Dreamer of the Impossible Dream
By Connie Perdreau, Former Director of Education Abroad, Ohio University
Connie's personal family history and fascination with Black history led her to do exhaustive research on John Newton Templeton over the course of decades. She has graciously agreed to share that research with us.
Questions and comments may be addressed to: University Libraries
Key dates and milestones in the life of John Newton Templeton, Ohio University's first African American graduate, first college graduate of color in the Midwest and fourth in the USA.
South Carolina Roots in Slavery
Birth and Birthplace
Circa 1807 in South Carolina. Born in slavery on the cotton plantation of Thomas and Anne Newton Williamson in Spartansburg district, South Carolina, John was one of seven children of Pompey and Terak: Teller, George, Lenny, Isaac, John Newton, Benjamin Franklin, and Makely. This family represented 9 of the 20 enslaved individuals in the Williamson household. The estimated monetary value of the family was $1,530, according to Thomas Williamson's will, which emancipated the entire family in 1813.
Derivation of Name: John Newton
Anne Newton Williamson, whose family emigrated from England to the US, was related to Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who developed the theory of universal gravitation and invented differential calculus. However, most notably for the purposes of the biography of John Newton Templeton, it is important to know that she was, in addition, related to John Newton ( 1725-1807), a reformed British slave trader turned abolitionist, who later became a pastor, theologian, and author of one of the most famous hymns ever written, "Amazing Grace." Note also that John Newton died the year John Newton Templeton was likely born (1807), perhaps named in his memory.
Possible Derivation of Name: Templeton
Since most liberated slaves adopted the family name of their previous owners, the question arises as to why the Templetons were, in fact, named Templeton and not Williamson. The answer probably lies in a closer look at the political environment of this rural area of ante-bellum South Carolina. Rev. James Templeton became the minister of the Nazareth Church in Spartansburg, SC in 1794, and was a leader in the organization of the Philanthropic Society in Spartansburg in 1797, which promoted learning and literacy among all people. A staunch abolitionist, Rev. Templeton believed slavery to be wrong in principle, but in 1806 was ordered by the Presbytery to ''be silent in the pulpit" with regard to his stand. Unable to reconcile his conscience with this decision, he moved north to a free state around 1807, the year John Newton Templeton was likely to have been born. The name Templeton in Spartansburg, South Carolina, at this moment in history was synonymous with the voicing of abolitionist views, the promotion of education, and adherence to one's moral compass.
Timeline
1813: Migration from South Carolina to Ohio | Freedom from Slavery
The year of Thomas Williamson's death, 1813, was the year the Templeton family was liberated from slavery. The Williamson family, devout Presbyterians, could not reconcile their abolitionist beliefs with their practice of continuing to hold slaves. Thomas's will stipulated that the family slaves, valued at more than $4,000, be freed and that they be taken to Ohio to live with two of the Williamson family members: son, Reverend William Williamson, and son-in-law, John Means. Thus, Anne Newton Williamson and the freed slaves, including the entire Templeton family, moved to Adams County in southwestern Ohio, just north of the Ohio River. Anne and the Templeton family lived with her son, William, a Presbyterian minister. Two of the Templeton children, John Newton and his younger brother, Benjamin Franklin (born circa 1809), were singled out as exceptionally gifted, and, in fact, had been taught to read and write as young children by Anne Newton Williamson, while they were still children in slavery in South Carolina, a practice which was illegal and could have resulted in Anne's imprisonment. Under the watchful eye of these abolitionist Presbyterians who believed in the power of learning, special attention and nurturing of John's and Benjamin's education continued when they settled in Ohio.
1813-1823: Preparatory Route to Ohio University
The freed Templeton family lived with Reverend William Williamson, who had been received into the Chillicothe Presbytery in 1805, along with abolitionist Rev. James Gilliland, and the Reverend Robert Gilliland Wilson, who later became the third President of Ohio University (1824-39). According to sources at the time, "All three were well-trained men who had had successful pastorates in South Carolina, but came over the Ohio to free their slaves and to live in a state where slavery was not permitted." The close friendship, deep Presbyterian faith, mutual viewpoints on the abolition of slavery, and strong belief in supporting educational opportunity shared by Revs. Williamson and Wilson were critical factors in leading the Templeton brothers on the path toward a higher education.
