Moses Waddel
Encyclopedia
Moses Waddel
was an American
educator and minister in antebellum Georgia
and South Carolina
. Famous as a teacher during his life, Moses Waddel was author
of the bestselling book Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt.
, North Carolina
, Waddel graduated in 1791 from Hampden-Sydney College
with a Bachelor of Arts
(B.A.
) and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Hanover.
Waddel began his ministry in the low country of South Carolina, but coming to view Charleston, South Carolina
sophistication as sinful, departed for the backwoods 'upcountry'. In 1794, he founded his first 'log cabin academy' at Carmel near Appling
in Columbia County, Georgia
. In 1801, Waddel moved to Vienna and then Willington, South Carolina
, where he founded the famous Willington Academy in 1804. These prep schools trained the future elite of Georgia and South Carolina with a strict classical education, in an environment shrewdly calculated by Waddel to foster self reliance and self motivation. Graduates generally entered university at the Junior year. The Debating Society in Augustus Baldwin Longstreet's Georgia Scenes takes place at Willington and, as written by Longstreet himself, "is as literally true as the frailty of memory would allow it to be."
In 1819, Waddel further enlarged his fame with Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt. Difficult reading today for its overwrought and pious sentimentality, Memoirs was a smash bestseller reprinted in the U.S. and Great Britain
.
Waddle's Willington Academy was considered the high-point of his career. The school was often called "Eaton in the woods' as a comparison to Eaton in the UK that produced the leadership our Britain. As unbelievable as it sounds – ever student was required to memorize, translate, and recite 250 lines of classic Greek or Latin every night – and they did, often several times more. Later SC Governor George McDuffie, who once recited 2,212 lines of Horace, held the record.
Considered the foremost educator in the South, Waddel "received an urgent and persistent invitation" to revitalize the University of Georgia
(UGA) in Athens
. He became the fifth president and served from 1819 until his resignation in August 1829. Waddel found the school "nearly extinct, consisting of only seven students with three professors". With great industry he scoured the state and soon built enrollment to one hundred students. He acquired money for the library, garnered state funding, and raised three new buildings: Philosophical Hall (1821), New College (1823) and Demosthenian Hall
(1824). As said by Longstreet, "The effect of his coming to this Institution was magical. It rose instantly to a rank which it had never held before, and which, I am happy to add, it has maintained ever since."
Waddel was said to possess only an ordinary intellect but combined with an iron will. This 'Cromwell of the Classroom' produced a generation of Southern leaders including William H. Crawford
, Madison’s Secretary of the Treasury and 1824 US Presidential candidate; Hugh S. Legaré
, editor of the Southern Review; Governor and U.S. Senator George McDuffie
of South Carolina; Judge James L. Petigru
, the Unionist who famously stated that South Carolina was too small to be a nation and too large for an insane asylum; Governor George Rockingham Gilmer
of Georgia; Judge Augustus Baldwin Longstreet
, author of Georgia Scenes and president of two universities, and John C. Calhoun
. Andrew Jackson
is said to have (perhaps mistakenly) claimed Waddel's influence.
According to Dr James McLeod's book 'The Great Doctor Waddell' (page 8) the list of students from all of Waddell's schools includes: two Vice-Presidents, three Secretaries of State, three Secretaries of War, one Assistant Secretary of War, one US Attorney-general, Ministers to France, Spain and Russia, one US Supreme Court Justice, eleven governors, seven US Senators, thirty two members of the US House of Representatives, twenty two judges, eight college presidents, seventeen editors of newspapers or authors, five members of the Confederate Congress, two bishops, three Brigadier-generals, and one authentic Christian martyr.
More on Waddle's students: At one time five SC governors in a row were his students. In the Presidential election of 1824, three of the five candidates were his students. And, when the electoral dust settled, the winning President and Vice President were both South Carolinians and both had studied under Waddel – Andrew Jackson and John C Calhoun.
Waddel died on July 21, 1840, in Athens, Georgia
.
Waddell Street in Athens, Georgia
is named in honor of Waddel.
was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
educator and minister in antebellum Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. Famous as a teacher during his life, Moses Waddel was author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of the bestselling book Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt.
Life and work
Born in 1770 in Rowan CountyRowan County, North Carolina
-Demographics and economics:As of the census of 2010, there were 138,428 people, 53,140 households, and 37,058 families residing in the county. The population density was 270.7 people per square mile . There were 60,211 housing units at an average density of 117.7 per square mile...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Waddel graduated in 1791 from Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden–Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest private charter college in the Southern U.S., the last college founded before the American Revolution, and one of only three four-year,...
with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
(B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
) and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Hanover.
Waddel began his ministry in the low country of South Carolina, but coming to view Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
sophistication as sinful, departed for the backwoods 'upcountry'. In 1794, he founded his first 'log cabin academy' at Carmel near Appling
Appling, Georgia
Appling is an unincorporated community in and the county seat of Columbia County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area....
in Columbia County, Georgia
Columbia County, Georgia
Columbia County is a county located in the US state of Georgia along the Savannah River. As of 2010 the population was 124,054 a growth of 39% from the 2000 census figure of 89,288. The de jure county seat is Appling. Appling is an unincorporated area, making Columbia one of only three counties...
