Thomas Hill

TL;DR -- Is Thomas the most interesting of the Heads? We will be researching him. He got a U.S. Patent for a mechanical calculator, did some astronomical algorithms, wrote a book on geometry and faith, took off his coat to plant some ivy at Harvard, and such. Too, he was an orphan by 10. Got to Harvard late but accomplished his goals. Much more.  

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We started this series in August of 2021 with James Bryant Conant. Since then, we have looked at most of the Heads of Harvard (Wikipedia). By doing this post on Thomas Hill, we will have covered those in the position from the beginning until the 1930s which is 300 years. 

As with the other Heads, we looked for WikiTree information () and found none. Harvard Square did have a biography of Thomas as a Unitarian minister with information from The Harvard Book, 1875. His father was from England but had been in the U.S. for 30 years when Thomas was born. His parents died before Thomas was 10 years old, resulting in his early education being spotty. Thomas graduated from Harvard in 1843 and the Divinity School in 1845. His time in the Head of Harvard role was from 1862-1868 which encompasses the U.S. Civil War. 

We will do research and post more about Hill's life, for one thing, using the material at Hollis which has a biography.     

• History of Harvard (ours);
• History of the Presidency (Harvard); 
• graduates of Harvard (list initiated by Hoar); and 
• Harvard in the long history of the U.S. 

Hill died in 1891. More later (see following notes).

Notes:

1. Hill had a lot of interests, including astronomy. His mathematical work resulted in methods and tools for astronomical calculations. Plus, he wrote a book on Geometry and Faith. He obtained a Patent (US No 18692) for a mechanical calculator in 1857. ...

2. He received financial aid. See Celebrating 375 years of Financial Aid. Ralph Waldo Emerson is on the list, too, as doing work-study. ... The future: "well over half" receive some type of aid. 

3.  ...

Remarks: Modified: 10/15/2022

10/15/2022 --