During their childhood and adolescent years in Ohio (1813-1824), John and Benjamin attended the Ripley Academy, located in Brown County, the principal of which was Dr. Thomas Smith Williamson, a nephew of the elder Thomas Williamson of South Carolina who had given the Templeton family their freedom upon his death. The Templeton family became known to Rev. Robert G. Wilson, who was living in south central Ohio in the state's first capital, Chillicothe, where he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church and a teacher in the Chillicothe Academy. Through the Williamson family, Rev. Wilson was made particularly aware of John Newton Templeton's exceptional intellect during his time in Chillicothe, and, upon becoming the president of Ohio University in 1824, he offered John the opportunity to pursue a higher education. Unlike many institutions of higher education at the time, Ohio University did not have restrictive racial admissions policies; that is to say, any male of any color could be admitted as an Ohio University student if he were qualified. (Females were not admitted until after the Civil War.) Ohio University's policy of admitting qualified male students regardless of race was yet another key factor in the opening of educational opportunity in John Newton Templeton's life. Now the long-term religious, moral, and educational linkages between the Templetons, the Williamsons, and now soon to be President of Ohio University, Rev. Robert Wilson, were placed in position for history to be made in US higher education.
1824: John Newton Templeton Enters Ohio University
John Newton Templeton enrolled at Ohio University in 1824 under the sponsorship of President Robert G. Wilson. John had the capability and qualifications to enroll at Ohio University, but he lacked the financial means to do so. President Wilson thus offered John the position of "college servant," which meant that he would live in the home of the president in this capacity while attending classes at the University. John was paid a small salary and given room and board for his services in the home of the president. It is interesting to note that the on-going position of college servant in the home of the Ohio University President was filled by deserving students regardless of color.
Typical of these early pioneering times, the log cabin was the most common form of housing, even for a college president. The restored log cabin which served as the residence for President Wilson and the family servant, John Templeton, still stands and is now the Visitor's Center at Ohio University (adjacent to the Ohio University Convocation Center on Richland Avenue). Moved to its present location in 1987, it is the oldest house in Athens.
1824-1828: John Newton Templeton's College Years
John Newton Templeton was one of a small class of entering freshmen at Ohio University in 1824, eventually becoming one of the ten graduates in the class of 1828. What was life like for the first African American student at Ohio University? He came from Manchester Ohio, Adams county, where he was first brought as a freed young man, along with his family, to the rural, largely unsettled area of southeastern Ohio. He was the first and only student of color at Ohio University and one of just a handful of African American residents in the city of Athens, most of whom worked in servitude. His academic life, however, did not differ from the rest of his class. First of all, in order to enter the University, all applicants had to demonstrate a knowledge of Latin and Greek grammar, Caesar's Commentaries (4 books), Virgil, Cicero's Selected Orations, the Greek Testament, the Four Evangelists, Graeca Minora, arithmetic, and English grammar.
In addition to performing household duties in President Wilson's home, John, like the other students, was required to begin each day with morning prayers at sunrise, study from 6:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m., attend classes and recitations until evening hours, then continue study hours until evening prayers and an early bedtime. Among the regular academic requirements at the time, each student had to submit biweekly compositions alternatively in English and in Latin. Religious devotion being a strong factor in those early days of the University, attendance at public worship was required of each student every Sunday.
The annual examinations administered by the Board of Trustees reflected the Classical emphasis on the curriculum. Thus, Templeton took examinations on the works of Cicero, Horace, Xenophon, Greek, Logic, and Moral Philosophy, among other subjects. As for extra-curricular activities, he was a member of the Athenian Literary Society, and debated such topics as "The Present State of the Slave in the United States."
John Newton Templeton maintained a superlative academic record at Ohio University during his four years of study, and, on September 17, 1828, he earned his undergraduate degree in Education. The 1828 Ohio University Commencement Program noted that among the ten graduates was John Newton Templeton, "a young man of color."
Thus, John Newton Templeton became the first African American college graduate at Ohio University, the first in the Midwest, and the fourth in the United States.
In these early days of the history of Ohio University, each student was required to present a formal speech at graduation. John Newton Templeton spoke about ''The Claims of Liberia." Like many other well-educated African American citizens of the time, John was encouraged to "return to Africa" by the American Colonization Society, founded in 1816. This Society, popular among philanthropists, clergy, and abolitionists as a means of providing enslaved African Americans with a new home in which they could prosper, was, on the other hand, also supported by an element of racist America which simply wanted as few African Americans, particularly well educated ones, as possible living in this country. The country of Liberia was promoted for the purpose of welcoming such freed slaves of African descent, and John was initially supportive of this movement. In his 1828 Commencement speech, John stated the following:
You will, therefore, hear me while I urge upon your patronage and liberality the claims of Liberia. It promises a home to the oppressed children of Africa...0, Justice, when will you arise to avenge the rights of injured Africa! But, by your benevolent acts this day, she may yet become a happy land - slavery entirely abolished - and America gain that reputation, which would otherwise be impossible.