. In 1801, Waddel moved to Vienna and then Willington, South Carolina
Willington, South Carolina
Willington is a census-designated place in McCormick County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 177 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Willington is located at ....
, where he founded the famous Willington Academy in 1804. These prep schools trained the future elite of Georgia and South Carolina with a strict classical education, in an environment shrewdly calculated by Waddel to foster self reliance and self motivation. Graduates generally entered university at the Junior year. The Debating Society in Augustus Baldwin Longstreet's Georgia Scenes takes place at Willington and, as written by Longstreet himself, "is as literally true as the frailty of memory would allow it to be."
In 1819, Waddel further enlarged his fame with Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt. Difficult reading today for its overwrought and pious sentimentality, Memoirs was a smash bestseller reprinted in the U.S. and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
Waddle's Willington Academy was considered the high-point of his career. The school was often called "Eaton in the woods' as a comparison to Eaton in the UK that produced the leadership our Britain. As unbelievable as it sounds – ever student was required to memorize, translate, and recite 250 lines of classic Greek or Latin every night – and they did, often several times more. Later SC Governor George McDuffie, who once recited 2,212 lines of Horace, held the record.
Considered the foremost educator in the South, Waddel "received an urgent and persistent invitation" to revitalize the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
(UGA) in Athens
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
. He became the fifth president and served from 1819 until his resignation in August 1829. Waddel found the school "nearly extinct, consisting of only seven students with three professors". With great industry he scoured the state and soon built enrollment to one hundred students. He acquired money for the library, garnered state funding, and raised three new buildings: Philosophical Hall (1821), New College (1823) and Demosthenian Hall
Demosthenian Literary Society
The Demosthenian Literary Society is a debating society at The University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1803 by the first graduating class of the University's Franklin College. The society was founded on February 19, 1803 and the anniversary is celebrated now with the Society's...
(1824). As said by Longstreet, "The effect of his coming to this Institution was magical. It rose instantly to a rank which it had never held before, and which, I am happy to add, it has maintained ever since."
Waddel was said to possess only an ordinary intellect but combined with an iron will. This 'Cromwell of the Classroom' produced a generation of Southern leaders including William H. Crawford
William H. Crawford
William Harris Crawford was an American politician and judge during the early 19th century. He served as United States Secretary of War from 1815 to 1816 and United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1816 to 1825, and was a candidate for President of the United States in 1824.-Political...
, Madison’s Secretary of the Treasury and 1824 US Presidential candidate; Hugh S. Legaré
Hugh S. Legaré
Hugh Swinton Legaré was an American lawyer and politician.-Biography:Legaré was born in Charleston, South Carolina, of Huguenot and Scottish ancestry....
, editor of the Southern Review; Governor and U.S. Senator George McDuffie
George McDuffie
George McDuffie was the 55th Governor of South Carolina and a member of the United States Senate.Born of modest means in Columbia County, Georgia, McDuffie's extraordinary intellect was noticed while clerking at a store in Augusta, Georgia...
of South Carolina; Judge James L. Petigru
James L. Petigru
James Louis Petigru was a lawyer, politician, and jurist in South Carolina. He is best known for his service as the state's Attorney General, his juridical work that played a key role in the recodification of the state's law code, and his opposition to nullification and, in 1860, state...
, the Unionist who famously stated that South Carolina was too small to be a nation and too large for an insane asylum; Governor George Rockingham Gilmer
George Rockingham Gilmer
George Rockingham Gilmer was an American statesman and politician. He served two non-consecutive terms as the 34th Governor of Georgia, the first from 1829 to 1831 and the second from 1837 to 1839...
of Georgia; Judge Augustus Baldwin Longstreet
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet
Augustus Baldwin Longstreet was an American lawyer, minster, educator, and humorist, known for his book Georgia Scenes.-Biography:...
, author of Georgia Scenes and president of two universities, and John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun
John Caldwell Calhoun was a leading politician and political theorist from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century. Calhoun eloquently spoke out on every issue of his day, but often changed positions. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent...
. Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
is said to have (perhaps mistakenly) claimed Waddel's influence.
According to Dr James McLeod's book 'The Great Doctor Waddell' (page 8) the list of students from all of Waddell's schools includes: two Vice-Presidents, three Secretaries of State, three Secretaries of War, one Assistant Secretary of War, one US Attorney-general, Ministers to France, Spain and Russia, one US Supreme Court Justice, eleven governors, seven US Senators, thirty two members of the US House of Representatives, twenty two judges, eight college presidents, seventeen editors of newspapers or authors, five members of the Confederate Congress, two bishops, three Brigadier-generals, and one authentic Christian martyr.
More on Waddle's students: At one time five SC governors in a row were his students. In the Presidential election of 1824, three of the five candidates were his students. And, when the electoral dust settled, the winning President and Vice President were both South Carolinians and both had studied under Waddel – Andrew Jackson and John C Calhoun.
Waddel died on July 21, 1840, in Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
.
Waddell Street in Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
is named in honor of Waddel.
External links
- The Debating Society (pp. 133-144) from Longstreet's Georgia Scenes.
- Memoirs of the Life of Miss Caroline Elizabeth Smelt, by Moses Waddel 1818 Retrieved from Google Books