histry.html.
[11] Joshua A. Lippincott, “The Indian Training and Industrial School at Carlisle, PA.” Education, (May 1882), 482-289.
[12] Ellwood Dorian, “Monthly Home Letters,” Eadle Keatah Toh, Feb. 1882, 5
[13] Joshua Lippincott to Richard Henry Pratt, Topeka, Kansas, July 9, 1892.
[14] "Dr. Lippincott," Red Man 11: 7, August 1892.
[15] “Dr. Lippincott,” Red Man 14:10, March 1898.
[16] Joshua Lippincott to Richard Henry Pratt, Philadelphia, PA, Feb. 7, 1898.
[17] Joshua Lippincott to Richard Henry Pratt, Philadelphia, PA, Feb. 4, 1899.
[18] “Noted Educator Passes Here,” Los Angeles Times, (Los Angeles), Dec. 31, 1906.
[1] Dickinson Archives, “Joshua Allan Lippincott,” Dickinson Archives, http://archives.dickinson.edu/people/joshua-allan-lippincott-1835-1906.
[2] George Leffingwell Reed, ed., “Class 1858,” Alumni Record: Dickinson College, (Carlisle, PA: Dickinson College, 1905).
[3] Catalogue of Dickinson College (1858).
[4] Dickinson Archives, “Joshua Allan Lippincott.”
[5] Dickinson Archives, “Daniel Mountjoy Cloud,” Dickinson Archives, http://archives.dickinson.edu/people/daniel-mountjoy-cloud-1837-1871.
[6] Dickinson Archives, “Joshua Allan Lippincott.”
[7] George Leffingwell Reed, ed., “Class 1858.”
[8] US Census Bureau, “1880 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry Library.
[9] Dickinson Archives, “Joshua Allan Lippincott.”
[10] Barbara Landis, “Carlisle Indian Industrial School History,” Carlisle Indian Industrial School, http://home.epix.net/~landis/histry.html.
[11] Joshua A. Lippincott, “The Indian Training and Industrial School at Carlisle, PA.” Education, (May 1882), 482-289.
[12] Ellwood Dorian, “Monthly Home Letters,” Eadle Keatah Toh, Feb. 1882, 5
[13] Joshua Lippincott to Richard Henry Pratt, Topeka, Kansas, July 9, 1892.
[14] "Dr. Lippincott," Red Man 11: 7, August 1892.
[15] “Dr. Lippincott,” Red Man 14:10, March 1898.
[16] Joshua Lippincott to Richard Henry Pratt, Philadelphia, PA, Feb. 7, 1898.
[17] Joshua Lippincott to Richard Henry Pratt, Philadelphia, PA, Feb. 4, 1899.
[18] “Noted Educator Passes Here,” Los Angeles Times, (Los Angeles), Dec. 31, 1906.