The speeches of the graduates were open to the public, and one attendee wrote the following about Templeton's speech in a description of the ceremony:" ... Templeton delivered a very well composed speech with ''The Claims of Liberia" for his theme; but showed himself rather too deeply affected by his subject to do justice to himself or to excite the interest in the audience his production merited ... " The implication was possibly that Templeton showed too much passion in delivering his words to the audience members who may not have been prepared to hear his strong message. One wonders how John Newton Templeton, himself born in slavery, could not have been '"deeply affected' by the subject of his speech. In any case, such was the subjective opinion of one of the mostly white audience members attending the 1828 speeches of the graduates of Ohio University. It is doubtful that any African Americans present at this ceremony would have concurred with this assessment and that indeed Templeton's speech would have excited the interest "his production merited." Importantly from this description and the commencement speech itself, we know that John Newton Templeton had a forceful delivery of speech, showed passion in making his points, and sought to stimulate interest in and support of his ideas on the part of those listening. From this pivotal moment on, as we shall see later, John Newton Templeton's life was characterized by his life-long devotion to promote learning, literacy, and education for African Americans who were unable to obtain these educational opportunities.
It is interesting to compare the life of John Newton Templeton with the other early African American college graduates. One cannot underestimate the effect that the American Colonization Society, mentioned above, had in encouraging such well-educated African Americans to emigrate to Africa. At the minimum, they were extremely successful in promoting the idea that Black people were better off living outside of this country. The lives of the first few Black college graduates were marked by their philosophy. In chronological terms, the first three African Americans to receive undergraduate degrees were the following: 1) Edward Jones, Amherst College, August 23,1826; 2) John Russworm, Bowdoin College, September 6, 1826; and 3) Edward Mitchell, Dartmouth College, August 20, 1828. Just a few weeks after Mitchell's 1828 graduation, John Newton Templeton joined the ranks of being a college graduate. What happened to them after graduation? Both Jones and Russworm did indeed emigrate to Liberia, and Mitchell settled in Canada. Although John Newton Templeton spoke about the claims of Liberia, he opted to stay in this country, unlike his predecessors. He remained true to his life-long goal of extending education to African Americans who otherwise would have been deprived of this opportunity.
1828-1836: Beginnings as an Educator
John Newton Templeton started his career as an educator when he became a teacher in Chillicothe's African Methodist Episcopal Church School. In addition to being President Wilson's former city of residence, Chillicothe was near John's family and friends and had a thriving Black community. The political ideas of this strong, well-educated African American society in Chillicothe, the state's first capital, must have had a profound influence on John because we find in 1834 that he reversed the pro-Colonization stance he expressed in his graduation speech six years earlier and became an officer of the Chillicothe (Colored) Anti-Slavery Society. However, he decided to move northward in the mid-1830s, and wound up in Wheeling, West Virginia, where he was arrested for teaching Blacks to read and write. (West Virginia, at this point in time was part of Virginia, and thus part of the South, in which education for Black people was prohibited.)
1836-1851: The Pittsburgh Years
John decided to move yet farther north to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he began teaching in a "day school for colored students." He was described as "an upright, active, and very useful citizen." The colored schools were formed because Black students were barred from entering public schools in Pittsburgh, even though it was not part of the South and was north of the Mason-Dixon Line. In 1836, John Newton Templeton was selected as the first teacher and principal of what was known as the African School, the first school for African American children in the city.
John was active in the church and wrote frequent letters to newspapers in the Black community, constantly condemning slavery and advocating education as a means for liberation and the hope for future generations. In 1837, a letter written by John Newton Templeton was published in the newspaper, The Colored American, regarding the formation of The Young Men's Literary and Moral Reform Society of the city of Pittsburgh. John was doubtless influenced by his previous membership in the Athenian Literary Society in promoting this new literary society for young men of color. In the letter dated February 17, 1837, he states the following:
We, the young men of color of the city of Pittsburgh and vicinity, feeling the necessity and demand of literary talent among us, and the general reformation of our people; being conscious also that the accomplishment of these objects depend in a good measure upon our efforts as a people, and more particularly upon the young and rising generation, do agree to form ourselves into an association ... The Young Men's Literary and Moral Reform Society. The objects of this society shall be, the literary, moral, and intellectual improvement of the young and rising generation, by the establishment of a library, the promotion of education and morality, and instruction in the mechanical arts, so far as in our power lies ...
(Submitted by) Corresponding Secretary, John N. Templeton.
