My Genealogy Hound

N. LAWRENCE LINDSLEY, LL. D. (deceased), one of Tennessee’s most prominent and influential educators, was born September 11, 1816, in Princeton. N. J., and is a son of Philip Lindsley, who was also a leading educator of New Jersey and Tennessee. In 1817 he was elected as vice-president of the college of New Jersey, and in 1822 was acting president of the same. The following year he was chosen president of the University of Tennessee, but declined the honor. In 1824 he was again elected, and January, 12, 1825, he assumed control and was president of that institution until 1850. In May of the latter year he was elected professor of ecclesiastical polity and Biblical archaeology in the New Albany (Ind.) Theological Seminary. In 1853 he resigned, and from that date until his career ended, in 1855, his time was spent in study and devotion to his friends. Lawrence Lindsley left his native State in 1825 and came to Nashville, Tenn., with his parents. At the age of sixteen he was nominated to a cadetship at West Point, being appointed by President Jackson, who was a personal friend of his father’s, but remained only two years, owing to the severity of the climate. He entered the University of Nashville, graduating with honors in 1836. In 1841 he wedded Julia M., daughter of Moses B., and Sarah (Bedford) Stephens, the father being a prominent educator of his day. Mrs. Lindsley was born July 30, 1823, in the building now known as the Nicholson House, in Nashville. To Dr. and Mrs. Lindsley were born these children: Philip, a lawyer of Dallas, Tex.; Henry S. (deceased); N. Lawrence (deceased); John B., a stock trader of Lebanon; Joseph W., a farmer of Wilson County, and Kale S. (wife of Edgar Waters). The maternal grandfather was a student in Princeton (N. J.) College and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war from North Carolina, receiving for his bravery the “Lawrence Grant” of 2,640 acres of land in Wilson County, Tenn. of which our subject received 500 acres. In 1844 Lawrence Lindsley was elected professor of Latin and Greek in the Cumberland University, and in 1852 established the Greenwood Seminary for young ladies, which became a model of its kind. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by the Cumberland University. He died October, 10, 1868 and it may be truly said of him that he was an accomplished and profound scholar. At the time of his death he was engaged on the production of a work called “An Encyclolexicon of the English Language,” which was intended to be a complete dictionary of the English Language. He was the soul of honor and manliness, a philanthropist and Christian. At his desire his wife became principal of the school he had founded, and conducted it successfully until her death July 8,1883. She was a lady of more than ordinary accomplishments and energy, and her object and aim was to give to young ladies a grand conception of real life, and while her death occurred in the midst of a prosperous work, her life was such that its good influences have not ended, and her name is a household word in many Southern families. Both husband and wife were members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.