Leonard Hoar

TL;DR -- As we walk the halls of the Heads, our fashion is not random but sensitive to the current research theme. The last Head was in his role during the turmoil prior to the Revolution. This post looks at an early Head who was before the time of insanity, namely Leonard Hoar. He was the first to be a late entry. 

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There are not many Heads of Harvard (Wikipedia) to cover, so this series has a limit. But, our interests are several: 

• History of Harvard; 
• graduates of Harvard (list initiated by Hoar - see below - the Catalogue); 
• Harvard in the long history of the U.S.; 
• and more. 

As we have gone through the names where the focus was related to the context of interest at the time, we have done posts consecutively. This will happen now where we do this post and get off onto other topics that can bear our attention. The last post was on Rev. Samuel Locke. He was in the role of Head during the turmoil leading up to the Revolution. We have written of the training ground for the upheaval. That is, the French and Indian affair afforded the colonials an opportunity to learn military manners under the auspices of the Crown against which they would rebel. 

Leonard Hoar
FindAGrave

Now, we step back and look at the earlier times and a training ground, of sorts. Leonard Hoar (Wikipedia, WikiTree) was the third Head. Or the fourth, if we count Eaton. This post will begin the presentation of the case of why Nathaniel is important to the History of the U.S. Hoar followed Chauncy and Dunster. The thing to note is that Eaton, Dunster and Hoar incurred some type of controversial reactions by those of the time. 

The image on the left is from the 2nd catalog and shows a lot of familiar names, one of which has been mentioned here with respect to the Revolution: Rev. John Wise. 

It is that theme that leads to the "training ground' statement. Not long after Hoar's death, we had the witch hunt. One colleague of Hoar's participated, namely Cotton Mather. In short, those who disliked Hoar shunned him; he had a reaction which needs further study. A little look at the controversies over the years.

Oh yes, the witch hunt? We know lots more about that now due to recent research that filled in details related to the persons involved. That type of historical perspective will continue to progress and offer us a much fuller sense of the reality. 

Leonard Hoar was a late comer, so to speak. He actually had been a student at Harvard, left the country, and came back. And, he was of noted abilities. Lots to look at as we proceed. 

Remarks: Modified: 06/28/2022

06/28/2022 -- Added link to, and image from, the FindAGrave profile of Leonard Hoar and added link toe New England Historical Society article (Harvard Student Beaten in 1674, President takes Fall).