In the same issue of The Colored American, John answers an inquiry from a "much esteemed friend" with regard to the establishment and goals of the Society in the following way:
We number at present only sixteen...ere long, if the Lord will, we calculate to let the world see and know that we are the offspring of that noble race of people who were once in possession of the arts and sciences, and who delivered them down to a people illiterate as many of us are at this time. Our society has regular meetings which are spent for the improvement of our minds. Already do we perceive that the union among our citizens every day becomes stronger which must be the first step taken to make us able, as a people, to stand the assaults and attacks of our enemies...We hope that you will not grow weary in so good a cause...We feel thankful that we have a press of our own, and a paper edited by a colored man, that the world may now know that there is a people here and there that have life, (liberty in part,) and that can speak forth the words of truth and soberness.,
Yours respectfully, JOHN N. TEMPLETON
Moreover, a family connection was made in Pittsburgh in 1841. Benjamin Franklin Templeton, John's younger brother, had graduated from the Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati in 1838. Now ordained as a minister, Benjamin decided to join John in Pittsburgh, where he established the Sixth Presbyterian Church. Benjamin remained in Pittsburgh until 1844, when he was called to the Second Colored Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. The two brothers undoubtedly must have kept in touch with each other all their lives even though they lived on opposite ends of the state.
John Newton Templeton continued his active civic and educational involvement as a member of Pittsburgh's African American community throughout the 1840s. He was elected as secretary in several organizations, and was involved with the publication of a newspaper. He became associated with Martin Robinson Delaney, a political activist who later became known as the father of Black Nationalism several generations before Marcus Garvey. Templeton and Delaney worked on the publication of the African American newspaper, The Mystery, Delaney serving as the editor and Templeton heading the Publishing Committee. On October 12, 1846, John announced in The Mystery that he would open an evening school for adults so that they could "avail themselves of an opportunity to improve their minds through the long dreary nights of winter ... " A few months later he advertised that he was selling copies of "An Address to all the Colored Citizens of the United States" by a well-known pastor of an African Baptist Church. In 1850, John Newton Templeton was listed as a "school teacher" living in Pittsburgh with his wife Rebecca Louisa, son John aged 4 and a-half, and a young 15-year-old man, Richard Fountain, of Virginia, most probably a student in the school where John taught. All were listed as mulattoes. On June 12, 1850, records show that John Templeton attended the mass meeting of "Colored Citizens of Pittsburgh and Allegheny Cities" to protest the Fugitive Slave Law and was elected secretary of the organization. Sadly, John Newton Templeton died unexpectedly in July, 1851, at approximately 44 years of age. He was eulogized as "dying in the harness ... a very excellent man." However, John Newton Templeton's memory and legacy continue to shine at Ohio University, where he will never be forgotten by the many generations of Ohio University alumni who followed in his pioneering footsteps.
The Legacy of John Newton Templeton
- Edward C. Berry and the Alumni Gate
The first record showing John Newton Templeton's legacy to Ohio University was printed in the April 1, 1915 edition of the alumni publication, The Green and White. The article stated the following: "Among the contributions received for the Alumni Gateway during the past week was a substantial one from the proprietor of Hotel Berry, Mr. Ed C. Berry ll, is given in honor of John Newton Templeton, '28, who had the honor of being the first colored student to graduate in an Ohio college, and, so far as known, the first in the country. He graduated in 1828." Although we now know that John Templeton was the fourth, and not the first college graduate in the United States, importantly, in 1915 the African American community in Athens remembered John Newton Templeton, who had graduated 87 years prior to this fund-raising campaign. Edward C. Berry was a wealthy, Black Athenian who founded, owned and operated the Hotel Berry during the years 1892 to 1921, a hotel which had the distinction of being one of the finest hotels in the state of Ohio. Edward Berry was described by famed educator and author Booker T. Washington in 1907 as "the leading hotel-keeper of color in this country," in his book, The Negro in Business. - The John Newton Templeton Outstanding Student Award
Established in 1978 and presented annually at the Ohio University Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony to an outstanding Ohio University graduating student of color - The Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium
Renamed in honor of the first male and female African American graduates of Ohio University in 1993. Mary Jane Hunley Blackburn was the first Black female graduate of Ohio University in 1916. - The Templeton Scholar Program
Begun in 2000, the Templeton Schlolar Program provides exceptional students from under-represented groups with the cost of in-state tuition, room and board and books for each year of their undergraduate study. The first Templeton scholar to complete her bachelor's degree, Dalia Wheatt, graduated in 2003.
Descendants of the Templeton Family
After several years of searching for a Templeton descendant, the author first met Mr. Arthur Templeton, a direct descendant of John Newton Templeton's brother, Rev. Benjamin Franklin Templeton, in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1979. Thus, Mr. Arthur Templeton is the great-great nephew of John Newton Templeton. He now lives in California with his daughter, Mrs. Shirley Templeton McKissack (great-great-great niece of John Newton Templeton). Mr. Templeton has a grand-daughter, Rochelle McKissack, and a great grand-son, Sean Edward. The Templeton family has visited Ohio University on several occasions to commemorate the Templeton legacy. Lastly, the author of this history is currently in contact with Mr. R. Stefan Templeton, son of well-known Baltimore civic leader and Executive Director of the Baltimore Urban League, Furman Templeton. Research of his genealogy is currently being done to determine if he, too, is a direct descendant of the Templeton family tree.
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