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Silas Totten Papers

 Collection
Identifier: RG05.0001.002

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Abstract

The second president of the State University of Iowa, serving from 1859 to 1862.

Dates

  • Creation: 1859-1862

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright restrictions may apply; please consult Special Collections staff for further information.

Biographical / Historical

Silas Totten served as the second president of the State University of Iowa, from 1859 to 1862.

The outlook for the future of the university was very discouraging when Totten assumed the presidency. The treasury was empty, most courses were temporarily closed, land sales to raise funds were not proceeding as expected, and tensions leading to the Civil War were mounting. Amid these difficulties, the university's Board of Trustees elected Totten and requested that he prepare a new plan of organization for the institution. For the first time, the university developed independent departments, each with its own distinct classes and course of study.

Like his predecessor, Amos Dean, Totten graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York. In 1833, he was ordained as an Episcopal minister and joined the faculty of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, becoming its president in 1841. From 1841 until moving to Iowa City in 1859, he was a member of the faculty at William and Mary College in Virginia.

Totten had publicly expressed sympathy with the South during the Civil War, prompting angry local reaction. In 1862 a pro-Union crowd pursued his son, a university student also sympathetic to the Confederacy. Totten's son escaped, never to return again. The incident caused Totten to resign on August 19 of that year. Totten returned to the ministry in Illinois, and, later, Kentucky.

Totten was born on March 26, 1804, in Scoharie County, New York. He died on October 7, 1873, at age 69.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Method of Acquisition

These papers were transferred to the University Archives by the Office of the President; date unknown. Guide posted to the Internet December 2006.

Related Materials

Catalogs of the University, 1859-1862 (RG01.0008.001)

Records of the Board of Trustees and Board of Regents, 1847-1909 (RG04.0001.001)

Manuscript File Collection (RG01.0001.001)

Author
David McCartney, December 2006
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the University of Iowa Archives Repository

Contact:
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242
319-335-5921